Before you sell, refinance, or plan an estate around a commercial property, you need a defensible number. For most owners the right tool isn’t a $3,500 appraisal — it’s a broker opinion of value. Here’s what a real one contains, and the difference between a BOV built to win your listing and one built to inform your decision.

The Five Parts of a Serious BOV

(1) Income analysis — your actual rent roll against current market rents, because below-market leases are hidden value. (2) Comparable closed sales — not listings; closed deals with dates, prices, and terms. (3) Active competition — what a buyer could purchase instead of yours, today. (4) Condition and insurability factors — roof, electrical, and code items that Florida buyers now underwrite hard. (5) A pricing recommendation with strategy: list price vs. expected strike price, on-market vs. off-market process.

BOV vs. Appraisal

An appraisal is for lenders and courts; it’s a formal opinion bound by appraisal standards and it costs real money. A BOV is a market read from someone whose job is matching your building to active buyers. For a sale decision, the BOV is usually more current — brokers see buyer behavior appraisers don’t.

The “Win the Listing” Trap

Some brokers inflate BOVs to flatter owners into signing, then grind the price down later. Ask any broker handing you a number: which closed sales support this, and would you put your commission on a deal at this price? A written BOV with named comps answers that before you have to ask.

What It Costs

Nothing, at Soho Property Group. We take a limited number of listings and handle each personally, so the BOV is where we earn your trust. Request yours here — or read how we approach multifamily buildings, where the same discipline applies to units and rent rolls instead of square feet.

Clayton Kuhn is a licensed Florida real estate broker (BK3489497) and the founder of Soho Property Group. Soho Property Group provides real estate brokerage services, not legal advice.