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There are tens of thousands of car repair garages located throughout the UK, and many of them are authorised to act as testing stations for vehicles’ MOTs. If you are the owner of a freehold or leasehold car repair garage/MOT station then you might find some additional hurdles with trying to sell this category of commercial property, but getting a competitive and fast offer is possible.
- What are car repair garages/MOT stations?
- The pros of selling a car repair garage/MOT station
- Drawbacks with selling a car repair garage/MOT station
- Getting a mortgage to buy a car repair garage/MOT station
- Renovating your car repair garage/MOT station or selling as is
- Options for how to sell a car repair garage/MOT station
- Questions and answers about selling a car repair garage/MOT station
What are car repair garages/MOT stations?
Throughout the UK you will find many car repair garages, which can be either freehold properties where you would own the building and the land outright, or leasehold where you would pay the freeholder a yearly ground rent and own it for a set number of years.
As the name implies, car repair garages are businesses where people takes their vehicles to fix any problems that might happen. They are staffed with skilled mechanics who should be able to diagnose whatever the issue is that might be affecting the car, and then they will fix it and charge the vehicle owner for this work, as the website Which? explains.
Car repair garages can be located almost anywhere, ranging from rural locations through to urban areas, and even on the outskirts of towns and cities near industrial estates.
Whether your car repair garage is freehold or leasehold, it might be one of roughly 23,500 such commercial properties that are approved for performing MOT tests that check on the roadworthiness of vehicles.
The name MOT comes from the now-defunct Ministry of Transport which in 1960 created what is now an annual program requiring testing of cars and other vehicles to ensure that they are safe to drive and suitable for use on roads. The MOT test applies to almost every car that is more than three years old, but this increases to four years old for vehicles in Northern Ireland.
A vehicle is driven to an MOT testing station where a qualified mechanic will perform a series of tests on the exhaust and other parts of the car, and then either find that the vehicle has not passed the test and needs work done, or has passed and a certificate is issued stating this.
If you’re interested in selling your car repair garage/MOT station then this guide will walk you through the potential pros and cons involved. It also offers advice on the four typical options you have for selling this type of business, and how to best attract a speedy and competitive offer.
The pros of selling a car repair garage/MOT station
When you’re getting ready to sell a car repair garage/MOT station, it can be useful to know the advantages and disadvantages of owning these companies. Understanding these issues can help with how you respond to questions that buyers might have about your business. For example, you could focus on the pros of the property, which can include:
Potential profit: Much like trying to sell a petrol station or other relate business dealing with cars, one of the leading questions that prospective buyers will have for you is finding out how profitable the business currently is. They’ll be trying to get information to help them decide if the car repair garage will be a wise investment, so you should show them proof of this if that’s the case.
Strong location: If your car repair garage/MOT station is in a great location then this could help to attract more potential buyers. The properties that tend to be more in demand are those located in areas where the business is very visible and there is plenty of traffic passing by, as the website Point Franchise notes.
Development future: There are some potential buyers that will view your property as an investment option, with the plan of ending its use as a car repair garage/MOT station and redeveloping it for some other use that they can then sell or rent out. Having an in-demand location can help tremendously with attracting this type of buyer to your property.
It may be useful to see other garages for sale to appreciate what is available – see the Rightbiz website.
Drawbacks with selling a car repair garage/MOT station
There are also some potential concerns that buyers might have when considering buying a car repair garage/MOT station, and these are just as important to learn. Be honest with prospective buyers about any negative issues with your property, and these might include:
Poor location: Just as a strong location can attract potential buyers to your property, a bad location will do the exact opposite. If your car repair garage/MOT station is situated in a remote or otherwise hard to find area with minimal traffic, it’s not likely to interest many buyers, because they will be concerned that there won’t be enough customers to have a profitable business.
Structural problems: You might be dealing with structural problems at your property, which can include subsidence, dry rot, damp and many other scenarios. Later in this guide we’ll walk through whether you should invest time, effort and money in fixing the problem before selling. Just be aware that this type of issue could be enough to make some buyers lose interest.
Complicated process: Applying to become an approved MOT tester can be very long and complicated, as shown on the UK government’s website that describes the overall process. Some buyers who initially considered purchasing your business and getting qualified as an MOT tester might be overwhelmed by the potential work involved and decide against making an offer on your property as a result.
Getting a mortgage to buy a car repair garage/MOT station
One issue to consider when trying to sell your business is that you might have a limited range of potential buyers, because it can be difficult to obtain a mortgage to buy this type of property.
Car repair garages can sell at quite high prices that can reduce the number of potential available buyers to the very wealthy or companies that are looking to buy the business as an investment option.
One reason why it can be more difficult for individual private buyers to purchase a commercial property like a car repair garage/MOT station is that they would likely need to obtain a mortgage to pay for the purchase, but the costs involved with that loan may be too high for them.
Some estimates suggest that lenders might require a deposit of up to 40 percent of the property’s sale price along with interest rates at 10 percent or higher, which could be impossible for many private investors to afford, and therefore block them from making an offer.
But don’t worry that your property will never sell for this reason, because there are still buyers that are able to make an offer to purchase your car repair garage/MOT station without having to obtain a mortgage. Quick buying companies like LDN Properties, for example, have the money available to immediately purchase almost any type of property without having to get a mortgage, which helps to cut the overall selling timeline to just a few weeks. And that speedy schedule includes the important steps of exchanging contracts and paying you the sale proceeds.
Renovating your car repair garage/MOT station or selling as is
It’s possible that your car repair garage/MOT station might have some type of structural problem, and if so you will need to decide whether to fix this issue before trying to sell.
Structural issues affect the overall integrity of the building and can include subsidence, damp, dry rot, a bad roof and many other situations. The problem could be relatively small in size, which indicates it might not take much money or time to resolve, or it may be a major flaw that would require a large investment of funds, time and effort in order to correct.
You will need to assess whether you are willing and able to spend the resources necessary to fix the problem before you attempt to find a buyer for your property.
Doing this work before attempting to sell would remove the scenario where a potential buyer reduces their offer on your property by the amount of money that they believe it will cost them to make the fixes if they were to become the new owner. As a result, investing in correcting any existing problems has the potential to increase your car repair garage’s possible sale price.
But many business owners will not be able to do the work, whether that’s because of financial resource or time limits, or any other reason. If that applies to your situation, you can still get a competitive and fast offer for your property if you get in touch with a quick buyer like LDN Properties. These companies will still make fair offers to buy almost any type of property, including car repair garages/MOT stations, even if they have major structural problems.
Options for how to sell a car repair garage/MOT station
You have four typical options for trying to find a buyer for your car repair garage/MOT station, and they are selling to a quick buyer, selling on your own, selling at an auction or selling via an estate agent – and you’ll find that each method has its own unique pros and cons.
Some of the advantages include the fact that quick buyers won’t charge you any fees, whereas a few of the methods have notable drawbacks, like selling without any assistance potentially taking more than a full year – and even if you get an offer, the buyer could withdraw it.
To identify the best method for your unique needs, start by writing down your top goals with selling, which should include whether you are willing to pay any commission, your preferred sale price and your ideal timeline for selling. Then compare all of this information against the specific details of the four selling methods below to find the one that most closely matches your goals.
Selling to a quick buyer
Quick buyers are companies such as LDN Properties that promise a streamlined, no-fee and zero-stress way to sell almost any type of leasehold or freehold property.
They’re called quick buyers because they’re usually able to finalise the purchase of a property within just a few short weeks, and that covers the time it takes to pay the owner the sale proceeds and for exchanging contracts. They can move this speedily because they don’t have to wait weeks or months to first get approved for a mortgage to pay for the purchase.
These companies are also able to make competitive and rapid offers to buy almost any type of commercial, residential or other property – even those with structural problems.
For example, LDN Properties has been buying leasehold and freehold properties across the UK for more than 15 years and its purchases include not only car repair garages/MOT stations but also houses near industrial estates, flats with an infestation problem, investment properties, houses with thatched roofs, flats that how low Energy Performance Certificate rankings, properties where the owner has misplaced important documents like the title deeds, and many other varied situations.
And the legitimate quick buyers will never require that you pay them any commission, which can help with reducing your total expenses when selling. But if you use an estate agent or auctioneer to sell your property, you’ll have to pay them commission and this will increase your overall costs because the fee will be taken immediately out of the final sale proceeds.
Selling on your own
Selling without any help can be a very stressful experience, because you’ll have to do all the work involved. It will take a lot of your time and you could be looking at more than a full year before you receive a serious offer from a buyer – and even that might fall through.
Buyers are able to withdraw offers without any penalty up until contracts are exchanged, and if that happens then you will have to start again in trying to find a buyer. This could potentially add many more months to the selling process, which is far from ideal if one of your top aims when selling your car repair garage/MOT station is finding a buyer as fast as feasible.
You will need to prepare a listing that features photographs of the interior and exterior of the property and describes its main features, and then pay to advertise that listing in local newspapers and online. Next, you’ll have to organise viewings to show potential buyers around the property, and you will also be responsible for fielding offers from serious buyers.
Because this is a huge amount of work, this selling option is only suggested if you are skilled at selling properties or have a qualified friend or family member that can help you for free.
The biggest benefit of selling this way is that you will not have to pay a third party, like an estate agent or auctioneer, any commission. But you can achieve the same outcome by selling to a zero-commission quick property buyer like LDN Properties, with the added bonus of having the sale completed within just a few short weeks rather than having to wait a very long time. You’ll also avoid the stress of having to advertise your property, host viewings and field offers.
Selling at an auction
It’s can be a risk selling property at auction, because you might not receive any bids, and this means it doesn’t sell and you’ll have to try again with finding a buyer.
Or you might only get a single bid at the reserve price, which is the lowest price at which you are comfortable selling your property. A bid at this price is a binding legal agreement to sell that the buyer could sue to enforce if you try to walk away from the sale after the auction. That’s why you need to select a reserve price that should hopefully still produce some profit from the sale after the auctioneer has deducted their commission from the eventual proceeds.
Typically, an auctioneer will charge commission based on whatever final sale price you’re able to get for your property, and this fee will add to your total selling expenses. If you’re trying to keep costs low then you might want to consider other methods for attracting a buyer, such as selling to a quick property buying company that promises not to charge any fees.
It’s possible that some auction houses may be willing to negotiate a reduced rate of commission, or at least agree to make the buyer responsible for paying some of your costs associated with selling this way, so it’s always worth asking specific auctioneers about this.
This is not the fastest way to sell a car repair garage/MOT station, because you’ll have a wait of many weeks or months between the day you decide to sell and the day the auction happens. If your property does sell at the auction, the winning high bidder will then usually have about 28 days to complete their required tasks, like signing legal documents, to finalise the purchase.
You could consider contacting individual auctioneers to see if they might be willing to set a tighter deadline for the buyer, but some auction houses may give the buyer much more time.
Selling via an estate agent
Another way to sell your car repair garage/MOT station is by using the services of an estate agent. They’ll handle most of the key steps such as creating and advertising a listing, organising viewings to take buyers on tours of the property, and hearing any serious offers.
But in exchange for doing all of this work, estate agents will charge you commission if they manage to sell your property. It’s usually based as percentage of the final sale price you’re able to get for the property, and this will add to your expenses when selling because the fee will be subtracted from the final sale proceeds right away.
This is also a fairly slow way to sell a property, and you should be aware that it might take more than a full year before you receive an offer that goes through to exchanging contracts. If you’re looking for the swiftest way to sell your property you might want to consider other methods, such as selling to a quick buyer because that process should only take a handful of weeks.
And just as potential buyers could withdraw their offer when you’re selling without any assistance, the same is true when selling via an estate agent. A buyer could make an offer and still rescind it up until contracts are exchanged, and they will not face any penalties. Should that occur in your situation, you will have to start over with trying to find a buyer, and you might find that this adds many more months to the overall timeline for trying to sell your property.
Top queries and answers about selling a car repair garage / MOT station
Property owners thinking of selling quickly typically have a few questions for us, ranging from the types of property they can sell through to the time it takes to sell. Here are some of the top questions we’re asked about selling a car repair garage / MOT station:
Your top questions when selling a car repair garage / MOT station
A car repair garage can be either a freehold or leasehold property, and it’s a commercial business where people take their vehicles to be fixed by skilled mechanics whenever they are experiencing problems. These properties can also be approved testing stations for MOTs, which are annual roadworthiness inspections that are required of cars over three years old.
A primary factor that will likely interest a buyer in your property is if it produces a decent profit every year, if the potential owner would like to keep operating the business as a car repair garage/MOT station. Alternatively, an investor looking to redevelop the property for another use to then sell or rent may be more interested if it’s located in a high-demand area.
You might find less interest from potential buyers if your property is located in a remote area and isn’t making a strong profit, because people looking to own a car repair garage/MOT station will usually only make offers on properties that are already profitable. If your property has a major structural problem this can also cause some buyers to no longer be interested.
It will be very difficult for an individual private investor to get approved for a mortgage to purchase your property, because of the high interest rates and deposit that will be required. However, there are other buyers that don’t need to get a mortgage to purchase your property and can make an offer right away, including quick buyers such as LDN Properties.
Whether or not to pursue corrective work for structural problems at your property before selling will depend on several key factors, such as whether you can afford the time, money and effort required. Don’t overextend your finances just to pursue this work, because you can still get a fair and fast offer for your property as is without fixing the issue if you contact a quick buyer.
Selling to LDN Properties or another quick property buyer will take just a handful of weeks, and that includes the time required for the crucial steps of exchanging contract and paying you the sale proceeds. The three other common methods – selling on your own, selling via an auction or selling with an estate agent – can all take several months at least to find a buyer.
You can get in touch with LDN Properties or another zero-commission quick property buying company, because they promise to never charge owners any fees when selling their properties. If you instead decide to sell through an auctioneer or estate agent then you will have to pay them commission and this will be subtracted right away from the final sale proceeds.
