Get to Know CG Consulting
After a busy start to 2021, we sat down with Michael Nagy, Associate Director of Cardinal Group Consulting to learn more about the services his team provides to developers, owners, and management companies.
Tell me about Cardinal Group Consulting (CG Consulting)
Cardinal has been offering consulting services to our management clients and investors for years; pre-construction support, advisory services, due diligence and more. In 2020, we wanted to formalize the offering for our clients, and I was offered the Associate Director position. I have a background in value-add acquisitions, so dissecting problems from an investor perspective is what I’m most excited about bringing to the platform.
We are here to assist with large, sometimes burdensome administrative tasks and also to support decision-making through research and data analysis. Our goal is to help clients answer the questions; what is happening, why is it happening, and how do we fix it?
What can CG Consulting offer to a community?
We can offer a lot! The services we offer are very broad and can begin from Day One of pre-development; working with architects and designers to set the community up for future success. Or we can step into a well-established community and help identify areas for improvement.
We are uniquely positioned to provide guidance on numerous topics because of the Cardinal structure. Our internal subject-matter experts provide insight on construction, operations, investments, and we have a full service in-house marketing agency. We can provide data-based, solution-oriented recommendations based on each specific client’s needs.
How has CG Consulting helped during a due diligence period?
I could point to numerous things but one of the more interesting items we review during due diligence is historical work orders. Work orders are extremely informative to current operations because they illustrate obvious physical problem areas, but they can also reveal issues across numerous OpEx categories; issues in payroll structure and service contracts.
For example, we completed a DD assignment recently in Florida and through an analysis of historical work orders we discovered a huge pest issue. There were hundreds of pest complaints from residents in the previous 12 months! It was clear that the community was greatly under-spending on pest control, at the expense of resident satisfaction and the physical integrity of the community itself. After uncovering the issue we were able to make recommendations to our client (the buyer) to adjust their underwriting by allocating additional funds to beef-up the pest control contract and implement remediation efforts.
Reviewing small details like this can help inform future costs and greatly impact the overall performance of the investment. Long term this can also improve renewal rates and subsequent turnover costs.
What is the most valuable reason to engage CG Consulting?
The value of engaging with us can be seen in many ways — Cardinal is a national operator with years of experience that has worked in many unique markets, with varied experiences and expertise. This gives us the ability to view things from a different perspective and serve as a neutral partner in success for the community. We can come in with a fresh set of eyes and offer suggestions for improvement without a financial stake. Our ability to pull details from a wide variety of markets and provide insights for a community all housed under one roof is extremely valuable. Having the ability to set portfolio baselines and compare items within other communities can help us make the best determinations for your community.
To learn more about CG Consulting service offerings, please contact Michael Nagy at michael.nagy@cardinalgroup.com