If you own a property management or commercial real estate business and you're in your 60s or older, you're not alone, and that's exactly the point. Industry researchers have been calling it the "silver tsunami" for years: the enormous wave of baby boomer business owners approaching retirement age all at roughly the same time. What used to be a slow, steady trickle of business sales and successions is turning into a flood, and it's reshaping what a good outcome looks like for owners on both sides of a transition.
Baby boomers own a substantial share of the small and mid-sized businesses in this country, including a large portion of the property management and commercial real estate firms operating in markets like the Twin Cities. As that generation reaches retirement age together, a huge number of businesses are coming up for succession or sale within the same relatively short window.
That timing matters. When many owners in the same industry are trying to exit around the same time, it changes the dynamics of the market itself: more businesses looking for buyers, more competition for the sellers who wait too long, and more opportunity for the owners who plan ahead of the crowd.
The practical takeaway isn't to panic. It's to plan earlier rather than later. Owners who start thinking seriously about succession or a sale while they still have options, rather than waiting until retirement feels urgent, tend to get better outcomes: stronger valuations, more qualified buyers to choose from, and more control over what happens to their team and clients after they leave.
Waiting until the wave crests rarely works in an owner's favor. As more similar businesses come to market at once, buyers get more selective, and a business that hasn't prepared, whether that's clean financials, documented processes, or a team that isn't entirely dependent on the owner, can end up competing for attention it might not win.
For operators and acquirers with a long-term mindset, this wave represents a real opportunity: a meaningful number of stable, well-established businesses will change hands over the next decade, many run by owners who built something real and simply want it to continue in good hands rather than get dismantled for parts.
That's a very different opportunity than chasing distressed businesses or speculative startups. It rewards buyers who are patient, who understand the operational side of a business (not just the financials), and who are prepared to build real relationships with owners well before any deal is on the table.
Whichever side of this you're on, the underlying lesson is the same: the businesses and buyers who plan early, rather than reactively, are the ones who come out ahead. If you're an owner who's watched peers in your industry start thinking about their own transitions, that's not a coincidence. It's a sign that now, while you still have time and options, is exactly the right moment to start the conversation.
Thinking through a sale, a succession plan, or what your business might be worth? A conversation costs nothing and stays confidential.
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