More Singapore Offices Are Coming Up for Sale. Yours Needs a Better Pitch.

A buyer who likes your office can still buy somebody else's. That becomes far more likely when several attractive buildings reach the market at the same time.

The Business Times reported on 30 July that Lazada One, 30 Raffles Place and a stake in Frasers Tower were among the office opportunities being lined up, ahead of an anticipated Marina One transaction. The report is encouraging for market activity. It also means sellers now have company.

A strata office and a billion-dollar tower attract very different buyers, so the two markets do not move in step. Still, there is something a smaller owner can take from all this activity: a good address on its own is a thin sales pitch.

Put the income where buyers can see it

If the office is tenanted, I want the lease expiry, passing rent, deposit, outstanding concessions and renewal position ready before serious viewings begin. An asking yield means very little if nobody can explain what happens when the tenant leaves in eight months.

There is also a difference between rent being billed and rent being collected. A tidy rent schedule should be supported by the documents, with confidential information handled properly.

For a vacant unit, the question buyers actually care about is what it will cost to secure the next occupier. Fit-out condition, air-conditioning hours, parking and the competing units available all feed into that answer. Quoting the highest rent achieved somewhere else in the building is rarely enough.

Make the buyer's comparison easy

Before setting a price, compare the property with the choices a buyer can actually purchase today: their tenure, usable layout, lease condition and total ownership costs.

A smaller unit can carry a higher price per square foot while requiring a much smaller cheque. A cheaper unit with an awkward floor plate may sit empty for longer. Those are different propositions, and the sales material should make clear which buyer the property suits.

The same applies to future upside. If the case depends on a rent increase, show the comparable evidence and the timing. If the tenant has three years left at a fixed rent, that upside is not arriving next month.

A busy market rewards preparation

Owners sometimes read a large institutional deal as permission to lift their asking price. I would be more interested in what made that buyer commit: dependable income, control of a substantial asset, a particular location, or a credible improvement plan.

Those are the details that turn broad interest into an offer. They also help you identify the right buyer early, instead of collecting viewings from people whose requirements were never a fit.

If you are preparing to sell, start with the rent roll and the competing stock. My commercial and industrial investment framework covers the wider questions. In a market with more choice, clarity is part of the product you are selling.