NovLiquidity scorecard
This is not an essay on what liquidity is. It is a blank. You take the two or three units you are actually considering, run them through the same criteria with the same weights, and end up with comparable scores. A score here means one thing only: easier to exit than the neighbouring option in your own table. No market-wide ratings, no league tables, and no verdict on whether to buy at all.
Four rules for filling it in
The sheet only works if the rules below hold. Break any one of them and the total stops meaning anything.
- Compare your own options only. The table takes units where you have access to the documents and to the seller. An abstract "average property in the city" does not go in as a fourth column.
- The scale is relative: 2 / 1 / 0. 2 is the best among your units on that criterion, 1 is the middle, 0 is the weakest. With two units only 2 and 0 are used. Ties are allowed: if there is no difference, both get 1 and the criterion simply drops out of the result.
- An empty cell is not a zero. No data means leave it blank and mark it as an open question. Zero means a verified loss, blank means unverified. Totalling a column with two or more blanks is pointless.
- One date. All answers are gathered in the same time window. Month-old data on one unit and today's data on another produces a comparison that does not exist.
Criteria, weights and where the answer comes from
The weights add up to 100 and follow one logic: what most affects the exit is whatever narrows the pool of possible buyers, not whatever spoils the impression. You can change the weights to suit your horizon — but before filling the sheet in, not after you have seen the result.
| Criterion | Weight | What exactly is compared | Where the answer comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Documents and their readiness | 20 | How complete and confirmed the file on the unit is: the contract with all annexes, the title route, payment status, absence of arrears | Draft contract, a request for current extracts and certificates, a lawyer's answer to a written list of questions |
| Competition inside the building | 15 | How many comparable units in the same building are on sale at the same time or could come to market | Public listings at the address, a question to the management company about units on sale, developer stock |
| Mortgage availability to a local buyer | 15 | Whether your future resident buyer can obtain bank financing on this building and this type of documentation | A direct question to two or three banks about the specific building; the answer must be about the property, not "in principle, yes" |
| Price band | 15 | Which price band the unit lands in on resale and how wide the layer of buyers is for whom that sum is reachable | Your own effective entry price plus costs, set against the bands of your other units |
| Typicality of the layout | 10 | How ordinary the layout is for the building: are there analogues, or is the unit one of a kind | Floor plans, the seller's table of layout types, comparison with neighbouring floors |
| Share of investors among owners | 10 | Who owns the units — residents or landlords — and how synchronously they could come to market | Observable occupancy, share of units let out, a question to the management company about the owner mix |
| Condition and furniture | 8 | How ready the unit is for occupation and for viewings: finishes, completeness, spend needed before sale | An inspection or detailed photo record, the furniture specification, the condition report |
| Management company restrictions | 7 | What the house rules prohibit or limit: letting, alterations, assignment, agent access, approval procedures | The text of the house rules and the management agreement, not a verbal summary at a meeting |
The blank
Copy the table and fill one column per unit. Scores go in after the answers have been collected for all the units being compared, not one at a time as they arrive.
| Criterion | Weight | Unit A | Unit B | Unit C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documents and their readiness | 20 | — | — | — |
| Competition inside the building | 15 | — | — | — |
| Financing availability | 15 | — | — | — |
| Price band | 15 | — | — | — |
| Typicality of the layout | 10 | — | — | — |
| Share of investors among owners | 10 | — | — | — |
| Condition and furniture | 8 | — | — | — |
| Management company restrictions | 7 | — | — | — |
| Total (sum of score × weight) | — | — | — | — |
| Empty cells | — | — | — | — |
The arithmetic
Score times weight, products added up. The maximum on a fully completed sheet is 200 (a score of 2 on all eight criteria), the minimum is 0. The numbers below are invented and shown only to illustrate the sequence of steps.
| Criterion | Weight | Unit A: score → contribution | Unit B: score → contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Documents and their readiness | 20 | 2 → 40 | 0 → 0 |
| Competition inside the building | 15 | 0 → 0 | 2 → 30 |
| Financing availability | 15 | 2 → 30 | 0 → 0 |
| Price band | 15 | 1 → 15 | 1 → 15 |
| Typicality of the layout | 10 | 0 → 0 | 2 → 20 |
| Share of investors | 10 | 2 → 20 | 0 → 0 |
| Condition and furniture | 8 | 0 → 0 | 2 → 16 |
| Management restrictions | 7 | 1 → 7 | 1 → 7 |
| Total | 100 | 112 | 88 |
A gap of 24 points out of 200 is about twelve per cent of the scale. By the reading rule below that gap already counts — but note how it was built. Unit A wins on documents and financing, that is, on what widens the pool of buyers; unit B wins on condition and typicality, that is, on what can be bought later or matters only at a viewing. The same size of gap means different things depending on which criteria produced it.
How to read the result
The total does not turn into a verdict on its own. Read it in four steps.
- A gap under 10 points is noise. At that distance the difference is explained by how you assigned the scores, not by the units. Conclusion: on liquidity the options are equal, decide on other grounds.
- A gap of 10–30 points is a preference, not a verdict. One option exits more easily, but the difference can be offset by entry price or contract terms. That is a reason to negotiate, not to walk away.
- A gap above 30 points means different jobs. The units have stopped being alternatives to each other: they are aimed at a different next buyer and a different holding period. Comparing them further on one scale is not meaningful; go back to which exit scenario you actually need.
- Check what built the gap. A lead built on the criteria weighted 20 and 15 is durable — it is about the pool of buyers. A lead built on condition, furniture and house rules is fragile: those positions move with money and time.
What cancels the total
Three situations in which the total is not calculated at all, however good a column looks.
- An open question on documents. Until the file on the unit is confirmed, the criterion weighted 20 stays blank — and a fifth of the scale rests on it alone. Documents first, arithmetic after.
- The answer came verbally only. A spoken "yes, the bank will lend" or "yes, you can let it out" does not become a score. A score is entered against a document or a written reply; otherwise the cell stays empty.
- The terms of comparison diverged. If on one unit you talk to the seller directly and on another through an intermediary with no access to paperwork, you are comparing your access to information, not the units.
When to redo the sheet
A completed sheet is a snapshot, not a permanent property of a unit. It is worth recalculating if the number of units on sale in the building changes, if the house rules or the management agreement change, if a bank answer on the specific building arrives where there was none, if your entry price shifts after costs are recalculated, or if a missing document joins the file. Each of those events touches exactly one row — there is no need to redo the whole sheet, just move one score and add up again.
What to work through alongside
The sheet compares ease of exit only and does not replace the other checks:
- Investment mandate — the limits you do not cross, whoever wins in the table.
- Deal stress test — what happens to your numbers if the exit takes longer than planned.
- Due diligence scope and roles — who actually obtains the answers for the documents and house rules rows.
- Exit strategy and resale and exit — what happens once the decision to sell has been made.
Filled the sheet in and got a tie? We will go through your two or three options row by row and show where the answer is not actually collected and the score was assigned on impression. No yield promises and no pressure on timing.
Review my shortlistTelegramFrequently asked questions
Why are there no market-wide scores in this sheet?
Because an absolute liquidity rating needs data on actual transactions, time on market and negotiated discounts, and that data is rarely available to a private buyer in verifiable form. The sheet solves a more modest and more achievable task: among the options you are already looking at, it shows which one is likely to be easier to exit. A score here means only "better than the neighbour in the same row", not "good" or "bad" in general.
How many units is it worth comparing at once?
Two or three. With two units the scale collapses into "better or worse", and that is usually enough for a decision. With three you get a middle, and it becomes visible who lags on several criteria at once. With four or more, filling the sheet costs more time than it returns: some of the data will be gathered superficially, and the comparison becomes less honest than it looks.
What if there is no data for a criterion?
Leave the cell empty and mark it as an open question rather than scoring a zero. Zero means "checked, and worse than the others"; an empty cell means "not checked". The difference matters: in the second case you go and get the data instead of adding up a total. If a column has more than two empty cells, it is too early to total that unit.
Is the highest total the decision to buy?
No. The sheet compares ease of exit only and says nothing about price, yield, build quality or whether the property fits your objectives. It answers one question: if the decision to buy has been made, which option are you likely to sell more easily. The result is meant to be checked against your investment mandate and stress test, not to replace them.
Sources
NovAsia editorial corpus on preparing an investment decision · practice of supporting buyers in Phnom Penh · verified in July 2026. There are no market figures on this page: prices, rents, time on market and discount levels are not quoted, and the numbers in the arithmetic section are invented purely to demonstrate the sequence of steps. The criterion weights are an editorial construction, not an industry standard. This material is for general information, is not individual investment, legal or tax advice, and contains no promise of a result.