What's involved in selling an industrial property with a tenant already in place?

When a property is leased, its value is anchored to the rent it produces and how securely that rent is likely to keep being paid. A long lease to a financially sound, well-established tenant supports a stronger sale outcome than a short lease to an uncertain one — the same building can be worth quite different amounts depending purely on who's in it and for how long.

That means a vendor selling a tenanted asset should have the lease itself, the tenant's payment history, and any variations or side agreements in good order before going to market. Buyers will also want to understand rent review mechanisms and outgoings recoveries, since these shape the income going forward, not just where it sits today.

This applies whether the sale runs through a public campaign or a direct, off-market process — and either way, an agent can be part of the transaction. A long-term, permanent-hold buyer values a well-documented tenancy precisely because it's the kind of durable income that suits a patient owner rather than a short-term trader.