Do you want to sell to one of the big boys?

If you have been running your agency for any length of time, then you will have been approached many times by larger corporate agencies and chains to see if you are interested in selling to them. They might have offered a generous price.

Many independent letting agencies do not want to sell to large corporate agencies and chains on principle, because they value the flexibility and the personal touch of being independent. For them, selling is about a lot more than just getting the best price. It is also about seeing the independent brand and business they have set up remain and thrive.

For independent agents, selling is about a lot more than getting the best price. It is also about seeing the business they built remain and thrive.

However, when you have been offered a generous price it is sometimes difficult to discount the option of selling to such buyers.

Not all large corporate and chain buyers will act unscrupulously, but there is a considerable mismatch when selling to a buyer like this. If you are selling to another independent letting agency, then it is likely that you are both relatively inexperienced when it comes to buying and selling businesses. When you are dealing with a larger corporate buyer, on the other hand, they will have a whole team of people focusing full-time on acquisitions, and a team of very experienced lawyers ready to impose a long list of conditions and clawbacks which heavily favour the buyer.

Unfortunately, there are many examples of letting agencies being sold to corporate buyers where the seller has not received anything beyond the initial payment, because they fall foul of all of the clawbacks and conditions. Obviously, if the seller chooses to challenge this, then the buyer has a legal team and a budget that make a court process too expensive for the seller to consider.

So think very carefully about whether you want to consider offers from larger corporate buyers and chains. While the offer price might initially be attractive, you could end up regretting it.