Explainer · process
The sale-leaseback process: Read, Model, Structure, Market, Close
The process starts with a confidential read of the real estate, the lease you would actually sign, and the capital you need — not with a listing. Skipping Read and Model is how operators discover the price after they have already committed to a rent.
Written by Dwaine Clarke , Founder & Principal Broker, American Net Lease, LLC Reviewed
On this page: The order · Five steps · What we will not promise · FAQ
The order of work
Analysis, then the lease, then the market. Not the other way around.
The sequence is the product. Read the portfolio, Model coverage and proceeds, Structure the lease, Market to buyers who already want the sector, and Close with your counsel. The numbered steps on this page are that order. They are not a promised close date.
American Net Lease’s first deliverable is a Portfolio Capital Analysis, offered as a confidential package delivered within 48 hours of a complete submission. That is an offer, not a historical turnaround statistic. Call (239) 236-2626 or use the analysis form.
What sits inside each step
Read is the intake: roofs, debt, unit-level earnings, and what you need the capital to do — expansion, a maturing loan, a partner buyout, or a business exit. Nothing is listed.
Model is rent coverage and implied equity. The calculator is the public first pass. The analysis is the ranked tranche.
Structure is lease engineering. Primary term, rent, escalations, and master versus individual leases are written before anyone sees the offering.
Market is off-market to a buyer list that already wants car wash, medical, industrial, or whichever vertical you actually operate. The seller does not meet a stranger’s spreadsheet.
Close is title, payoff, and the people who own the tax question. If a 1031 exchange is part of the plan, those clocks start when the real estate closes, not when you first talk to a broker. High-level tax notes — and the CPA disclaimer — live on tax considerations.
What we will not promise
We will not invent a one-number close date. We will not market from an analysis request. We will not skip Structure because a headline cap rate looked tight. The how-it-works page is the two-step mechanics; the commercial sale-leaseback guide is the pillar; this page is the order you run them in.
Size a first pass in the sale-leaseback calculator, read the commercial sale-leaseback guide and the operator hub, then the Car wash , Medical , and Industrial . When you want a confidential read on your own roofs, request a Portfolio Capital Analysis.
The sequence
Read, model, structure, market, close
A confidential Portfolio Capital Analysis is offered within 48 hours of a complete submission. Locations, current debt, and last year's unit-level earnings are enough to start. Nothing is marketed from an analysis request.
Rent, coverage, implied equity after debt, and two or three lease scenarios. The sale-leaseback calculator is a first pass. The analysis ranks which roofs belong in a first tranche.
Term, rent, coverage, escalations, assignment, and master versus individual leases are written before the property is marketed. The lease is the product; you author it.
Off-market to buyer pools that already close on this sector and guarantee. Marketing is a separate instruction from the analysis. Diligence starts only after the lease is engineered.
Title, payoff, franchisor consent if any, and coordination with your counsel and tax advisor. There is no honest one-number close date that fits every operator. The 1031 clocks, if you use them, start when the real estate closes.
Questions
Process FAQ
How long does it take?
The first deliverable is a confidential Portfolio Capital Analysis, offered within 48 hours of a complete submission. Marketing and closing follow only after the lease is engineered. Diligence, title, and the buyer’s clock set the rest.
Will you shop my portfolio while you review it?
No. The analysis is confidential. American Net Lease does not market locations from an analysis request. A marketing process, if you want one later, is a separate instruction.
Can I sell one location or the whole portfolio?
Either. A single well-located store can clear if the lease and credit will clear a buyer’s box. A portfolio is usually a cleaner story. The analysis says which roofs belong in a first tranche.
What happens to my franchise agreement?
Notice, consent, assignment, and any remodel or transfer rules sit in the franchise agreement, not in the deed. Those terms belong in the package before marketing. American Net Lease will not invent a franchisor’s consent clock.
Start with the confidential read — not a listing.
The Portfolio Capital Analysis is offered within 48 hours of a complete submission. You keep it whether or not you ever sell.