Take My Church, Please!
Your guide to selling outgrown facilities

By Julie Riddle

The time comes for almost every church leader.

Seemingly overnight, everything that once was perfect about your property becomes outdated. Your sanctuary, which used to feel huge and impressive, shrinks. Your once-functional parking lot is now a hassle for members to navigate. You need more offices for your growing staff. What's a pastor to do?

Sell it!

Of course, selling your church is easier said than done. In fact, it might be one of the most difficult duties you perform as a pastor. Depending on how long you've been at your current location, your congregation probably will have a hard time adjusting to new surroundings, not to mention coping with the ins and outs of a different building. What makes the process even harder is that you are responsible for finding that place--somewhere your staff, congregation and future visitors can grow and be happy.

At times like these, you could use a little free, professional advice. Earle Shroyer, a 22-year church real estate specialist and creator of www.churchesforsale.com (and also the son of a pastor) met with us to give you just that.

Church Business: On average, how long does it take before a church sells?

Earle Shroyer: From the time I put a church on the market and put a contract on it, it takes about four months, plus an additional three to four months until I close escrow. Of course, there are exceptions. It depends on the buyer's capabilities. If they have to get financing, it could take three to four months to get all the documents together, and some may have to raise additional funds to make their down payment or go to their national organization or mother church.

CB: What if a church wants to do its own selling?

ES: That doesn't happen very often. If you try to 'sell by owner,' you don't know who's walking in your door. If you work with a realtor, you can know before that person walks into your building if he or she is even qualified to buy.

When I put my sign on the property, I hand the receptionist a handful of my business cards and tell her that anyone who wants to look at the property has to make an appointment with me.

CB: What terms of fees and costs are associated with selling or buying a church?

ES: Everything is negotiable. Even most of the title companies I work with will give churches or nonprofit organizations a discounted fee.

CB: Is it more cost-effective to buy land, then build a church?

ES: It's much more cost-effective to buy an existing church. I work with several church architects, and just a plain, generic building--not counting the land, parking lots or landscaping--could cost $160 per square foot. By the time you get everything else in, it could be $200 per square foot. I'm selling churches for $60 and $70 per square foot with everything already in place. So, there's a big difference.

CB: Give us your best tip of all for an easier, faster sale.

ES: Curb appeal. Some pastors don't want to spend any money because they've been on a tight budget, so they fix only what they have to fix. Any church, if it shows pride of ownership, is an easy showing, but I've had some that are just not attractive. The pastors want top dollar, but they aren't willing to spend a weekend painting. Many church leaders use deferred maintenance because they just don't have the wherewithal, or they don't feel like it's an important issue. But when it comes to selling, if you have things like water stains on the ceiling, the buyer says, 'Oh, I have to put a new roof on?'

I encourage sellers to do as much as they possibly can. If it's clean, it shows well. Whether it's 50 years old or 10 years old, people appreciate that more and tend to pursue it.

CB: On the flip side, what should pastors remember when searching for a new home?

ES: The most difficult part is the financing. People have Volkswagen budgets but Cadillac dreams. Today, in fact, someone called me about a million-dollar church, but his church's total annual income was $100,000. With that amount, you can probably borrow $300,000--about three times that amount.

Also, with a home, you can put 3 percent down. With a church, it's at least 40 percent, and some banks want 50 percent. That's a big difference.

And probably only 5 to 10 percent of churches are doing any type of fund raising. When I ask if they are planning to or if they have a building fund, they say people won't give to something they can't see. I understand that, but the key to it all is leadership.