This guide is for the owner of a tower, not the owner of the land under one. If what you hold is a ground lease, the sale that matters to you is covered in What happens to a ground lease when a tower sells. If you own the structure, read on.
Owners ask what a tower is worth first and what happens next second, but the second question decides more of the outcome. A sale that stalls in diligence costs more than a point on the multiple. So here is the whole process, step by step: what we do, what we ask of you, and how long each step usually takes. The durations are the ones on our selling page. They are typical, not promised, and the written answer at the end of the first step tells you where your tower sits against them.
Step 1: Screen (about 5 days)
What we do. We read what you sent against our criteria: the structure (self-support, monopole, or guyed; macro towers only), who is on it, how long the ground lease runs including its options, and where it stands. No engineer is involved yet and no number is quoted. The screen ends in one of three verdicts: go, watch, or pass.
What you send. Four facts: where the tower is, the structure type and height, who is on it, and whether the land is owned or leased. The form takes them in about ten minutes. A rent roll and photographs help but can wait, and tenant names and rents can stay behind a non-disclosure agreement until you are ready to share them.
What you get. The written answer, inside the five days. It has three parts: the verdict; one line on why; and what happens next, and when. A watch means the tower is not a fit today for a reason we name, such as a ground lease too short or a structure we cannot yet see, and what would change it. A pass says why, so the next buyer you talk to gets a better file. The written answer is never an offer. A number arrives only at step 3, after an engineer has looked.
Step 2: Engineering review (about 14 days)
What we do. A licensed professional engineer reviews the structure and its loading: the drawings, the design code the tower was built to, what is on it today, and how much headroom is left for the next tenant. Where a stamped structural analysis exists, the engineer reads it. Where none exists, the review works from drawings, photographs, and the public records. This step sets the price, because what a tower can carry is what it is worth. A tower with open rad centers and capacity to spare is priced for the tenants it can take. A tower at its limit is priced for the tenants it has.
What you send. The tower drawings and any structural analysis, past or present. The FCC registration number and the FAA determination for the as-built height, if you have them; we can pull both from the public record if you do not. Recent photographs from the ground, showing the structure, the compound, and the access road. A site visit may follow. A licensed general contractor on our side makes it, and we schedule it with you.
What you get. A read on the structure that you keep whether or not the sale goes ahead. Owners are sometimes surprised to learn that their tower can carry more than they thought, and occasionally less. Either way, the number in step 3 is built on it.
Step 3: Offer (about 5 days)
What we do. We send a letter of intent: the price, the main terms, the diligence period, and the closing timeline. The letter is set to the engineering. That phrase is the one to hold us to. It means the price on the letter was built from the structural review and the facts you disclosed, so there is nothing left to discover that would move it, apart from something material that was not disclosed. We do not re-trade. A clean tower closes at the number on the letter.
What you send. Questions, and then a signature. Two questions are worth asking any buyer at this point, including us. Who underwrote the structure, and what would cause the price to change between the letter and closing? You should get a licensed engineer for the first and a short list you can check yourself for the second.
What you get. A signed letter of intent and the diligence list, so you know in advance every document the next step will ask for.
Step 4: Diligence (about 45 days)
What we do. This is the longest step and the one most sales stall in, so it is worth knowing what is in it. Title: who owns the tower, who owns or leases the land, and what liens or easements sit on either. The ground lease: every amendment, the option schedule, the assignment clause, and whether the landowner's consent is needed. The tenant leases: assignment terms and consent rights, and whether the rent roll matches the paper. The regulatory file: the FCC antenna structure registration, the FAA determination against the as-built height, and anything on file about environmental or historic-preservation review. The purchase and sale agreement is drafted and signed during this step, and it fixes the closing date.
What you send. The package described in How to prepare a tower or portfolio for sale, as far as you have it. Where you do not have something, say so early. A gap disclosed on day one is a diligence item. A gap discovered on day forty is a delay.
What the landowner may be asked for. Two documents, and neither changes the lease. An estoppel certificate confirms that the lease exists, what the rent is, and that neither side is in default. An SNDA comes up if the purchase is financed, and its non-disturbance half protects the landowner's lease if a lender ever steps in. We ask for both through you, or directly if you prefer, and we explain each to the landowner in plain terms, because a landowner who understands the paper signs it sooner.
Step 5: Close (about 15 days)
What we do. Funds move at closing through the title company, and the sale is done when the title company confirms in writing that it received the purchase funds and paid you. The tower moves into a Trinity River subsidiary for its state, one company per state, never one per tower. Rent to the landowner continues on the schedule they already have, from the day we take over, and they get a named contact at our land desk.
What you send. Signatures, a payoff letter if there is a lender on the tower, and the handover: keys, access codes, the tenant contacts, and the file.
What you get. The purchase price, and confirmation that the landowner and the tenants have been told who to deal with now. Nothing in the ground lease or the tenant leases changes by reason of the sale.
What slows a sale
Three things, and none of them is the tower.
The file. A rent roll that does not match the leases, a ground lease with an unrecorded amendment, a registration still in a former owner's name, or a determination that does not match the height on the ground. All four are fixable. All four take longer to fix after the diligence clock has started than before it.
The landowner. If the ground lease needs the landowner's consent to assign, or the lender needs an estoppel, the landowner's calendar becomes the sale's calendar. Tell them early, in plain terms, that the lease does not change and the rent keeps coming. A landowner who hears it from you first signs sooner than one who hears it from a stranger.
The lender. A loan on the tower needs a payoff letter, and a loan on the purchase needs an SNDA from the landowner. Both are routine. Both take weeks if nobody asks for them until the end.
Start with the facts
You do not need the whole file to start the clock. Send where the tower is, the structure and height, who is on it, and whether the land is owned or leased, and the written answer tells you which step comes next and what it will ask of you. Submit a site.
Sources
- Trinity River Assets, How we buy: the five steps and their typical durations
- FCC, Antenna structure registration search (opens in a new tab)
- FAA, Obstruction evaluation and airport airspace analysis (Form 7460-1) (opens in a new tab)
- Trinity River Assets, How to prepare a tower or portfolio for sale