Generally, there are three options available to you, firstly you can sell your business or your unit yourself, secondly you can appoint a single commercial agent and finally you could go down a joint agency approach of selling your business For most situations, a full open marketing approach is often the best way forward to ensure you achieve the best possible price in the current market conditions.

The best way is to employ a specialist commercial property agent. A competent agent should be able to market your business or unit to the largest number of potential purchasers and specially target the most likely buyers. This will ensure that the optimum sale price is agreed.

The difference between attracting an offer that is acceptable and negotiating the maximum price can be significant when selling commercial property effectively.

smarthomes commercial offer a free market appraisal, carried out in complete confidence, which will include a realistic assessment as to the likely achievable values. We also give advice on marketing your business to meet each individuals’ requirements. Also, we must stress that as a business owner you should at this stage get all your financial and legal paperwork in order - this will save a lot of time in both assessing the business value and in the future marketing and selling commercial property process.

It will also make your business appear more professional and will make it harder for a potential buyer to knock the purchase price down.

The majority of business owners look for a broad, open marketing campaign to hopefully achieve the best price when selling commercial property in the shortest time. Alternatively, you may need a confidential approach to the sale of your business, to ensure your staff, customers and direct competitors remain unaware of your intentions to sell.

• Commercial agency fees for freehold leisure and retail properties are generally a percentage of the sale price, often with a minimum fee having been negotiated.
  
  
• Leasehold leisure and retail units can involve a fee based on the percentage of rent plus a percentage on the sale price, however, minimum fees or fixed fees are commonly applied.
  
  
• Some agents will charge for advertising when selling commercial property, either at the start or at the end of the contract. They may also charge you costs, in additional to their fee.
  
  
• smarthomes offer our clients an individual, personalised fee structure which will be bespoke to the business or retail unit but it’s not about the size of the fee, it’s about what you get for it. Fees vary by agent, as does the quality of the work they do. What is important to consider is value for your money.

• We’re often asked how long it will take to sell a freehold or leasehold business. Some property sales can be concluded in very quick circumstances, in a matter of hours or days. In other cases, property sales could take over a year.
  
  
• We’ll look at the basic timings and stages of a typical sale to provide a breakdown of what is involved. From confirming your instructions to going on the market, this can take a couple of weeks when selling commercial property. Plans, profit and loss accounts, EPC’s, and title documents etc all need to be obtained, sales particulars will be drafted for your approval, and email marketing material made ready. Moving forward, email marketing will be undertaken, hot buyers contacted from our personalised database, multiple operators contacted, sale boards erected, and website listings activated. smarthomes offer a personalised approach to selling commercial property and will monitor the ongoing marketing activity with a continued email marketing, advertising, and web listings campaign.
   
• Our experienced sales team at smarthomes commercial have excellent personal skills to ensure your sale is not only agreed but proceeds to a positive conclusion at the best possible price in the market at that time - within a realistic time frame which suits all parties.