Frequently asked questions.

• Working with us
• Listing and engagement
• For buyers
• Markets and coverage

Working with us

• What is investment sales, and how is it different from commercial real estate brokerage generally?

  Investment sales is the discipline of selling income-producing commercial property to buyers who are purchasing it as an investment rather than to occupy it. The product being sold is the income stream, so the work is underwriting, capital markets, and buyer targeting rather than showing space.

  General commercial brokerage also covers leasing, tenant representation, and owner-user sales. High Peaks Capital Advisors does investment sales only. We represent owners selling multifamily and industrial assets, and we represent buyers acquiring them. We do not do leasing.

• Do you handle leasing?

  No. We are an investment sales brokerage. We sell multifamily and industrial investment property and we represent buyers acquiring it. We do not lease space, represent tenants, or provide property management.

  Where market rents appear in our analysis, they are there as underwriting context for a sale — what a buyer's proforma has to clear — not as a service offering.

• What does “principal-led” actually mean?

  It means Derek Carroll personally runs the assignment from first valuation through closing, rather than pitching the engagement and handing it to a junior broker afterwards. The person who wins the business is the person who does the work.

  The practical constraint is that this caps how many assignments we can take at once, which is deliberate. A volume brokerage optimises for the number of listings; we optimise for the outcome on each one.

• What size transactions do you work on?

  We focus on private and middle-market dispositions — typically single assets and small portfolios rather than large institutional portfolio trades. The platform's affiliated bridge lending business originates loans from $5 million to $50 million, which is a reasonable indication of the scale we operate at.

  There is no rigid minimum. The better question is whether an asset benefits from a targeted capital-markets process, and for many smaller properties in under-brokered markets the answer is yes.

• Do you work outside your seven markets?

  Occasionally, when the platform's relationships create a clear advantage for the seller. Our stated coverage is Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and Albany in Upstate New York, and Orlando, Tampa Bay and the Space Coast in Florida.

  We would rather tell you we are not the right firm for a property than take an assignment we cannot run properly. If we decline, we will generally point you toward someone who can.

• How do I choose a commercial real estate broker?

  Ask three things. First, who will actually do the work — the person pitching, or someone you have not met. Second, how the valuation was derived; a broker who gives you a single confident number without showing the reasoning is quoting you a price to win the listing. Third, how they get paid, and whether they will put it in writing before you sign anything.

  Then ask what they think could go wrong. A broker who has no answer either has not underwritten your asset or is not being straight with you. In our markets the predictable failure points are property tax reassessment on sale in Upstate New York and insurance repricing in Florida.

• What is a broker's duty to a seller?

  A broker engaged to represent a seller owes duties of loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure, obedience to lawful instruction, and accounting. In practice the ones that matter most are loyalty — putting your interests ahead of the broker's own — and disclosure of anything material to your decision.

  This becomes concrete in dual agency, where one brokerage represents both sides. New York and Florida both regulate this and require written disclosure and consent. It is worth understanding before you sign a listing agreement, because the incentives change.

Listing and engagement

• What is an exclusive listing agreement, and how long should it run?

  An exclusive right to sell agreement gives one brokerage the sole right to market the property and earn a fee on a sale during the term, regardless of who introduces the buyer. It is the standard structure for investment sales, because it is what justifies a broker investing in underwriting, materials, and a full marketing process up front.

  Terms commonly run six to twelve months for commercial assets. Shorter than that and a broker cannot complete a proper process; considerably longer and you have limited recourse if the engagement is not working. Look for a defined term, a clear fee, a tail provision limited to buyers actually introduced during the term, and a termination clause. Our agreements are put in writing before any work begins.

• Can I sell a property that still has a mortgage on it?

  Yes — most investment sales involve existing debt, which is paid off at closing from the proceeds. What matters is the terms of that debt, because they affect both timing and net proceeds.

  Three things to check early: whether there is a prepayment penalty or a defeasance requirement, which on securitised loans can be substantial; whether the loan is assumable, which in a higher-rate environment can be a genuine selling advantage if your rate is below market; and what lender consent or notice the loan documents require. These are solvable, but only if raised at the start rather than during diligence.

• How does a 1031 exchange affect my sale?

  A 1031 exchange allows deferral of capital gains tax by reinvesting proceeds into like-kind investment property, subject to strict deadlines: 45 days from closing to identify replacement property and 180 days to complete the acquisition.

  The critical point is that the structure must be in place before your sale closes. A qualified intermediary has to hold the proceeds; if the money reaches you, the exchange fails. This is routine when planned and impossible to fix afterwards, so raise it in the first conversation. Consult your tax adviser — this is general information, not tax advice.

• What are the tax consequences of selling?

  A sale generally triggers capital gains tax on appreciation and depreciation recapture on the depreciation previously claimed, which is often the larger and more surprising component for long-held property. State tax applies as well, and New York and Florida differ substantially.

  A 1031 exchange, an instalment sale, or estate planning considerations can each change the answer materially. We are not tax advisers and this is not tax advice; what we can do is model the pre-tax outcome accurately and make sure your accountant is in the conversation early enough to be useful.

For buyers

• How do I get access to off-market deals?

  Join our buyer list. Qualified buyers receive multifamily and industrial opportunities in our markets, including off-market and pre-marketing situations, before broader distribution. There is no cost to join.

  Off-market deal flow is a function of relationships rather than technology. Owners give a broker a quiet look because they trust the process, and brokers route those looks to buyers who have demonstrated they can close. Being on a list is the start; performing on a deal is what keeps you seeing them.

• What does it cost to be on the buyer list?

  Nothing. It costs nothing to join and there is no obligation. We ask what you are looking for — asset type, markets, size, and structure — so that what we send is relevant rather than indiscriminate.

  We would rather send ten buyers a deal that fits than four hundred buyers a deal that does not.

• Do you represent buyers as well as sellers?

  Yes. Buyer-side representation is one of our three services, alongside dispositions and valuation. For private capital, family offices and syndicators acquiring in our markets, that means sourcing, underwriting support, and transaction management.

  Where we represent both sides of the same transaction, that is dual agency, and it requires written disclosure and consent under both New York and Florida law. We will tell you plainly when it arises.

Markets and coverage

• Why do you cover both Upstate New York and Florida?

  Because capital moves between them. Yield-seeking buyers move into Upstate multifamily for cash flow that compressed markets no longer offer, and 1031 and growth capital moves into Florida. Representing sellers at both ends of that flow means we see buyer behaviour directly rather than inferring it from closed comparable sales.

  It is also a hedge on cycle timing. The two regions are currently at very different points — Upstate is a yield-and-regulation market, Florida is a supply-and-insurance market mid-correction — which means the advice is genuinely different depending on where your asset sits.

• Does Good Cause Eviction apply to my building?

  In New York, that depends entirely on the municipality. The law applies automatically only in New York City; every other village, town or city must pass its own local law to opt in, and roughly nineteen have done so.

  Among our markets: Rochester and Albany have opted in, Syracuse rejected it on a tied vote in April 2026, and Buffalo has not adopted it. Individual units are also exempt above a rent threshold that varies by municipality. We maintain the current position, sourced to the state's published notice, on the Upstate New York overview.

• What is the biggest mistake sellers make in your markets?

  In Upstate New York, leaving the property tax line at its historical figure. A sale can reset the assessment, and the Rochester metro carries the highest effective property tax rate in the United States at 1.82%. When a buyer's lender catches this in week six of diligence, it becomes a retrade.

  In Florida, pricing off a 2022 comparable. Tampa's median price per unit fell 23% in 2025. An owner anchored to pre-correction pricing spends months in a process that ends in a withdrawal rather than a sale.

This page is general information about how commercial real estate investment sales work, not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or service. Timelines, fee structures, and market conventions described here vary by transaction; nothing on this page is a quote or a commitment. Any engagement is governed by a written agreement.