Failing to plan is planning to fail

Hopefully it is clear from all of the points above that selling your letting agency is a complex process. It requires a lot of planning if you are to get the most from it, both in terms of the price and in terms of the interest you attract.

Ideally you should be looking at any potential sale of your letting agency two to five years ahead, and preparing it from that point. The longer you have, and the better you plan, the easier and more profitable the process will be for you. You need to present the best face of the business when it comes to sell, and that may take a little time to shape.

Spending time now on improving the efficiency of the business, improving profitability, cutting costs, setting up systems and structures, converting one-off income into recurring income and making sure the compliance paperwork is all in order, will pay huge dividends when you come to sell.

Make sure you sell from a position of strength.

Decide what you would be happy with

One last thing, and it is the step most owners skip. Before you talk to anyone, decide what you would be happy with. Not what you hope for, but what you would genuinely shake hands on and walk away content.

Most owners never do this, and end up reacting to somebody else’s number instead of their own. If your figure turns out to be more than the business can support, a straight buyer will tell you so and take you through the arithmetic, rather than just walking away.

Make sure you sell from a position of strength.