Give me your thoughts on this location.

[APW]

Zip Code: 31516
County Population: 18938
City Population: 3545

Two washes in this town, one 4ss on the main 4 lane highway in the center of town and another 3/1. The 4ss is operational and the 3/1 is not.

I was thinking about trying to buy the 4ss and turn it into a 3/1. I own the land behind the 4ss already. I would put the entrance to the IBA behind the wash and pave the land I already own to make the lot bigger. The 4bay currently does $1100-1600 a month, the guys paid $175000 for it in 2010. It is very run down. It has a newer pump stand but old meters. I would update all that. I have not approached these guys yet. This is the wash:

http://qpublic7.qpublic.net/ga_display.php?county=ga_pierce&KEY=B05 037

The other wash is away from center of town on a 2 lane highway. I am not interested in buying this wash but it could possibly be future competition. It has been shut down for close to ten years now. Here it is.

http://qpublic7.qpublic.net/ga_display.php?county=ga_pierce&KEY=034B 107

Click on (Show Parcel Map) to see an aerial.

My other thoughts was maybe buying land and building a 4/1 from the ground up. There is a tunnel about 20 miles away in another town. Thoughts?

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

Is that 11-1600 per bay, or for the entire wash?

In general small town washes are a tough business IMO. Think of it this way - upgrading the meter boxes will cost you 50-100% of your annual net revenue... I think thats why so many small town washes tend to get run-down, simply not enough customers to support the level of capital investment required.

Not sure what your circumstances are - unless I thought there was a significant upside, if I could get it for the price of the land and I had idle labor then I'd jump on it, otherwise I would think you could get a much better return on something else.

 

[APW]

Don't know why the link didn't work.

Try this one.
http://qpublic7.qpublic.net/ga_search.php?county=ga_pierce&search=name

Search by owner name.
Owner name is : skap

Right now it brings in $1100-1600 a month for all four bays.

 

[robert roman]

Two crucial aspects of buying an income producing property are market opportunity and knowledge and skill to manage the business.

The market environment for a carwash should be of sufficient size, sustainability and potential value.

For example, the benchmark requires a population of between 10,000 and 24,000.

Sustainability is achieved when a business delivers products at a price that covers expenses and generates a profit, long-term.

Market potential is an estimate of the total amount of money that could potentially be spent by consumers in a particular area.

Developers often use this estimate to determine whether a potential market is big enough to justify entering it.

The area population is 3,545.

There are two existing establishments. One of them has been closed for 10 years.

Per capita income for the area is $14,600 (U.S. average is $28,000). Poverty level is over 22 percent.

When a market is not of sufficient size, sustainability and potential value, the decision made should recommend the business is not viable.

In other words, you can’t squeeze orange juice from a lemon.

 

[MudMoney]

i always enjoy reading Robert's post,no truer words were spoken.As a vetern in the small town market I would recommend walking away.

 

[rph9168]

Unless you can get the land cheap - minus the cost of removing the washes - and you have another use for them it doesn't sound like a viable plan. As far as using them as washes there seems to be no reason to be in competition for yourself and if anyone else takes a shot at it their chances of making it are slim and none. I think time is on your side if you maintain your interest because the longer those properties exist the value will probably decline.