A repositioning study is a rigorous, data-driven assessment of a Public Housing Authority's housing portfolio. It evaluates the physical condition, financial performance, market context, and programmatic options for every property in the inventory, and it produces a bound deliverable the board, HUD, and the agency's lenders can rely on. A study is the diagnostic foundation. The repositioning plan is the strategic roadmap built on top of it. TFG conducts these studies for PHAs of all sizes — single-AMP agencies, mid-size authorities with a few hundred units, and large urban PHAs with portfolios across multiple jurisdictions.
What a Repositioning Study Covers
A useful HUD repositioning study answers five questions for every property in the portfolio: what condition is it in, what does it cost to operate, what are the program options, what does the market support, and what happens financially under each pathway.
Financial performance analysis
Operating income vs. expenses by AMP and property, subsidy dependency, reserve adequacy, vacancy loss, and trend analysis across three to five years of FASS submissions. We tie the numbers back to PIC unit data so the picture matches what HUD already sees.
Programmatic eligibility screening
Property-level screening for RAD eligibility, Section 18 obsolescence and de minimis qualification, voluntary conversion readiness, Faircloth-to-RAD potential, and mixed-finance development viability. Each property gets a clear yes / conditional / no across every disposition pathway.
Scenario modeling
Financial projections under multiple repositioning pathways — hold and recapitalize, RAD conversion, Section 18 demo/dispo, transfer to an instrumentality or affiliate, or full redevelopment — for each property or property cluster. Side-by-side 20-year cash flows, capital sources, and resident impact, not a single recommended path imposed from the outside.
Why PHAs Commission Repositioning Studies
A PHA repositioning assessment is rarely commissioned in a vacuum. There is almost always a specific trigger — a HUD deadline, a board question, an AMP that has stopped performing, or a new executive director who needs an honest baseline before committing the agency.
- Capital backlog pressure. Capital Fund formula has not kept pace with your accrued needs and the gap is now measured in tens of millions. The board wants to know which properties are worth the spend.
- RAD or Section 18 deadlines approaching. You are weighing a CHAP application or a demo/dispo submission and need a defensible answer on which AMPs go first.
- PHAS or SEMAP scoring concerns. Physical scores are slipping, units are going offline, and a portfolio-wide reset is overdue.
- New executive director baseline. A new ED inherits a portfolio and needs an independent diagnostic before committing the agency to a multi-year direction.
- Board or commissioner request. Commissioners are asking for data behind the recommendations they keep hearing. A study answers the question once, in writing.
- Operating deficits at specific AMPs. One or two properties are dragging the agency. The study isolates whether the fix is operational, capital, or structural.
The study is the responsible first move — not a delay tactic, but the step that prevents costly mistakes. A wrong RAD conversion, an ill-timed Section 18 application, or a capital spend on a property that should have been transferred is far more expensive than the study that would have caught it.
Need a clear picture of your portfolio?
A 30-minute call with a senior advisor — confidential, no obligation. We will tell you candidly whether a study is the right next step and how it would be scoped.
How TFG Conducts Repositioning Studies
Our repositioning feasibility study methodology is built around HUD's data record and the operational reality of running a PHA. The output is a document the agency can defend in front of a board, a HUD field office, and a lender — in the same meeting if it has to.
Data collection
HUD FASS financial submissions, PIC unit and tenant data, current and historical operating statements, prior physical inspections, the active Capital Fund 5-Year Action Plan, ACC inventory, DOFA dates, and any prior CNAs or environmental work. We pull what HUD already has and supplement only where the record is thin.
Financial modeling and scenario development
20-year property-level pro formas under each disposition pathway, with HUD-realistic assumptions for TPV / TPB rents, RAD contract rents, OCAF, replacement reserves, and capital stack feasibility.
Timeline
Typically 60 to 120 days depending on portfolio size and data readiness. Larger or scattered-site portfolios fall toward the upper end; a focused 200- to 400-unit study often delivers in eight to ten weeks.
From Study to Strategy
Many of our engagements move directly from study into RAD conversion consulting once the property-by-property answers are in hand. The same team that produces the study implements the plan, which keeps institutional knowledge intact through closing.
Common Questions About Repositioning Studies
Does HUD require a repositioning study before RAD conversion?
HUD does not require a formal repositioning study before a CHAP. But the agencies that submit successful CHAPs almost always have one — because the study is what tells you which properties to convert first, what the post-conversion rents will support, and where the capital gap really sits.
How much does a repositioning study cost?
Cost scales with portfolio size, geographic spread, and the depth of analysis required. A focused study on a 200- to 400-unit portfolio is materially less than a multi-AMP study covering 1,500 units across a region. We scope and price after a no-cost first call.
Get a Data-Driven Assessment of Your Portfolio
Talk to a senior advisor about a study scoped to your portfolio, your timeline, and the HUD pathways your board is weighing.