When you sell a property, the sale price is like the roof on the house — your total return isn’t complete until it’s topped by the sale price, which determines the total rate of return over the life of your investment.
So if maximizing the sale price is the goal, why wouldn’t an investor do everything possible to hit the top number? There are several paths an investor can take when it’s time to sell.
1. Sell It Yourself
With the wave of demand seen over the last couple of years, why not just sell privately to one of the many investors who approach you directly? The reason is competition: the more exposure your property gets to the market, the more competition there is, and the higher the price. Limiting who can see your property and make offers simply limits your offers.
2. Sell With a Broker Who Keeps It Private
Many investment brokers operate behind closed marketing doors, limiting information about a for-sale property to a select group of buyers. The rationale is to keep buyers qualified — which matters — but limiting market exposure has the same effect: fewer offers. This strategy has become common enough that some buyers assume a publicly advertised property has already been passed on by other investors.
3. List Openly With a Cooperating Broker
The SVN network is built on the premise of openly sharing listings and cooperating between the listing broker and selling broker. Exposing a property to as broad a market as possible always benefits the seller by creating competition, which drives a higher price.
SVN International’s “9.6% Report” found that commercial properties marketed openly with broker cooperation sold for 9.6% more than non-cooperative listings. For multifamily properties, the difference was even starker — 18.4% more than listings that weren’t exposed to the public market.
Why such a stark difference? Market exposure and multiple offers always drive up price, netting the seller far more in the end.
When it comes time to put the roof on your investment and sell the asset you’ve worked for, keep information sharing in mind — and make sure you don’t miss out on that extra value.
