Selling a parking space: Evaluation, condition, tenant and sale – 18 steps

Selling a multi-level parking space – Evaluation, condition, real estate agents and tenant lists, what is important when selling a multi-level parking space? Who buys a multi-level parking space? Who could buy parking spaces as an investment? This small guide is not for professionals in the real estate sector, but for beginners. Especially for those who are selling for the first time (example: inheritance): How much is a multi-level parking space worth? How does the sale work? Here you can find out about the sale, evaluation factors and also the question: Sell with or without a real estate agent? Tip! Do you only want to sell a single parking space? Then read more here: Sell a parking space. For parking space sellers, here is everything important, from evaluation procedures to the topic of taxes.

Parking sale: Valuation for real estate

Let’s start with one of the most important questions for first-time sellers: How much is your parking space worth?

After the 3 important factors, you will find all the steps of the sale, from the documents, through the agent’s question, to the purchase contract and handover.

Let’s start with the 3 most important value factors:

• Location (city, district and street)
• Condition of the parking space
• Tenant / Vacant

Parking Location: Perspective

The better the location of your parking space, the easier it will be to rent it out later to short-term and long-term tenants or for parking purposes. To keep the vacancy rate as low as possible, the first step in the evaluation is to carefully examine the location.

Location in the evaluation (current and development potential):

• The macro perspective – Which city?
• The meso perspective – Which district?
• The micro perspective: Which street and house number?

Regardless of whether it’s a small town, a medium-sized city or an urban area, there are more cars in city centers each year, which is also evident in the example of the real estate market in Germany. The greater the local fluctuation and the lower the competition’s offer in the area, the better the sales success, but also the return for investors.

Consequently, the development of the area also plays a role.

The second important issue: the condition of your parking.

Parking condition: renovation

Very few buyers and investors want to put in a lot of work on a new property; they want direct returns. For you, but also for those who are willing to put in a bit of work for a lower purchase price, the current condition is what matters after location (macro / meso / micro).

Irrelevant for relatively new parking spaces, important for the old ones. Below, we indicate, especially for those selling for the first time, how high the renovation costs of a project of this kind can be.

Typical deficiencies from the first few decades are:

• Carbonate recovery (by carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide)
• Floor covering
• Concrete repair
• Crack sealing
• Roof sealing
• …

Important in advance, it’s just an example:

Maintenance costs for multi-level parking spaces vary enormously depending on their condition

Very old parking garage: example of cost (100 spaces)

Let’s say it’s a very old parking lot, with 100 spaces:

Let’s say the parking lot is 40 or 50 years old and is really at its limit. The costs for redevelopment and renovation are unavoidable. If we roughly calculate with about 100 parking spaces, we can expect around 6,000 euros per space (as a total project).

Just the improvement of the parking lot’s floor would cost about 1.4 million euros. Then there is the concrete renovation, around 1.1 million euros. Next, we take a look at the waterproofing of the parking lot’s roof. For the new insulation against water dripping, another 0.5 million euros can be expected (source: DZ Online). The individual items are smaller, but in total they are not insignificant. In addition, there will be smoke extraction, ventilation, or even the renovation of the electrical installation, also in order to be able to handle growing markets, such as the increasing number of electric cars within cities and residential areas.

Tenants (long/short term) and vacancies

También una clara diferencia, los contratos de arrendamiento existentes. Sobre todo si el aparcamiento no se encuentra en un centro urbano muy concurrido, donde se encuentra el complejo residencial, sino en lugares especiales, por ejemplo, instalaciones de medición, aeropuertos o incluso en el exterior.

Aparte de los inquilinos a corto plazo y de la fluctuación en el lugar, también cuenta echar un vistazo a los inquilinos a largo plazo y a las vacantes. Al final, lo que cuenta en la primera evaluación son los inquilinos y el potencial del aparcamiento.

Los contratos de alquiler de larga duración son, por supuesto, el caso ideal. En consecuencia, las vacantes son lo contrario. Para que los posibles compradores tengan una visión general y para que la valoración sea realista, se necesita información sobre los inquilinos.

Además, hay muchos parámetros más pequeños, en buenas ubicaciones A, por ejemplo, también el alquiler de espacios comerciales para la publicidad (calzada, áreas de estacionamiento y fachadas).

Estos son los 3 factores centrales de la evaluación:

• Ubicación (ciudad, distrito y calle)
• Estado del aparcamiento
• Inquilino / Vacante

Regular sale step by step

Selling parking spaces is much more specialized and extensive than simply selling a parking space , a parking lot or an individual garage in a residential area.

A large part of parking spaces are not sold through real estate portals, but rather through personal networks, often by good and experienced real estate agents.

However, it is important to know about the sale in order to prepare well and also to find an experienced real estate agent for the sale of your parking space.

Preparation: agent, documents and valuation

How to prepare your property for sale.

• Financial planning and sale schedule
• Hiring a real estate agent
• Registers and documents
• Increase property value
• Determine the offer price
• Create an exposé

Selling phase: networking and negotiation

The second phase consists of marketing your property to find buyers and investors with sufficient financial capacity.

• Market property
• Contact with potential buyers
• Filter and select potential buyers
• Credit check
• Viewing dates
• Sales conversation and negotiation of purchase price

Sales process: Full transfer

From the purchase contract to delivery.

• Drafting the purchase contract before a notary
• Nomination of notary
• Registration in the land register and payment processing
• Delivery of property
• Notary fees and agent commission
• Pay taxes

Partial ownership of a multi-level parking lot: just one parking space?

Finally, the smallest unit:

Can you (as a co-owner) also sell a parking space individually? It is possible to sell parking spaces individually. However, it depends on whether the parking space is owned as an independent property or as a special usage right. In general, surface parking spaces are a special usage right, so their sale requires the consent of all owners, unless otherwise stipulated in the partition agreement.

More information about the individual sale of spaces in a multi-level parking garage:

• Sell a parking space

Location, location, location! Real estate market

Parking spaces are scarce in many places in Germany. That’s why the first good news is that you can sell your parking space for a realistic price. Because last year alone there were 2.92 million new car registrations. According to the KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt – Federal Motor Transport Authority), the number of vehicles in Germany increased by 1.1 million compared to the previous year, reaching 66.9 million registered vehicles in Germany, which represents an increase of 1.6%.

66.9 million registered vehicles in Germany

With the right network of buyers and investors, usually through experienced brokers with successful deals, you will be able to sell your underground parking space relatively quickly.