Selling a Buy-To-Let Property Portfolio

Homeowners are not the only ones cashing in on the current housing boom. Landlords with buy-to-let investment properties are also capitalising on the shortage of properties for sale in the first time buyer price bracket in anticipation that we may be nearing the top of the current market cycle.   

Selling an investment property often requires a different approach to that of a typical sales campaign, and selling a portfolio of rental properties needs to be carefully planned to maximise the return on investment and ensure that the timing is in line with the seller’s exit strategy. 

We have handled two portfolio sales recently and adopted very different selling strategies for each case.  

The first campaign comprised of a block of six apartments in a small self-contained development in a town centre location. Each property had a sitting tenant. In addition to retaining the ongoing rental income from the outset, the main attraction of this portfolio to a new investor was the unique opportunity to have full ownership, therefore control, over the whole flatted development. This type of block ownership also allows a landlord to appoint a factor of their choice or maintain the development themselves meaning communal repairs, maintenance, upgrading can all be planned and factored into an investment schedule without the need for consultation or agreement from neighbours or third party owners.  

We suggested the optimum route to market in this case to be via an ‘off-market’ campaign introducing the portfolio as a whole to a list of pre-qualified investors. This approach had a number of benefits for both buyer and seller and, most importantly, the tenants who enjoyed a seamless transfer of ownership without the stress and uncertainty of an open market sale.  

The second buy-to let portfolio comprised of nine apartments in different blocks which formed part of a large scale development. Some of the tenants had already given notice to move on and the timing of this coincided with the landlord’s plans to exit the private rental sector. Our recommendations were based around staggered sales spanning three tax years over an 18 month period, beginning with the properties that were already empty. Careful and considerate consultation with the tenants resulted in a ‘win/win’ sale and purchases to some sitting tenants, with the remainder of the properties being listed on the open market at carefully coordinated times in line with the plan. This approach attracted competitive interest from buyers in the market at the specific time of each individual campaign, and avoided the potential impact that multiple properties for sale in the same development at the same time may have had.  

Every buy-to-let portfolio has unique characteristics and careful consideration should be given to ensure the correct campaign strategy is used to optimise the sale. If you are a buy-to-let investor looking to sell or buy single or portfolio rental properties, please contact us to discuss the selling options or portfolios currently available.