Selling a business in Oregon

[Alison Anderson]

I am a licensed broker and own a real estate firm in Washington.  I am working with a buyer who has found a business right over the border in Oregon where I am not licensed as a broker.  He is looking at a business, not just the land.  In this case, is it legal for me to act in the capacity of a finder and charge a finder's fee considering he negotiates the deal himself?  Could I legally act in the capacity of a business consultant?  If so, how do I legally do this and what documentation to I provide to escrow in order to be compensated?  

[Joel Owens]

You are talking about business brokering rather than real estate. If it is just the business and not buying a building or the land beneath it then it is not generally a real estate licensed activity.

You need to check for each state what is or is not required.

You could go on a site like Rocket Lawyer etc. and for a nominal fee ask the question.

In commercial real estate transactions you can generally have consulting and other fees on the HUD-1 as RESPA does not typically apply.

To look for more businesses you could look at bizbuysell.com  

Sellers typically want 3 times gross profit earnings so if 100k a year after expenses they want 300,000. Buyers usually want to get 1 to 2 multiple or 100,000 to 200,000 price. Business broker fees are around 10% so 300,000 would be about 30,000 fee split between the buyer business broker and seller business broker.

No legal advice given.