Top-five tips to divest unneeded corporate real estate (Part 3)

3. Learn and understand the competition and context to set terms and price.

Know the worst and best possible terms and price that the market has accepted for similar properties. Often those surveying and valuing the property aren’t given the context behind the disposal by the vendor. If a company wants to sell a property quickly, the sales price would be very different than if they were prepared to wait for the long-term. Although this may seem elementary, it is often overlooked.

It is critical to state whether the pricing will be used for insurance, to buy the site, sell the site, or for some other use. When pricing a site, the written instructions should be clear that the reason for the pricing is to set both worst and best case pricing for selling or leasing in the near future. This simple instruction will best provide the corporation with more realistic, achievable targets.