What changes the value of a cell tower lease?
The short answer
Start with the rent your lease pays and the rights a buyer wants. Then compare offers that buy the same thing.
What could change the answerRent increases, years left on the lease, the tower company's right to end it early, future income and how many buyers compete.
On this page
Three numbers that are easy to mix up
Your current rent is what the tower company pays you today. A calculator estimate shows what future rent might be worth, based on guesses you choose. A buyer's offer is a price for certain rights, with conditions attached. Keep all three separate.
| Number | What it tells you | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|
| Current yearly rent | What is your rent for a full year? | Future raises, extra payments and how long rent lasts |
| Today's value of future rent | What is your future rent worth today at the rate you picked? | What a buyer would actually pay |
| Buyout offer | What is this buyer offering for this deal? | Whether another buyer or deal would pay more or less |
To compare your rent today with other sites, see our rates page. Read on to learn what your future rent is worth.
What drives the value of your lease
Start with the full lease and every amendment. Use the newest signed version. Later changes can move the dates and the rent. A neat spreadsheet only helps if the numbers match the lease you actually have.
| What matters | What to find | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Base rent | Rent clause, amendments and payment records | Are you using the rent due today? |
| Rent increases | Increase formula and next increase date | When does rent go up, and from what amount? |
| Years left | Start date and renewal options | Which years are locked in, and which depend on a renewal? |
| Early exit | Clauses that let the lease end early | What could stop the rent early? |
| Extra income | Clauses on new carriers or added equipment on the tower | What triggers extra pay, and is it in writing? |
| Rights you sell | Sale papers, plus any assignment or easement | Is the buyer getting only rent, or more? |
| Duties you keep | Upkeep, tax, liability and access clauses | What costs or duties stay with you? |
Next to each number, note where it came from and how sure you are. If you know the rent but not how many years the buyer wants, you can't value the deal yet. Settle the years first.
What your future rent is worth today
A dollar paid years from now is worth less than a dollar today. "Present value" puts all your future rent in today's dollars. Our calculator takes each year's rent and shrinks it by a rate you pick, called the discount rate. The further off the payment, the more it shrinks. Add them up and you get the total.
This is a good way to weigh a lump sum against future rent. Compare that total with the offers you get.
Our buyout calculator shows the rent, increases, years and rate you chose. Try more than one set of numbers. If a small change in years swings the result a lot, dig into that before you trust the answer.
Facts versus guesses
Take facts from the lease and mark everything else as a guess. Your current rent and the written rent increase are facts. The rate you pick, whether the lease gets renewed and whether another phone company adds equipment to the tower are guesses, unless you have proof.
Try a few different rates. You will see how much that one choice changes the result.
If you count renewal years, run them as a separate scenario. Do the same for possible new carriers on the tower or income that isn't due yet. Don't mix rent you are owed with rent you hope for in one number.
Our calculator assumes the rent keeps coming for the years you choose. But even your current term may let the tower company end the lease early. Check the termination clause before you pick the number of years.
Same rent, different deal
Two offers can use the same rent and still buy different things. One may buy only the rent for a set number of years. Another may also take lasting rights to use your land. If you compare them only by the multiple (the offer divided by one year of rent), you miss that difference.
An easement gives the buyer the right to use part of your land. Our easement guide helps you sort out payment rights, access, utility lines, room to expand and how long each lasts. Ask your lawyer what comes back to you, what keeps going and what depends on something else happening. A bigger check for more rights is not always a better deal.
Why the offer may not match your numbers
A buyer may use different guesses, ask for more rights or attach conditions your math leaves out. Ask what they are. A gap doesn't mean the buyer is wrong, or that you are.
Compare the price, the costs you pay and when you get paid. Also compare any period when you can't talk to other buyers, the buyer's review, the title check and any clause that lets them lower the price. Keep offers with conditions apart from money you have actually received. Our buyout guide shows how to compare offer terms and paperwork side by side.
Get your file ready for review
Bring your latest lease papers, a record of the rent you've been paid, the offer papers and your guesses. Say what you want answered. "What could a buyer pay?" is a different question from "How much income would I give up?" or "What stays tied to my land?"
Keep open questions in the same file, not buried in email. If a renewal option hasn't been used yet, say so. If a payment includes money paid back to you for costs, note it. If you don't know how many years the buyer wants, don't assume it matches your numbers.
The numbers are only part of the sell-or-keep decision. You also need to think about what the money is for, how you'll replace the income, your plans for the land and whether you could ever undo the deal.
Common questions
Can I multiply annual rent by a number?
Yes, to describe an offer as a multiple of rent. But that math doesn't tell you what multiple your lease should get. Before you compare offers, check which yearly rent they use, how many years they buy and what rights they take.
Should I include every renewal option?
Keep the years you are sure of separate from the renewal years. If you count renewals, label them and check what it takes to use them. Never call a long forecast guaranteed income.
What discount rate should I use?
Try a few rates and see how much the result changes. Pick one that matches what else you could do with the money and how risky you think the rent is.
Does the calculator count limits on my land?
No. This simple calculator only looks at rent. Write down access, how long the easement lasts, limits on future building and duties you keep. Look at them next to the numbers.
Know what the offer means for you
Compare your rent and offer, then use the questions above to decide what to ask for next.