HOW TO PREPARE YOUR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FOR SALE
Planning to sell your commercial property in Atlanta, Marietta or surrounding cities? Give us a call and we can talk you through how to prepare your commercial property for the sales process.
FIND AND PREPARE ALL DOCUMENTATION ON THE PROPERTY
Your first task when you’re getting ready to sell your commercial property is to gather all the documentation you have on the property. You should have it organized and ready to provide to the Brokers you interview about listing the property. This will help the Broker fully understand your property and craft the go-to-market strategy. The list is long so give yourself time to prepare. Not all of these documents may be handy and you may have to reach out to third party vendors. It is much better to have these documents ready now, rather than scrambling during due diligence or escrow.
Here are some of the items you should have:
LLC documents showing proof of ownership. This is also a good time to renew your LLC with the state if your entity registration is expired.
If leased, all current leases and if available, lease abstracts.
If leased, rent roll for the last 12 months. Put this in an easy to read format. Buyers will need this!
Expense reports showing maintenance, repair and CapEx expenditures for trailing 12-24 months
Two years of Schedule E tax returns.
Most recent ALTA survey
Building floor plans, site plans or architectural drawings. Not every owner has these and that is okay. Provide what you can.
Any service contracts you have including Property Management, Sanitation, Landscaping, and HVAC.
Loan statements.
Documentation on any liens. Do not try and hide this from your Broker! An honest discussion up front will save time, energy and money down the line.
Any previous environmental reports (Phase 1 reports)
Title Insurance Policy.
If you are in a business park and subject to a community association you should provide the CCRs, Bylaws and access to meeting minutes. You should contact your community association and ensure you are up to date on payments and determine if there is a fee for any transfer of ownership or fee for any documentation.
REVIEW THE PROPERTY’S PHYSICAL CONDITION.
Take some time and walk around your building. Review the physical condition of the property. Is the landscaping overgrown? Are the parking lot lights out? Is the asphalt in the parking lot crumbling? How are the interior ceiling tiles? Has anyone peaked into the storage room to check for leaks? Take notes to see if there are any parts of the property that are in need of clean up and repair.
MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PROPERTY.
If there is a glaring issue on the property, improve it! The buyers will notice it and likely deduct more from the purchase price than it costs to simply take care of it now.
DEFINE YOUR GOALS.
Why do you want to sell this commercial property? What is important to you? Do you want the most money possible? Do you just need to sell it quickly? Take some time and determine what goals you want to accomplish so you can articulate that to your Broker.
