Unlock the equity.
Keep the keys.
A sale-leaseback converts the building you own into working capital while your business stays exactly where it is: you sell the real estate to an investor and sign a long-term lease at closing. For Florida owner-operators sitting on years of appreciation, it is often the cheapest capital available.
In a sale-leaseback, you sell your building to an investor and simultaneously sign a 10-to-15-year lease, receiving the full market value in cash while your business keeps operating in place. The rent you agree to determines the price an investor pays, so structuring the lease correctly is where the value is won or lost. It suits owner-operators with real equity and a better use for the capital than the walls holding it.
Four owners who should be looking at this.
The growth operator
Your business earns more per dollar deployed in operations than the building appreciates. The leaseback moves dead equity into inventory, equipment, locations, or acquisitions.
The pre-exit owner
Selling the business in the next few years? Business acquirers rarely want your real estate. Separating it now, on your terms, cleans up the eventual deal and often raises the total take.
The concentrated retiree
Most of your net worth is one building your business happens to occupy. The leaseback converts that concentration into diversifiable capital without disrupting the company.
The refinance refugee
The loan is maturing and the refinance math no longer works. A leaseback pays off the debt entirely and releases the remaining equity, with rent replacing debt service.
Lease first, then price, then market.
Underwrite the building and the rent
We value the property and establish the market rent your space would command. The spread between rent scenarios and resulting sale prices is modeled explicitly, so you choose the trade-off with numbers in front of you.
Structure the lease
Term, escalations, renewal options, maintenance responsibilities, and assignment rights. Investors price certainty, so a clean triple-net lease with a credible tenant story is what compresses the cap rate and raises your proceeds.
Market to leaseback buyers
Sale-leasebacks sell to a specific pool: net-lease investors, 1031 exchangers hunting stabilized income, and funds that specialize in owner-operator credit. We market the package quietly to that pool rather than listing your building as if it were vacant.
Close and keep operating
Sale and lease sign simultaneously; the business never misses a day. You leave the closing table with the equity in hand and a lease you helped write, instead of one you inherited.
Frequently asked
What is a sale-leaseback?
You sell your building to an investor and simultaneously sign a long-term lease, typically 10 to 15 years with renewal options and annual escalations. You receive the full equity in cash at closing and keep operating in the same location. The investor gets a stabilized, income-producing property with you as the tenant.
How is the sale price determined?
By the lease you sign. Investors capitalize the rent: annual rent divided by a market cap rate equals price. A higher rent produces a higher sale price but a larger ongoing obligation, so the structure is a dial, not a fixed number. We model rent-versus-price scenarios so you pick the point that fits your capital need and operating comfort.
Who is a sale-leaseback right for?
Owner-operators with meaningful equity trapped in their real estate and a better use for the capital: funding growth, paying down expensive debt, buying out a partner, diversifying a concentrated net worth, or preparing a future business sale. It fits businesses committed to their location; it does not fit operations likely to relocate soon.
What lease terms should I expect to sign?
Most institutional buyers want 10 to 15 year initial terms, absolute or triple-net structure (you continue paying taxes, insurance, and maintenance, as you already do as the owner), 2% to 3% annual escalations, and renewal options. Everything is negotiable before the sale; nothing is after. Getting the lease right is most of our job.
How does a sale-leaseback compare to refinancing?
A refinance typically releases a fraction of the equity (lenders cap loan-to-value) and adds debt service. A sale-leaseback releases the full market value in cash with no debt on your balance sheet, in exchange for rent. When rates are high or lending is tight, the leaseback frequently delivers more usable capital. Your CPA should weigh in on the tax treatment of each path.
Are there tax consequences?
Selling triggers gain recognition like any sale, and your future rent becomes a deductible operating expense. Some sellers pair the sale with a 1031 exchange into other investment property. The right structure depends on your basis and plans; this is general information, not tax advice, and we coordinate with your CPA from the first conversation.
Start with the building's value.
The first number in any leaseback analysis is what your building is worth today. We provide that free, then model the rent and price scenarios if the number gets your attention.