Zach Barden

Introduction

Outlive Homes was founded by two brokers who came up in high volume New York shops and wanted to build something more accountable, both to the clients we represent and to the places we work in.

Zach Barden is Vice President and Principal Broker. His practice spans business brokerage, commercial leasing and investment sales, residential representation, and property management. He came into real estate from New York City's public engagement sector, which is an unusual background for a broker and a useful one. It means he is fluent in the parts of a deal that involve agencies, compliance, and paperwork that has to be right the first time.

Harley Courts is Co-Founder and Principal, and built the operational side of the brokerage out of years running infrastructure at one of Brooklyn's better known rental platforms.

How we work a business sale

Before we take a listing, we read the lease. Every time. We want to know the remaining term, the option structure, the assignment and change of control language, the use clause, the personal guaranty and whether it survives an assignment, and what the landlord's consent standard actually is. That review tells us whether the business is sellable at the price the owner has in mind, and it tells us what to fix before a buyer ever sees the file. Owners are often surprised by what turns up. A five year remaining term with a reasonable assignment clause can be worth more to a buyer than a full year of additional revenue.

We then look at the financials the way a buyer's accountant will. Recast earnings, owner compensation and personal expenses running through the business, equipment condition and whether it is owned or financed, staff retention risk, customer concentration, licenses and permits and whether they transfer or have to be reapplied for. We tell you what a buyer will scrutinize before the buyer does, so you are not renegotiating in due diligence.

On structure, we walk through asset purchase versus stock purchase with you and your attorney. The choice affects tax treatment, liability exposure, and whether existing contracts, licenses, and the lease itself carry over or have to be reassigned. It is not a detail to settle late. It shapes the deal from the first offer.

Marketing is confidential by default. We list without the operating name or the address. Buyers are screened for proof of funds and relevant experience, and they sign an NDA before they receive anything identifying. Site visits happen after hours or on your terms. Your staff, your customers, and your vendors find out when you decide they find out.

Through closing we coordinate with the attorneys and accountants on both sides, manage the landlord consent process, and keep the timeline moving. Landlord consent is where deals stall most often, and it is the part we are best equipped to handle, because we negotiate with these landlords on other transactions every week.

What we also do

Business brokerage sits alongside a full commercial and residential practice. We handle retail and mixed use leasing, investment sales, development site transactions, condo and co-op sales including board package preparation, and property management for individual units and small portfolios. Owners selling a business often need a lease renegotiated, a building sold, or a relocation handled at the same time, and we can do all of it under one roof.

We also maintain international referral relationships, with active corridors in Japan and Portugal and operations in Hawaii.

Our commitment

For every transaction we close, we plant 100 trees and remove 10 pounds of pollution from the ocean. It is funded out of every deal, without exception, and it is the reason the brokerage exists rather than a line we added afterward.

Working with us

You will deal with a principal from the first conversation to the closing table. We take on a limited number of listings at a time because a business sale needs real attention and a broker with forty active files cannot give it. If a listing is not a fit for us, or if we think an owner is a year of cleanup away from getting the price they want, we will say so rather than tie it up in an exclusive and let it sit.

If you are thinking about selling, we are glad to have a confidential conversation with no obligation. We will tell you what your business is likely worth in this market, what a buyer will dig into, and what to address before you go to market.