Buy or Lease Your Collection Call Center? An Agency Owners’ Dilemma

Michael Lamm

As we approach year-end, a lot of debt collection agency owners may be thinking about what do with their current facility space. Do they move into nicer digs, stay where they are and sign a longer term lease, or simply go out and buy a building?

We get these questions a lot from agency owners who are trying to understand how their facility space factors into the sale of the company. The short answer is that buyers are not typically interested in purchasing real estate in the acquisition of a business. There are always exceptions to the rule: the buyer has an affinity toward real estate, can acquire the real estate at a depressed value, it’s in a great location, or the tenants in the building are “blue chip” businesses locked into long-term leases.