Business Broker vs. Real Estate Agent: What Sellers Need to Know

If you’re preparing to sell your business, one of the first questions you might have is:

Do I need a business broker or a real estate agent?

It’s a common point of confusion. After all, both help people buy and sell things, and both have a real estate license. But when it comes to selling a business, there is a clear difference between what a business broker does and what a real estate agent does.

What Does a Business Broker Do?

A business broker is a licensed professional that specializes in selling businesses: both with and without real estate. Their focus is on the value of the business as a whole—not just its physical location.

Business brokers help with:

• Valuation: They determine your business’s worth based on earnings, assets, goodwill, market comps, and more.
• Marketing (confidentially): They promote your business discreetly to avoid alerting employees, customers, or competitors.
• Screening buyers: Not every buyer is qualified. Brokers make sure you only deal with serious prospects.
• Deal structure and negotiations: They help structure the terms, financing, and conditions of the sale. Selling a business is a more complex deal structure than a solo real estate deal.
• Closing the deal: From due diligence to documentation, they guide the entire process.

Business brokers understand that you’re not just selling a building, you’re selling cash flow, relationships, operational value, and your legacy.

What Does a Real Estate Agent Do?

A real estate agent is a licensed real estate professional who helps people buy and sell property. This includes homes, land, commercial buildings, and industrial space.

Real estate agents help with:

• Openly listing and marketing property
• Hosting open houses or showings
• Comparing market data
• Writing purchase agreements
• Closing real estate transactions

If your sale involves only real estate—like a vacant commercial building—then a real estate agent is likely the right fit. We have a lot of real estate agent friends that we happily refer to when a seller’s business isn’t a going concern, and they need to liquidate and sell their property.

Selling a Business Is NOT Like Selling a House

Here’s a major misconception:

“I’ll just use a real estate agent—selling my business is the same as selling a building, right?”

Not quite.

Key differences:

• Confidentiality is critical. You can put a sign in front of a building advertising it for sale. With a business, public knowledge of the sale starts the rumor mill and can cause panic with staff, customers, or suppliers. Those things hurt your business and make it less salable.
• You’re selling more than four walls. A buyer isn’t just purchasing the building—they’re buying revenue, systems, staff, and brand. The sale of your business also impacts your customers and your community.
• Valuation is complex. A home is priced based on location and comps. A business is valued based on earnings (like SDE or EBITDA), industry, market comps, market outlook, bankability, etc. This value is then added to the appraised value of the real estate to make up the total deal value.
• Financing is different. Business deals often involve SBA loans, seller financing, or creative deal terms, not just traditional mortgages. A broker knows when a business is or isn’t bankable and finds alternatives to getting a good deal done.

Selling a business is layered, nuanced, and involves a broker working closely with the buyer and seller’s professional advisors (CPA’s, Lawyers, Financial Planners, Insurance agents, etc.). The entire process requires experience beyond real estate.

When Should You Use a Business Broker?

You should work with a business broker if you’re selling a business that has:

• A team of employees
• A customer base and recurring revenue
• Inventory, equipment, or intellectual property
• A brand name with goodwill

The key difference is that a business broker knows how to value and sell the entire business—not just the physical property it occupies. Choosing the right professional matters. If I needed heart surgery, I wouldn’t turn to my family doctor—I’d go to a heart specialist. The same logic applies here: if you’re selling real estate, call a reputable real estate agent. But if you’re selling a business, you need a professional business broker who understands the full picture—operations, cash flow, goodwill, employees, physical location, and more.