A panel of legal and financial experts at the Asian American Hotel Owners Association annual convention last week had some sobering answers for owners with questions about distressed properties.

“None of your properties are worth what you paid 10 years ago,” said Rupali Patel Shah, founder of RPS Legal Solutions. The panel—which also included Mubeen Aliniazee, the chief financial officer of Coldwell Banker’s Commercial Loan Workout Division, and Kirtan Patel, a managing partner at law firm Kumar Pathak—agreed the first and most important step to a loan workout was reviewing and understanding what you signed.

Shah said an afternoon spent on the Internet could provide you with enough background to understand your loan documents, and a lawyer wasn’t necessary at that point. She also stressed owners needed to separate themselves from the property and take a close look at the profit and loss statement.

“I encourage them to be optimistic, but realistic,” she said. “The billion dollar question is how are we going to deal with that valuation and loss. Some owners don’t want to accept that and some dig in and think they’ll recover and things will get back.”

Patel and Aliniazee agreed one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that what works for one person will work for them. “If your cousin got it, do not assume you will,” Patel told the audience. “Lenders are hard to understand. Each property is unique, each lender is unique, each special servicer is unique.”

The panel did end on a positive note as Patel and Aliniazee talked of the opportunities available to those with access to capital. Shah said owners should take advantage of this reset to understand their loans and assets and to make sure they never get in this position again.