Frequently (actually the norm rather than the exception) business owners want to sell their businesses (with or without real estate) on a confidential basis.  Now why would they want to do this and how in the world can you sell something if you can't tell anybody about it?

First of all, they want the fact that the business and property is for sale to be kept confidential because they do not want any of their employees, customers and/or suppliers to know about it.  If these people find out; they fear that the employees may leave, the customers may go elsewhere and the suppliers may want quicker than normal payment or they will spread the word to the competitors.

Secondly, selling the business is a bit more challenging, particularly if you want to use our local multiple listing service.  The local MLS requires that the actual address be used in the property information.  That is, you can't withhold the address or only use a general address like "Upper Bucks County" as some other sites allow.  If I do use the local MLS I have to include statements that ask the realtors to keep the listing confidential.  Also some of this information on the local MLS may be picked up by other sites that are available to the general public.  When I explain this risk to the business owners they usually do not want to take a chance on having their identity revealed and I can't take advantage of the local MLS.

Our local MLS covers a fairly large geographic and population area and I believe it would be highly advantageous for their clients and themselves to accommodate confidential listings.  However when I have requested it in the past, the answer has been something like, "I'll take it to my management but they have a lot of higher priority issues to deal with". 

Anyone have any comments or suggestions?