Analyse a LoopNet business or commercial listing
LoopNet is a commercial real-estate marketplace that also carries businesses for sale, which means its listings frequently mix an operating business with a building. Those are two different assets valued two different ways, and conflating them is the fastest route to overpaying.
From $49 per report.
Business and property valued separately
An operating business is valued on an earnings multiple. Real estate is valued on a capitalisation rate. A price that looks reasonable as a bundle can hide a business worth very little attached to a building worth a great deal — or the reverse.
Occupancy cost tested against the category
Where the business leases, occupancy cost as a share of revenue is computed and compared to the norm for its category. Above about 12% for most retail and hospitality, the lease is quietly consuming the earnings.
Lease terms modelled, not summarised
Remaining term, options, escalators and assignment rights are extracted from the actual lease, and the escalator is projected forward so you can see what it costs your SDE in year five.
The trade area, in numbers
Census demographics against national benchmarks, traffic counts from state DOT sources where published, and any announced development within a couple of miles.
Questions
Does it value the real estate?
It flags real estate as a separate asset and tells you to value it on a capitalisation basis rather than folding it into the business multiple, and pulls county assessor records where available. It is not a formal appraisal — for that you want a licensed appraiser, and the report tells you what to ask them.
What if the listing is a lease assignment rather than a sale?
That works too. The lease analysis is the same, and the report focuses on what the leasehold interest and any included assets are actually worth.