What should I do before listing my commercial property?

Decide what the sale needs to accomplish

Start with your desired timing, ownership considerations, and existing commitments. Ask counsel and your CPA whether the contemplated sale requires ownership approvals, lender consent, an exchange discussion, or other planning before the property is offered.

Tell the broker what is fixed and what is flexible. A target closing date, a required leaseback, a tenant’s option, or a financing restriction changes how an assignment should be prepared. Collect the underlying documents rather than summarizing a provision from memory.

Build an income file that a buyer can check

For occupied property, collect the executed leases, amendments, rent roll, collections, operating statements, and expense support. Include concessions, deposits, tenant improvement obligations, unpaid balances, and material disputes. Identify which periods each document covers.

Separate the historical operating record from any projected case. If you want the marketing to discuss potential rent or another use, ask the broker what evidence supports it and how it should be presented. An estimate should stay identified as an estimate.

Walk the property before choosing the work

Document visible condition and known maintenance issues. Review the roof, major systems, parking and access, drainage, interiors, signage, and vacant areas with the appropriate professionals. Identify repairs that are already obligations under a lease or another agreement.

Divide the work into safety or required work, documented maintenance, presentation, and optional capital improvements. Obtain actual quotes where a cost matters to the decision. Ask what the project is intended to address and whether the seller can complete it within the marketing plan.

Do not promise a repair-driven value increase

A repair expense does not establish an equivalent change in sale price. Ask the broker how the condition affects the proposed buyer pool, pricing evidence, and marketing position. Keep any alternative operating case separate from the current property.

For major work, compare completing it with selling subject to disclosure or a negotiated resolution. Have counsel address the disclosure and contract implications. The decision should use property-specific evidence, quoted costs, and your actual timing rather than a general claim that every improvement pays for itself.

Request a BOV with a clear purpose

Explain that the assignment concerns a potential sale and provide the documents needed for the review. Ask for the market evidence, the information still missing, and the assumptions that materially affect the opinion. A BOV is brokerage guidance, not an appraisal; Florida law preserves that distinction. See source 1.

Ask whether the proposed pricing reflects current occupancy, a vacant-delivery scenario, or future income. Those are different cases. The marketing should state which one is being offered and what must occur for another case to be realized.

Resolve the use and access questions

Identify the applicable planning jurisdiction and obtain available zoning, land-use, permit, and approval materials. Ask qualified professionals to reconcile the intended marketing description with those records. If a property has outdoor storage, special-use operations, or a proposed conversion, treat the authorization as a specific document question.

Supply any survey and known access, easement, restriction, or encroachment information to counsel and the broker. Do not market frontage as unrestricted access without verifying the relevant records and permissions. A buyer will still need its own due diligence.

Prepare photographs and a controlled document release

Use current, accurately labeled photographs. Show the actual spaces, condition, access, and improvements relevant to the assignment. Obtain permission and plan access around tenant operations. Keep conceptual renderings clearly identified.

With your broker and counsel, decide what information can be shared publicly, what requires confidentiality, and how buyers receive additional documents. Avoid publishing tenant financial information, security details, or sensitive personal information in an unrestricted download.

Your pre-listing checklist

• Sale objectives, ownership authority and timing documented.
• Income and expense records organized by period.
• Known condition and use issues identified.
• Necessary or selected work quoted and scheduled.
• BOV scope and proposed pricing case clear.
• Photography, property facts and marketing permissions checked.
• Sensitive documents and buyer-document access addressed.
• Contract and tax-planning questions routed to the appropriate advisers.

You do not need to make the property perfect. You need a clear record of what is being sold, what supports the asking position, and which issues remain for negotiation or investigation.

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