Six Reasons to Choose a Broker Over a Realtor for Your Sale

Thanks to changes to home sales commissions, realtors breaking into business brokerage has become a trend of the summer.

Earlier this year, a lawsuit settlement by The National Association of Realtors ended the standard 6 percent commission on home sales that had been an industry foundation. That change has led to many realtors branching out, and some have begun to try their hand at business brokerage.

At Sunbelt, our experts have worked with a variety of realtors over the years, and their property expertise is valuable for many.

But in reality, there is virtually no overlap between a business broker and realtor. The two roles occupy very different types of industries, and property expertise does not necessarily translate into expertise about buying or selling businesses.

Unfortunately, these industries are close enough that non-experts could be forgiven for assuming that realtors can do brokers’ jobs and vice versa.

In practice, however, our team has seen a lack of understanding from realtors getting into the brokerage business. Realtors are smart, and know how to find information about the process, but they don’t necessarily do the follow-up and legwork required to ensure that the standard they’ve researched applies to the company they’re working with.

If you’re thinking of hiring a realtor to help you buy or sell your business, here are 6 reasons a broker will be a better fit:

Valuation experience: When buying or selling a business, valuation is an enormous factor. But without the proper experience and knowledge of the process, an inaccurate valuation could mean that you either approach the process with unrealistic expectations or leave value on the table.

Methods of financing: Depending on the specifics of your transaction, there are a variety of methods available to assist you. But the process of acquiring that assistance, particularly with SBA loans, can be a complex one. Without an experienced broker by your side, you might miss out without realizing it.

Savvy decision-making: A realtor or other professional may be able to check the boxes of a sales process, but along the way there are decisions to be made. How do you know what the right calls are? Only through experience. Whether it’s providing too much information or not enough, a broker knows what they’re doing.

Access to buyers and sellers: Sunbelt not only has access to the largest private site for buyers to look for businesses — we have our own resources. Over our 18 years in business, we’ve built a buyer database based on our own actual experience. There, we know exactly what potential buyers are looking for.

Business knowledge and understanding: Realtors are excellent business people in the real estate field, but they’re not always experienced in operating other businesses with dozens of employees. Sunbelt experts know how your business works, and can help you see anomalies, frame important metrics and keep your operation moving during the sales process.

Experience with legal help: Often, realtors don’t need to bring in outside attorneys to finish real estate deals. But with a business acquisition, we know that working with attorneys is crucial. Our team and associated attorneys are experienced in going through contracts to spot red flags and suggest discussions for legal teams to review.

Our experts have seen owners struggle through the process with realtors, making financing processes that usually take 60 days stretch into 90 or even 120.

For a smooth, confident process, aim for experts who have been there before, seen the challenges of the process and who have successes to draw experience from.

Get in touch with us today to begin learning what the process could look like for you.

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