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dizposition

Sell your billboard

The ground lease or easement under a sign. A permit nobody can reissue, and a tenant that already knows what it earns.

Billboard at a glance

Typical deal size
$100K – $2M
Lease structure
Ground lease or easement
Typical term
10–30 years
Escalations
Fixed bumps, or a percentage of advertising revenue
Lamar AdvertisingOutfront MediaClear Channel OutdoorIndependent outdoor advertising companies

Overview

What billboards are really worth

Our read

Owners of land under a billboard own the ground, not the sign. The outdoor advertising company owns the structure, sells the ad space, and pays the landowner rent — sometimes fixed, sometimes a share of advertising revenue, sometimes both. What the landowner is selling is that rent stream, either with the land or through an easement over the sign area.

The core of the value is the permit. New billboard permits are very difficult to obtain in most of the country, and many jurisdictions issue none, so an existing permitted sign on a heavily traveled road is genuinely irreplaceable. That scarcity is what keeps operators committed to strong sites, and it is what makes a lost permit — through lapse, storm damage to a non-conforming structure, or a road project — the most serious risk to the income.

The operator is also the buyer most likely to make an offer. Sign companies regularly approach landowners to buy out the lease or convert it to a perpetual easement, and they know exactly what the location earns. Owners who understand what drives the value negotiate from a much better position.

Valuation

How we underwrite it

The method

We underwrite the permit first — whether the sign is permitted, conforming or non-conforming, eligible for digital conversion, and exposed to any planned road project. If the permit is at risk, the rent stream is at risk, regardless of what the lease says.

The lease comes next. We look at term, termination and abatement rights, escalations, and especially any revenue share, which is common in this sector and often under-reported. A revenue share on a strong site can be worth considerably more than the fixed rent.

The site gets evaluated as an advertiser would see it: road, traffic, visibility, and view angle. Those attributes determine what the operator earns, and an operator that earns well on a site renews and rarely asks for concessions.

We structure around the rest of your property. An easement that conveys the sign income while you keep the land is usually the cleanest result, and we look at how the sign's footprint and view corridor affect anything else you might want to do with the parcel.

What moves the number

  1. 01Whether the sign is legally permitted and conforming, since most jurisdictions no longer issue new billboard permits and a lost permit cannot be replaced
  2. 02Traffic exposure — the road, the visibility, and the view angle — which is what advertisers pay for and what the operator protects
  3. 03Static versus digital, since a digital face generates far more revenue and is much harder to permit
  4. 04Rent structure, especially whether the lease includes a percentage of advertising revenue and how that is reported
  5. 05Remaining term and the operator's termination rights, particularly rights tied to loss of visibility or permits
  6. 06Development potential of the underlying parcel, which can conflict with the sign and limit the land's other uses

Capital markets today

10-yr Treasury
5.24%
4.12% a year ago
SOFR
3.87%
4.2% a year ago
30-yr mortgage
7.28%
6.3% a year ago
CRE loan delinquency
1.53%
1.57% a year ago
CRE prices, YoY
6.58%
-2.7% a year ago

Sources: FRED DGS10, 2026-10-01 · FRED SOFR, 2026-10-01 · FRED MORTGAGE30US, 2026-10-01 · FRED DRCRELEXFACBS, 2026-04-01 · FRED COMREPUSQ159N, 2026-01-01

Diligence

What a buyer actually looks at in a billboard

  1. Check 01

    State and local sign permits

    The permit is the asset. Most jurisdictions no longer allow new billboards, so an existing permitted sign is irreplaceable — and a sign that loses its permit cannot be rebuilt.

  2. Check 02

    Conforming or non-conforming status

    Many billboards are legal non-conforming structures. Those can usually be maintained but not substantially rebuilt, and a sign destroyed by storm or removed for a road project may not come back.

  3. Check 03

    The lease and any revenue share provisions

    Billboard leases frequently include a percentage of advertising revenue. How that is calculated, reported, and audited determines what the income stream is actually worth.

  4. Check 04

    Termination and rent abatement rights

    Many sign leases allow termination or rent reduction if visibility is blocked, traffic is rerouted, or a permit is lost. Those clauses shift risk to the landowner.

  5. Check 05

    Road widening and highway projects

    Planned highway work can trigger removal or relocation of a sign. Whether compensation goes to the landowner, the operator, or both depends on the lease and state law.

  6. Check 06

    Access easements and the sign's footprint on the parcel

    The sign, its access, and its view corridor all burden the rest of the property. A buyer of the land will price those restrictions.

Backfill risk

What happens if the tenant leaves

The tenant-goes-dark scenario

Like a cell tower site, a billboard ground lease is not a building with a backfill problem. The landowner owns the ground; the outdoor advertising company owns the structure and sells the ad space. What the landowner is selling is the rent stream and the right to keep it.

What makes a billboard site valuable is that it usually cannot be replaced. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 and decades of state and local restrictions since have made new billboard permits very difficult to obtain in most places, and many jurisdictions issue none at all. An existing permitted sign on a heavily traveled road is a scarce asset, and operators work hard to keep the ones they have.

If an operator leaves, another operator is often willing to step in, because the permit is the hard part and the permit typically runs with the location. The risk is not replacing the tenant. It is losing the permit — through a lapse in use, a storm that destroys a non-conforming structure, or a road project that requires removal.

Digital conversion has made the strongest sites considerably more valuable, and it has also made the permit file more important. A site eligible for a digital face is worth far more than one that is not, and the eligibility is decided by local rules rather than by the operator.

Why this matters to you

Every buyer prices the tenant-goes-dark scenario, whether or not they say so out loud. It is the largest hidden input into the cap rate you get offered.

Understanding it before you go to market is the difference between negotiating and being negotiated with.

Who sells to us

Situations we see most often

  • Landowner who wants a lump sum instead of years of ground rent
  • Owner who received a lease buyout or easement offer from the sign operator
  • Owner planning to develop or sell the rest of the parcel and needing to separate the sign income
  • Estate dividing property that is easier to split as cash
  • Owner of a site where the sign operator is asking for a rent reduction or lease extension

Buy box

What we buy

  1. 01Billboard ground leases and easements, $100K to $2M
  2. 02Static and digital sign sites
  3. 03Leases with revenue share provisions
  4. 04Parcels where the owner wants to separate the sign from the land

Process

How selling to Dizposition works

The full process
  1. Day 0

    01

    Send us the property

    Address, asset type, and the lease if there is one. That is enough for us to start.

  2. 02

    We underwrite it

    Our underwriting runs the income against current market pricing and the cost of capital. No lowball anchor.

  3. 10 minutes

    03

    You get a firm offer

    In 10 minutes, with the math shown. You will know exactly how we got there.

  4. As fast as 30 days

    04

    Close on your timeline

    As fast as 30 days, or as slow as you need. We are the principal, so the date is yours.

FAQ

Selling a billboard

The sign company offered to buy my lease. Is the price fair?

It may be, but the sign company knows exactly what that location earns and you may not. A second view is worth having. We look at the permit, the lease terms, the traffic, and any revenue share and tell you what the stream is worth.

Can I sell the billboard income and keep my land?

Yes. An easement over the sign area that conveys the lease income while you keep the parcel is the most common structure. It leaves the rest of the property available for whatever you plan to do with it.

My lease gets a share of advertising revenue. How do I know it is calculated correctly?

Start with the audit rights in the lease, if there are any. Revenue share is common in billboard leases and reporting is not always transparent. We look at what is reported against what a site with that exposure would realistically earn.

I want to develop the rest of my property. Does the sign get in the way?

It can. The sign's footprint, access, and view corridor all constrain what goes around it, and some leases restrict building anything that blocks visibility. Knowing those limits before you plan is worth a lot, and separating the sign income can sometimes simplify the development.

How long does it take to sell a commercial property to Dizposition?

You get a firm written offer within 10 minutes of sending us the property. If you accept, you can close in as little as 30 days — most of that is title work and your own timeline. There is no listing period, no marketing, and no waiting on a buyer's financing contingency.

Can I sell my property as-is?

Yes. We are the buyer, so there is no lender requiring repairs and no inspection contingency to renegotiate against you. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof, an aging tank system — we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fix it first.

Can I sell with a tenant in place?

Yes, and in most cases a tenant makes the property more valuable to us, not less. We will ask for the lease, a rent roll, and any estoppel certificates. You do not need to deliver the property vacant.

What if my lease is short-term or about to expire?

Short remaining term is one of the main reasons owners come to us. A conventional buyer needs lease term to get financing, which is why short-dated assets sit on the market. We underwrite the real estate and the backfill prospects rather than the remaining term alone.

What if the property is vacant?

We buy vacant assets. Pricing shifts from an income approach to what the building and land are worth to the next user, which is a different calculation — but it is one we do routinely rather than one that disqualifies the property.

Do I need a broker to sell to you?

No. We buy directly, and there is no commission because there is nothing to market. If you already have a broker, we will pay them. Selling without one saves the commission, but you should understand you are also giving up price discovery — a broker's job is to find out whether someone will pay more than we will.

What documents do I need to get an offer?

The address and the lease are enough to start. To finalize, we will want the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements, the title commitment, any existing survey, and any environmental reports you already have. You do not need an appraisal or a broker package.

How do you determine your offer?

We underwrite in-place income against what the space would re-lease for, adjust for capital needs and any environmental tail, and apply a cap rate supported by comparable transactions. We show you the inputs. If you disagree with an assumption, we would rather argue about the assumption than about the number.

What are typical seller closing costs?

Title and escrow fees, any transfer or recording tax owed in your state, prorated property taxes, and payoff of any existing debt. Because we are the buyer, there is no commission and no marketing cost. Transfer tax varies significantly by state and is often the largest single line.

Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?

Usually yes, on the gain above your adjusted basis, and depreciation recapture is taxed separately from appreciation. State treatment varies. This is a question for your CPA before you sign, not after — the structure of the sale can change the answer.

Can I do a 1031 exchange?

Yes. A 1031 exchange lets you defer federal capital gains by reinvesting in like-kind property, subject to a 45-day identification window and a 180-day closing window from the date you sell. You must have a qualified intermediary in place before closing — it cannot be arranged afterward. Most states conform to federal treatment, but a few do not.

Can I sell if I am behind on payments or facing foreclosure?

Yes, and speed is the reason to move early rather than late. We can close on a defined date, which is what a lender or a receiver generally needs to see. Send us the payoff figure and any notices you have received.

Can I sell a property I inherited or that is in probate?

Yes. Probate sales take longer because the court timeline governs, not ours, and multiple heirs need to agree on the price before anything can close. We are used to working around both. Inherited property also generally receives a stepped-up basis, which can change the tax math substantially.

What if there is environmental contamination?

Send it anyway. Environmental history is one of the most common reasons a conventional sale falls apart, and it is one of the reasons owners call us. We price the remediation and the residual liability into the offer rather than walking away at the Phase II.

Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?

None. There is no fee, no listing agreement, and no obligation to accept. If our number does not work for you, you keep the underwriting we showed you and we part ways.

Markets

Top markets we buy billboards in

10-minute offer

Ready to sell your billboard?

Send us the property and the lease. You'll have a firm offer, with the math shown, in 10 minutes.