If you want to sell your Charlotte Office Space this fall, start doing these things now

 

When trying to forecast the future Charlotte office space, most experts look at pending office sales. If they’re consistently trending upward, we can comfortably look forward to a robust near-future.

 

With ever-shrinking inventories of available office properties and the corresponding rise in prices, what will happen in autumn is anyone’s guess at this point. But right now, with expanding job growth and continued low interest rates, it appears that the fall office-selling market will be somewhat robust.

So, if you’re among those hoping to sell their office Charlotte office space this fall, we have put together some tips to help you get started. And, by the way, now is the best time to start.

1. Choose your commercial real estate broker now

Think about the appearance of the exterior of your office in fall. Leaves change color and begin falling from trees, the lawn may begin going dormant and, if temperatures dip, those colorful summer annuals lose their charm.

When office buyers are perusing the CMLS for offices to view in person, they view the office’s photo first. If what they see isn’t compelling, they’ll click to the next office space on their list. So, if you wait until fall to choose your commercial real estate broker, your office will look like all the others – with leaf-covered or brown lawns and twiggy trees.

If you hire your commercial broker right away, you can request that the exterior photos be taken now, while the office space’s curb appeal is at its most attractive. Come fall, when you put the office on the market, the photos of your office space will stand out from all the others, impressing buyers enough to want to view it in person.

2. Get maintenance out of the way

Consider having the HVAC system serviced. Summer is rough on the system and dust and dirt can accumulate around the outdoor components, restricting air flow during fall and winter. The lack of fresh air circulating in the office space during showings can become a deal killer.

Get the gutters cleaned out now to avoid problems during a rainy day showing. While you’re up there, look for holes and check the connections. If you get these small repairs out of the way now, you avoid having to do them during messy weather.

3. Staging your Charlotte office space now for autumn buyers

The most important thing you can do when you’re considering how to stage the office space in any season is to bring in as much light as possible. It’s even more important in fall and winter since days get shorter, and office interiors become darker, earlier. Yes, leaving the blinds and curtains open helps, but you may want to consider beefing up the interior lighting of the office space as well.

Buy new lamps for dark corners and add brighter bulbs to fixtures that could use them. Then, leave the lights on (yes, all of them) before leaving on days you expect a tour.

4. Curb appeal still matters

Probably the most challenging aspect of a fall home sale is keeping the yard free of plant debris. As we get closer to the time you’ll be putting the home on the market, rake the landscaping as needed and keep it up consistently during the showing period.

Consider planting some fall color as well, such as rust-colored and yellow mums. Even if they’re planted in pots that line the walkway or are clustered attractively on the porch, that pop of color will catch buyers’ eyes.

Think about leaving any patio furniture outdoors just a smidge longer than usual so that you can stage the deck or patio to appeal to buyers. Give the furniture a good cleaning and then arrange it tastefully so that buyers can picture themselves entertaining in that spot.

5. Finally, organize your storage areas. Sure, you don’t read much about staging storage areas, but it’s just as important (if not more so to some buyers) as staging the other areas of your office. If you use yours for storage, start with de-cluttering it, purge items you no longer use or need and then organize what’s left.

Toss all the information you’ve collected on summer Charlotte office sale because selling in fall is a somewhat different process. Thankfully, we are still experiencing a seller’s market so along with the advantages inherent in this type of market, you’ll have even less competition from other sellers than you would have if you’d decided to sell in summer.

If you are considering selling this fall, or any time for that matter, contact us and we’ll give you our recommendations on how to price your Charlotte office space based on current conditions and we’ll get those all-important exterior photos taken now.