Sale-Leaseback Financing: Turn Bricks into Cash While You Keep the Keys
$32 bn
North-American deal volume 2024 (JLL)
65-85 %
LTV range investors accept today
100-175 bp
Typical spread drop vs unsecured debt
60 days
Median signing-to-close timeline
1. The cash crunch sale-leaseback solves
Growth plans stalled because working capital is tied up in concrete? A sale leaseback transaction lets you sell the property, sign a long-term lease and receive up to 85 percent
of appraised value in fresh liquidity. The building stays in daily use, your balance sheet lightens, and lenders see lower gearing when they assess covenants.
2. How the deal actually works
You agree a purchase price with a real-estate investor, commit to a triple-net lease and pocket the proceeds at closing. Rent mirrors the new owner’s target yield, usually priced off the five-year Treasury plus a spread. Investors focus on two ratios: rent coverage (EBITDAR to rent) and residual value at lease expiry. Strength on those metrics equals sharper pricing.
3. Live pricing benchmarks
| Property type |
Cap rate |
Lease term |
Rent coverage ask |
Closing speed |
| Industrial / Logistics |
6.5-7.5 % |
10-15 y |
1.8× |
45-60 d |
| Cold-storage |
6.0-7.0 % |
15-20 y |
1.7× |
60-75 d |
| Office (single tenant) |
7.5-9.0 % |
8-12 y |
2.1× |
60-90 d |
| Specialty (data center, lab) |
5.5-6.5 % |
15-25 y |
1.6× |
75-90 d |
Cap rates move with interest-rate shifts, so spreads may widen or tighten next quarter. We refresh indications every week to stay current.
4. Our matching platform in action
Financely Group screens 90+
net-lease investors and credit REITs. Upload a rent roll and recent appraisal, and within forty-eight hours you see three soft offers ranked by cap rate, lease flexibility and speed. If your deal needs additional leverage, we can blend a senior mortgage through our private debt desk
or structure a working-capital line under asset-based lending.
5. Case snapshot
A Midwest manufacturing group owned a 430 000-square-foot plant valued at USD 42 million. We secured a sale-leaseback at a 6.8 percent cap, released USD 28 million net cash and cut senior-secured margins by 110 basis points on the follow-on revolver. Management funded a new production line without touching equity.
6. Pitfalls and how we steer around them
- Cap-rate drift during diligence. We lock a collar at LOI, protecting your proceeds if the bond market jolts.
- Lease clauses that block future bolt-on borrowing. Our legal team inserts landlord consent standards upfront.
- Environmental surprise on closing. Phase-I reports get ordered early and we keep a backup investor on standby.
7. Ready for first terms?
Drop your teaser and recent financials. We send a pricing grid inside two business days and outline next steps. Still weighing options? Book a ten-minute call and we will compare sale leaseback financing to a conventional mortgage so you can choose with confidence.