Why 90% of developers overpay for feasibility studies

The invoice is not the expensive part. A $7,000–$15,000 consulting study looks like a line item. The hidden cost is the three weeks you cannot iterate, the second fee when the landowner changes mix, and the sites you never tested because the budget only covered one shot.

Where the money actually goes

• Waiting — opportunity cost on land that is still in play.
• Version tax — every scenario is a variation order, not a toggle.
• Format tax — rebuilding Excel into Word into PowerPoint so the board can read it.
• Data gravity — your assumptions live on the consultant’s laptop, so the next study starts from zero.

A better cost structure

Platform access should not cost what a mid-market consultant charges per month. FeasiBuild is $99 lifetime access, then pay-as-you-use per report — from $19 — with the first report free. You keep the engine. You buy the study when you need the pack.

The hidden costs of traditional consulting that nobody talks about are time, iteration, and the deals you never ran.

Overpaying is not a moral failing. It is what happens when the only institutional-looking output on the market is a three-week engagement. That is no longer the only option.