When the owner of a lodging property looks for an agent to represent their property for sale they often look at the larger companies and think that listing with them will give maximum exposure to potential buyers. But, in reality, with the internet of today even a small brokerage company will have the same exposure to all buyers looking for a lodging property to purchase. So if we all have the same exposure to buyers what makes one agency of lodging properties more successful than another one?
We believe National Hotel Motel Brokers sells a higher percentage of sales to listings than any other hotel brokerage company in California. Now ask yourself why does this happen? While NHMB may have fewer agents, the agents are much more experienced. The principles of NHMB have owned over 40 lodging properties and they have suffered through the negative cash flows of the off-season months and thus learned how to make a property profitable.
When one goes to our competitors web sites you can see that all they do is list the property and show the existing P&L of the current operations with little or no analysis of the property and what kind of income it should bring to the bottom line or NOI (net operating income) or how to improve the property. And while it may sell, it sells at a much lower price and a longer listing period than it could have if they had taken the time or had the knowledge of how to show the property in the best possible situation. In fact, go to our competitors web sites and look at their listings and ask for information on them. After looking at 40 pages of demographics that show how much money each class of local residents make or how many of each race are in the area you will see that there is rarely any in-depth analysis of the property or how to make it better and more profitable.
At NHMB we look at a listing and think if we were the buyer how could we make this property more profitable. First, we look at the GRI (gross room income) and think about how a new owner could improve it. Does the property have a franchise and if not which one might be available for it or if it already has a franchise would another one suit it better? Is the property taking advantage of the internet booking services available and what are the current property reviews? How can a new owner position the property to be more competitive, how to get rid of the old negative reviews and turn this GRI around and send it upward?
Second, we analyze the P&L and look for where the cost are higher than normal. From the properties we have previously owned and operated and all of the listing information we have looked at for other properties we can see what expenses are out line and we have the knowledge of how to bring them back into line. Thus, we can show the buyer how to make the property more appealing to a buyer as they can now see how they can bring the profits higher.
With this analysis and knowledge of the industry we not only sell more of our listings but sell them in a shorter time period than any other lodging agents we know of. We are also able to show a buyer how to get more out of his property and thus we not only have satisfied sellers, but happy buyers who increase the gross and net incomes and then turn around and sell the same property with us many years later at a much higher price.
If you are considering selling or buying a lodging property, please contact us at 925-634-2299.