WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO SELL YOUR RENT ROLL?
The answer to when the best time to sell your rent roll is when you’re ready and you know it’s time.
At various times of the year I find the calls/emails/enquiries increase, then drop off. The quietest time always tends to be Christmasmas through to the end of Summer School Holidays. Everyone downs tools and has a well deserved rest. Then it picks up again April into May after Easter as everyone tries to time their sale of their rent roll and/or business by the end of the financial year.
Once the financial year ends and a new one begins, I tell prospective vendors to get your rent roll and/or business on the market by the time Spring starts, or early September. You need a good 3 months runway leading into Christmas so you can get an exchange and/or settlement.
So what do you need to do or how can you be ready? Below are five key considerations;
- STAFF – if you’ve had some new staff start, high turnover, or your staff are just not settled, then get the culture right, have a harmonious environment, because when you do have the right buyer and you’ve exchanged, you need to sit down and tell the staff with no concerns of how the staff will react.
- SOFTWARE – are you on the latest property management software? It will save you the heartache and trouble of having a hassle free and more seamless data migration.
- VACANCIES – do you have higher vacancies in more seasonal times? Plan ahead and see when you have the least vacancies and highest retention of tenants.
- KEY PERSON – is there one staff member that has been with you for a long time and you really trust? It is hard to carry the burden of difficult decisions, bounce off decisions and in general making decisions. You may struggle to find your way around your PM software, and asking a key confidence for particular reports will ease this burden.
- PLANNING – know your rent roll. Understand key metrics, look at an appraisal/valuation at least 6 months out. Find out what will retain and increase the value as well as what you need to work on in order to have commercial terms when you do decide to sell that maximise the sale for you.
For more information and help with deciding when it is best to sell your rent roll, please feel free to give Matt Ciallella a call on 0414 668 972 or email at matt@mcrrb.com.au.