Buying 1 in bay with 5 SS - not operational

[mcwashes]

New here to posting but I've been reading an trying to educate myself a bit. At the point where I have a property I can buy, I have already negotiated the price but I'm not sure how many washes to expect, how much the new equipment will be, or if I can rehab what's already there. We're getting access in a couple days and I'll post a bunch of photos if I can.

Currently 12k VPD on one street and another 3k from the side street. Prior owner had this as their first location and expanded to several more before they had an accident at another location that forced them into BK. So, no financials on it and everything I'm basing the future performance on is a guess as I've never owned a car wash. The real estate itself is worth just under what I'm offering so it's a covered land play if nothing else. Just trying to get an idea of how many washes I should expect per day. Located in Texas.

I've seen the financials of other listed sites but without knowing how many washes they do, or customers they see, I'm not sure what they're getting avg per vehicle or how many convert from VPD to paying customers. Any advice here would be great.

Thanks in advance

 

[Keno]

There are so many variables, vpd is one of them, but probably not as high up on the list IMO. Self Serve is too hard to guess, demographics and median income play a significant role. Price is always negotiable again if equipment is in way worse condition than you expect. A new IBA will run 200k+ installed, so equipment cost could be a big factor depending on condition.

 

[OurTown]

Another variable to add to Keno's list is how much effort you want to put into it. Do you have a lot of time to put into it or not?

 

[mcwashes]

Thanks for replies. I wanted to add some pictures of the equipment and I’m hoping to get inside to send some of that equipment. Any feedback you all have on the items would be helpful.

 

[mcwashes]

Another variable to add to Keno's list is how much effort you want to put into it. Do you have a lot of time to put into it or not?

To answer your question here, I have time to work on it and in an ideal world there would be room inside the building for me to setup a small makeshift office and be onsite to manage the Carwash, get it up and running and then potentially flip it once it has a set of books. I can do my traditional real estate work on site or from my other office but I have a flexible schedule

 

[Roz]

everything is a leap of faith, hard work, and smart decisions. In short I got into the business by accident almost 10 years ago. Attended an auction for a place run into the ground where little to nothing worked. People in the industry were super kind to me and educated me about the industry in quick order. Every day since has been some sort of learning experience about equipment or customers. No regrets here. I have invested much more money on equipment and renovations than on the land/building but it has paid off many times over with a flourishing business. No guarantees but make changes over time and as the business grows. I now have three locations so clearly you will get the bug after your first success. Good luck, do not overthink things. As someone once said to me it is better to retire with good memories than unfulfilled dreams. Go for it.

 

[mcwashes]

everything is a leap of faith, hard work, and smart decisions. In short I got into the business by accident almost 10 years ago. Attended an auction for a place run into the ground where little to nothing worked. People in the industry were super kind to me and educated me about the industry in quick order. Every day since has been some sort of learning experience about equipment or customers. No regrets here. I have invested much more money on equipment and renovations than on the land/building but it has paid off many times over with a flourishing business. No guarantees but make changes over time and as the business grows. I now have three locations so clearly you will get the bug after your first success. Good luck, do not overthink things. As someone once said to me it is better to retire with good memories than unfulfilled dreams. Go for it.

Appreciate it. Yeah I feel like it’s worth doing and I’m now looking at financing options. Might just bring on a partner but also looking at debt to see what it looks like. Thanks for the encouragement

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Thanks for replies. I wanted to add some pictures of the equipment and I’m hoping to get inside to send some of that equipment. Any feedback you all have on the items would be helpful.

Those meterboxes were built by Carolina Pride and they're out of business. Good thing is they're rotary switch so none of their proprietary boards but I'm not sure who's credit card system is on it(maybe Unitec?). If it's a version of Carolina Pride's old system, it's obsolete and non-functional. We've built several replacements that drop in the existing hull with various configurations. I would suspect the SS equipment is Carolina Pride also. The vacuum you posted is a really old unit of ours and we don't have many parts for those available any longer(domes, clean out doors, meterbox door, wiring shroud, gaskets are all long gone)

I would contact PDQ directly to see if they have someone who can look at the Tandem. Several of their distributors have been bought out in the last few years and changed their primary focus to the tunnel sector of the market so you may have to call more than one.

 

[OurTown]

It looks like it's right next to the police station. That is a plus. I found a listing for it that was over two years old. Has it been sitting closed for that long?

 

[mcwashes]

It looks like it's right next to the police station. That is a plus. I found a listing for it that was over two years old. Has it been sitting closed for that long?

Hi there - I'm pretty sure it's been sitting for a while. They were asking quite a bit more for it and it hasn't traded. Taking a swing at it and will get more info during DD.

 

[water guy]

That Carwash is in San Antonio tx I've seen it Wet Equipment installed that Equipment.