Selling a Commercial Property at Auction

If you are planning to sell a commercial property at auction you need to think about the following prior to beginning the auction process:

3. CPSE replies (commercial property standard enquiries) these are a list of questions (like the property information forms on a residential property) that provide potential buyers with important information about the property such as boundaries and maintenance, planning and environmental matters.  The issues that seem to cause the most difficulty for sellers is planning and evidence of planning permission for use along with VAT and capital allowances. It is important for the buyer to know whether VAT is payable on the purchase price, likewise a buyer may be wanting to claim capital allowances and needs information from the seller to assess such. It is wise to provide prospective buyers with as much information on the property prior to the date of the auction.
4. Searches, for properties not sold at auction the buyer will generally arrange for searches such as local, drainage and environmental to be completed after their offer has been accepted. When a property is being placed into auction I would advise the seller to provide searches as part of the auction pack and then within the contract request that the successful buyer pays the seller the costs of such searches.
5. Tenancies & Leases, If the property is subject these then copies of the tenancies/leases will need to be provided and referred to in the contract so that any buyer knows that the property is being sold occupied. Further details of the rents paid and whether there are any rent arrears will be required.

It is important with an auction property to get as much information together as quickly as so that you are able to attract as many buyers as possible.

We have extensive experience handling commercial properties sold at auction and would be happy to provide you with a quote for the work.

Please call our Commercial Property Team on 01623 468 468 so we can advise you on how to get started.