Buying or selling a rent roll isn’t just a financial transaction—it’s a relationship handover. Get it wrong, and both sides stand to lose. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, who you’re doing business with matters just as much as the numbers on the spreadsheet.
Buyers: Due Diligence Isn’t Optional
You don’t just inherit a portfolio—you inherit expectations, reputations, and relationships. Landlords don’t care how much you paid for the roll. They care who you are and how you operate. If you don’t dig deep into the seller’s service history, arrears, management style, and landlord personalities, you’re flying blind.
Ask the tough questions:
-
What’s the vendor’s brand reputation?
-
How sticky are these landlords?
-
Are you stepping into a well-oiled machine or a ticking time bomb?
If you miss something, you could face mass retention losses before the ink dries.
Sellers: Who You Sell To Can Haunt You
It’s not just the buyer taking a risk. Vendors can sabotage their own legacy—and future—by selling to the wrong operator.
Say you’re a high-profile or franchise-branded agency. Selling to a lesser-known, boutique outfit might save on costs or ease the deal process—but it can come back to bite. If landlords don’t recognise or trust the new brand, many won’t assign. Some will bail. Retention tanks. Your reputation takes a hit.
But the reverse can also be true.
Some landlords prefer an independent, boutique agency over a corporate machine. They want local, personal service—not a national call centre. If you sell your rent roll into a franchise network without knowing your landlord base, you might alienate the very people that make your book valuable.
Alignment Is Everything
Before anyone signs anything, both parties need to answer one big question: Are we aligned?
In culture, in values, in brand, in how we treat landlords and tenants.
Because if you’re not, this isn’t a handover—it’s a hand grenade.
