Marketability Assessment & Valuation (MA&V)
Before you set a price for your inn or B&B, or decide whether this is the right time to sell, it helps to know what the business is worth today and how buyers and lenders are likely to see it. A Marketability Assessment & Valuation (MA&V) is our objective analysis of both. It builds on Step 2 of our guide to selling an inn and on What Is Your Inn Worth?
In brief: An MA&V tells you what your inn is worth as an operating business, how marketable it is to today’s buyers, and what you could do before a sale to improve both.
What an MA&V Looks At
- Financial performance. Revenue, expenses and the cash flow the business has actually produced, along with occupancy, average daily rate and the trends behind them.
- Financeability. Whether that documented cash flow can support the debt a buyer would take on at a given price. Lenders lend on the inn’s income, not its potential, so this often sets the practical ceiling on price.
- The property. The real estate, owner’s quarters, furniture, fixtures and equipment, and the condition and capital needs a buyer will find in due diligence.
- The market. The destination, the demand drivers behind it, competing properties and recent sales of comparable inns, B&Bs and small hotels.
- Marketability. Price point, required owner involvement, seasonality, local regulations and the other factors that widen or narrow the pool of buyers able to purchase the inn.
- Opportunities. Changes worth making before a sale, while there is still time to turn them into documented results.
Two Levels of Analysis
A full MA&V covers everything above. It is the right choice when you are preparing to list, or when the business and the real estate both need careful weighing to set a price you can defend. We completed a full MA&V before marketing Steeles Tavern Manor and The Inn at Tabbs Creek.
A “just the numbers” MA&V focuses on the financial side: what the business’s documented performance supports. It suits owners who want an early read on value, and sales where a local real estate professional is valuing the property separately, as at Foxfield Inn.
Who an MA&V Is For
- Owners planning a sale in the next few years who want to know where they stand and what to improve first.
- Owners ready to list who need an asking price that buyers and their lenders will accept.
- Owners weighing a sale against reinvesting in the inn or staying on longer.
What to Expect
We start with a confidential conversation about your inn and your goals. From there, we ask for the information the analysis needs, typically recent financial statements or tax returns, occupancy and rate data, and details about the property. Then we walk you through what we found: the value the business supports, how marketable it is, and where the opportunities are.
Questions About the MA&V
Is an MA&V the same as an appraisal?
No. An appraisal is a formal opinion of value prepared by a licensed appraiser, and a buyer’s lender usually orders one during the transaction. An MA&V is our analysis of the business and its marketability, prepared to help you make decisions and set a realistic asking price before you go to market.
How is an MA&V different from a real estate agent’s opinion of value?
A residential-style comparison looks mostly at the real estate. An MA&V looks at the inn as an operating business, including the cash flow a buyer’s lender will rely on. That way it can catch a price the income won’t support, or value the business adds beyond the real estate.
Is the information I share kept confidential?
Yes. We treat your financial information, and the fact that you are considering a sale, as confidential.
Request an MA&V
Tell us a little about your inn and your timing, and we’ll explain how an MA&V would work for your situation.
