Preparing a restaurant for sale is no easy task, no matter which time of year you do it. That being said, however, there are better times to get your restaurant property ready for the market than others.
At the moment, we’re heading into the late-fall, early-winter season right before the holidays. And in our opinion, this is the best time for restaurant owners to start getting all of their (proverbial) ducks in a row and prepare to list in the new year.
To find out why November and December make up the best months of the year for restaurateurs to get their properties ready for sale, use our industry-influenced guide below to your advantage.
Busy Season Is Right Around The Corner
As we alluded to in our introduction, the best time for restaurateurs to list their properties for sale is at the start of the new year — sometime between January and April, to be precise. For those of us in the restaurant and retail real estate business, Q1 is when all the action takes place.
Whether that’s financially motivated because of the start of the new fiscal year or it allows for new restaurant buyers to build their new businesses and ramp up towards the busy summer season, Q1 is when buyers really start looking for properties.
That means that if you want to list your restaurant for sale during this annually hot window, it’s a good idea to get everything organized at least a few weeks in advance so you can hit the ground running.
Wondering how residential and commercial real estate transactions differ? Find out what you need to know about the world of restaurant real estate and how we’ve helped countless restaurant owners find success selling their businesses via our helpful links here:
Buyers Plan Over The Holidays
Although the holiday season always proves to be busy for restaurants and their owners, it’s also very customary for places to close down in the time between Christmas and New Year’s (along with the rest of the world).
Despite these temporary closures only lasting a short amount of time, it allows for restaurant owners to take a breather, regroup, and plan for the year ahead. Whether they currently own a restaurant or franchise or are looking to make their next foray into the industry, the holidays generally allow enough time for some solid new-year planning to take place.
Once January swings by again, eager restaurant buyers are ready to take action and enter the market for a new property, which is why you as a seller need to be ready to meet your potential buyers’ demands as soon as they are.
When selling any piece of real estate, it’s crucial to delve into the mind of your target market and adjust your listing to appeal to their specific needs. Find out exactly what we mean by that by reading our informative restaurant selling guides here:
- Preparing Your Restaurant For Sale? Here’s Where To Start
- Selling A Restaurant Business In Ontario: 5 Things To Know
It Takes Time To Prepare
Of course, getting your restaurant ready for sale is much easier said than done. Selling any kind of property is a process, and you can’t just get everything ready at the drop of a (chef’s) hat — especially if you want to maximize your profits.
Finding a qualified Realtor® or listing agent to help you sell your restaurant ahead of the busiest time of the year in the industry will take a lot of effort in itself, let alone completing the rest of your selling preparations.
Between making any necessary renovations or repairs, having professional restaurant inspections done, preparing all of your supplementary marketing materials, and then finally listing your restaurant on the market, you’re looking at at least a good few weeks of preparation.
Our advice is to start early and be ready early. The most bullish buyers will want to take possession of their new restaurants as soon as they can in the new year, and are oftentimes willing to pay whatever it takes to beat out other eager competition. You want your restaurant to be the one those early buyers fight bidding wars over, not the listing that pops up for sale after the serious buyers are already gone.
Getting your restaurant ready for sale is one thing, but knowing how to prepare it in order to earn the highest returns possible is another. Get our tips on how you can introduce your listing to the market in its best light below.
- How To Present Your Restaurant For The Best Sales Price
- 5 Tips For Marketing Your Restaurant For Sale
Patio Season Is Over
While Ontario recently has passed laws that once again allow for indoor dining at restaurants to take place, there’s no doubt that many restaurants, cafes, and eateries seat fewer guests when their outdoor patios shut up shop for the colder part of the year.
Although many restaurants tend to gross lower profits once patio season comes to an end, it does allow restaurateurs some time to regroup. During the winter months, restaurant owners generally have more time and energy to allocate towards other matters, like their menus, their staff and resources, and of course, their restaurant location.
Realistically speaking, no restaurant wants to launch a new location in the middle of prime patio season — instead, they’d ideally want to have their restaurants ready for business at the start of it. Therefore, in order to ensure their restaurants don’t miss out on those tasty patio profits, restaurant owners will want to launch new locations before things start to heat up come the summer.
When it makes the most sense for your buyers to buy, that’s when you as a seller should sell. And in order to get you and your restaurant ready for then, you’ll need to start preparing now.
Step #1 to any successful real estate sale starts with determining a property’s current market value. To get a professional appraisal of what your restaurant’s currently worth in today’s market, simply click “Get An Evaluation” here.
