The T12 is groomed. Every operator knows it. Every broker knows it. Every seller who has owned a deal for three years and is now optimizing the exit knows it. The only person who acts surprised at close is the buyer who underwrote it like it was audited by someone who didn’t need the deal to close. It wasn’t. What gets groomed isn’t always income. This post covers the other direction. Real costs, actually incurred, that should have reduced NOI but didn’t, because they got parked on the balance sheet instead. Six ways this happens. Warning: contains accounting. Side effects include paranoia, deal re-pricing, and strongly worded emails to your broker.