As the market leader in Las Vegas Commercial Property Management and Brokerage, we are committed to not just meeting, but to surpassing the expectations of our clients. One of the contributing factors to that success is transparency.
We believe in being open and honest with our clients and will never play the stereotypical “broker game”—for example, telling you we have hidden buyers then having you drop the price later. To that end, we have compiled a list of our clients’ commonly asked questions and will publish the answers as a series of blogs.
In this blog, we will answer the commonly asked question: How Long Will it Take to Sell My Property in the Las Vegas Market?
We Don’t Have a Crystal Ball
There are many factors that will affect the time it takes to sell your property, so there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question. Some of the factors like market conditions, economic trends, buyer/tenant demand, property type and location cannot be controlled by you or your broker. Other factors like property condition and pricing can be controlled by you and your broker.
Just the same, you want your broker to be the quarterback of your transaction. So, it’s important to choose a good one who has your objectives at heart and pays attention to details—one who:
- Asks the right questions at each step
- Holds people accountable for meeting deadlines/timelines
- Follows up with all parties to ensure each step stays on target
- Does what is necessary to meet your sale objectives
You may think that all brokers do these things, but that’s not always the case. So, it’s important to choose the right quarterback who understands what you want and how to get it. Your broker influences how the property is marketed and the preparations for the sale. This is where the details come into play. You can count on MDL Group to help develop the best strategies for your sale for the factors that are in your control.
Pricing
One of the most important factors affecting the sale time frame is the pricing strategy. Pricing dictates the amount of inquiries your listing will receive, so it’s important to determine your goals and properly align your pricing strategy to your motivations for a sale. We will provide a Broker’s Price Opinion or BPO (sometimes referred to as a Broker Opinion of Value or BOV) based on your objectives.
For example, you may want to get the absolute most value from your asset, so you may price your listing higher and “wait and see” if you get any bites at that price. In this case, it is always good to have a contingency plan to adjust/reduce the pricing in 30-45 days if you’re not getting the inquiries that you want. Or maybe you need the cash and your objective is to price the property to sell quickly. In either case, we will use our experience to work with you to determine the price point that meets your needs and adjust based on market reaction.
Phases of the Sale
There are many phases to the sale of a property. Below is a list of the phases and typical or average timeframes for each:
- Market Penetration: up to 30-45 days
- Inquiries: up to 30-60 days
- Tours/Showing: up to 30-60 days
- Letters of Intent (LOI)/Proposals: up to 14-45 days
- Negotiation of LOI: up to 5-30 days
- Negotiation of Purchase Sale Agreement (PSA): up to 14-30 days
- Commercial Escrow: up to 90-120 days. This could include:
- Earnest Money Deposit: Within 5 days of opening escrow
- Due Diligence/Inspection Period: 30-90 days
(depends on what is negotiated and the complexity of the property; can be longer if zoning/entitlements are required)
- Funding:
- Cash buyer: can take as little as a few days to wire the money
- Lender: up to 30-90 days for loan approval, appraisal, loan docs, and lender funding. This process is contingent on the buyer providing the lender what they need in a timely manner.
- Closing: up to 24-48 hours after escrow receives everything from both buyer and seller. I could include:
- Signing of closing documents by buyer and seller
- Recording of the deed with the municipality
- Releasing of the deed and possession of the property to the buyer
- Releasing of proceeds to the seller
Average Time Estimates
Start to finish a commercial real estate transaction could take as little as 30 days if the pricing is attractive (“fire sale”) and you find a cash buyer, or 6-9 months when you consider marketing time and the normal/average amount of time it takes to complete each step.
The bottom line: we will consider the current market, your sale objectives and a host of other factors to determine the right price and give you a time estimate to sell your asset. But there are no guarantees on time—the only guarantee is that we will do everything in our control to meet your objectives.
For more answers to your commercial real estate questions, check back to the MDL Group Learning Center for the next blog in our series of “Answering Our Brokerage Clients’ Most Commonly Asked Questions” – How long will it take to lease my commercial property?
