Retiring owners
Selling a hotel or motel when you are ready to retire
You have run the place for years. A sale should let you stop on a date you choose, with the property still performing and the people in it looked after.
Deciding when to sell
Owner-operators tend to sell later than they meant to. The property still earns, there is always one more season, and nobody else knows how the boiler behaves. Meanwhile the hours do not get shorter.
Sell while the numbers are good
A buyer pays for the trailing twelve months. If you have begun to ease off, closing rooms you cannot staff or letting rates drift, the income a buyer sees is already falling. A retirement sale goes best when it starts while the owner is still fully engaged.
Before the next big expense
A roof, a renovation cycle or a brand's improvement plan each ask for capital that takes years to earn back. If one is approaching, compare funding it with selling before it. Owners of flagged hotels can read selling ahead of a franchise renewal or PIP.
What a buyer needs from an owner-operator
The business lives partly in your head, and a buyer needs it on paper.
Financials that stand on their own
Tax returns, lodging tax filings, bank statements and monthly room revenue. If you and your family work without wages, a buyer will add the cost of replacing that labor, as explained under how an owner-run motel is priced.
How the place actually runs
Vendors, service contracts, seasonal patterns, repeat accounts, the quirks of the building. A few pages of notes written before a sale are worth more than a week of phone calls after it.
Who works there
Roles, tenure and pay for each employee, including anyone who lives on site. Staff need not be told at this stage.
The handover and life after closing
A transition period
Buyers often ask a retiring owner to stay reachable for a short time after closing, to answer questions and introduce key accounts. Whether you do, for how long and whether it is paid are terms to negotiate, and they belong in the purchase agreement.
If you live on the property
Selling the motel may mean selling your home. Decide where you are going before you sign, and ask for the time you need. A short period of occupancy after closing can be written into the agreement.
Your employees
A buyer usually needs the people who know the property. You can ask about our plans for staff before you commit, and you decide when they hear the news. See how a sale is kept confidential until you are ready.
Tax and estate questions for your advisors
The sale of a hotel you have owned for decades is likely to be one of the largest transactions of your life. How it is taxed depends on facts we do not know and rules we are not qualified to apply. Take these questions to a CPA and an estate attorney before you agree to terms:
- How the price is divided among land, building, equipment and goodwill, and why that matters to you
- How depreciation taken over the years is treated on a sale
- Whether receiving the price over time, instead of all at closing, would suit you
- Whether the property is owned personally, by a company or by a trust, and what that changes
- How the sale fits your estate plan
If the property is co-owned with family, or part of it already sits in an estate, the page on sales involving partners and heirs covers who has to agree.
Choosing how to sell at retirement
A retiring owner often has time, which means every route is open. A broker can run a full marketing process. A direct sale is quieter and involves one buyer. Neither is right for everyone, and our comparison of hotel brokers and direct buyers sets out what each costs you in money, time and privacy.
If you choose to talk to us, the first step is a phone call and nothing more. The stages that follow are the same for every seller, and their timing depends on due diligence, financing and any lender or franchisor approvals. Before then, it helps to understand how a buyer will value your property, so that the first number you hear is not a mystery. Owners of smaller character properties may also want the page on inns and boutique hotels.
Questions from retiring owners
Can I stay on for a while after the sale?
Often, yes, if both sides want it. A transition role or a period of living on site after closing has to be agreed in writing.
Do I need to fix the place up before selling?
Not for us. We price the property as it is. Spending heavily just before a sale rarely returns the full cost, though a broker or appraiser may see it differently for a listed sale.
How long before retirement should I start?
Earlier than feels necessary. A sale involves due diligence, financing and sometimes lender or franchisor approval, and none of those run to your calendar. More answers are in the questions sellers ask most.
Start with a confidential conversation
Tell us where the property is, how many keys it has and whether it carries a brand. We read every submission ourselves and call you back at the number you give.
Nothing you send is passed to a listing service, and sending it does not commit you to anything.
Tell us about the property
Read by the buyers. Never listed, never advertised.