If you are someone who wants to sell a piece of commercial real estate, there will be a lot of things on your mind. However, two things are of particular importance, being, firstly, that you can sell for the best price and, secondly, that the property sells as quickly as it possibly can. To achieve this, you need to put a good selling strategy in place. Naturally, there are numerous strategies around that you can use to increase your chances of success, and good investors will have had an exit strategy in place since first buying the piece of commercial real estate.
While owning investment and commercial real estate properties can be a way to earn income or save your company from paying rent, there usually comes a time when you need to sell such an asset. Having a strategy in place can help you to maximize value by selling the property at the most opportune time, as opposed to selling it under duress when its value might be depressed.
In order to sell for as much money as possible, you need to get lots of people interested in the property in the first place. But those people have to be the right people, being those who have lots of money in their pockets, and who have a track record of paying their bills on time. You need this so that you can close as quickly as possible on your real estate. While exit strategies are good in terms of telling you when to sell, choosing who to sell to is often a little bit more of a guessing game.
That being said, one strategy is known to tick both the boxes at the same time, and that is auctioning a property. Doing so means you attract a wealth of buyers who all have the intention to make a purchase and who have the money ready to spend as well. That said, you first need to determine whether auctioning is right for you.
Auctioning is something to consider if you are selling a partially or fully leased commercial building. Your commercial real estate will be exposed to the broadest market. If your goal is to sell your commercial real estate to an owner occupant, auctioning is not the best avenue. But, stay tuned. The process will evolve and is worthy of a look in the future.
The future seems to now be here. Ten-X is this country’s biggest and most recognized real estate auction company that includes commercial real estate, and they have changed the way they operate.
Ten-X Commercial is the CRE marketplace that is a force multiplier for sellers, buyers and brokers. Ten-X precision-matches assets, accelerates close rates, and streamlines the entire transaction process with more than $50 billion in sales and increasing daily.
Now, they work together with any type of seller, including equity owners who have vacant properties to sell, equity owners who want to sell occupied income properties, and lenders who want to sell properties they have foreclosed on. Ten-X is known for their very popular live bid auction site, but they have now added an “offer select” and a “managed bid” alternative to it, which has truly changed the face of how commercial real estate is sold. For instance, one property in Yorba Linda, a 50% occupied office building, will be open for bidding between 26 and 28 February and the starting bid is currently $1.2 million.
In the past, the only way someone would be able to sell a piece of commercial real estate, would be to build ties with a commercial real estate broker. It is not unheard of for sellers to make the wrong decision at this point, which is really the starting point, simply because they do not understand the licensing process in California.
California salesperson applicants are not subject to any experiential requirements, but broker applicants must have at least two years of full-time experience. Both salespeople and brokers are subject to an educational requirement.
Brokers have strong and important marketing channels, which are closely guarded secrets. They ensure that potential buyers are made aware of the fact that there is a property available and they then start to conduct tours, gather offers and check those, negotiate what the terms and conditions will be, and enter an escrow. If all goes well, the broker will eventually close on the transaction. Often, this entire process takes between 90 and 150 days.
Sales usually involve a 30 day due diligence, 45-60 day financing contingency, and closing 15 days after all contingencies have expired. Total time 75-90 days on average.
However, Ten-X has completely changed this. Now, it is possible for a seller to work not just with a broker, but also with Ten-X, which means that the seller’s piece of commercial real estate is instantly marketed far and wide. This doesn’t cost the seller any extra money either, as Ten-X only charges the buyer, not the seller. Indeed, they have to pay between 1.5% and 5% on the total cost of the transaction. This may seem steep and it may seem that it could drive some buyers away, but it does also mean that those who take part in the auctions are those who have money to begin with. The difference in percentage of fees is down to how bidding happens – live bid, offer select, or managed bid.
So is this system something that you should consider if you want to sell your commercial real estate property? The short answer is: absolutely. It is vital that you make sure that a wide net is cast so that you can attract as many buyers as possible. Without that, you won’t get the highest possible price for the property either. Ten-X can’t guarantee that you will get as much as money as possible (although you can set an asking price). You do, however, get some guarantee that the transaction will close. This is because Ten-X vets all its buyers and, if they do not perform as agreed, they are charged very steep penalties.
