Looking to build 5 self serve and one touchless.

[Steve J1]

Looking to build 5 self serve and one touchless. Any and all comments welcomed. Doing research on costs and everything else. Thanks!!
Websites? associations? Ballpark cost estimate? I would be leasing property.

 

[Randy]

Looking to build 5 self serve and one touchless. Any and all comments welcomed. Doing research on costs and everything else. Thanks!!
Websites? associations? Ballpark cost estimate? I would be leasing property.

Where do you want the build this car wash? In our area it's almost impossible to build a car wash. leased land, no way. In the long run the value of the car wash is in the property.

 

[Steve J1]

Thanks for the comment. In Georgia.

 

[MEP001]

Looking to build 5 self serve and one touchless.

Why?

 

[Steve J1]

To make an investment. Looking for friendly advice.

 

[MEP001]

I mean why a car wash? Do you have experience, or have you chosen this from Car Wash Chronicles or InvestmentJoy videos? They make it look like you stop by once a week and pick up a bunch of money, but it's far from that simple.

Ballpark cost to build could easily exceed $1 million, could be a little less but will most likely be a lot more.

Almost anything else would be a better investment, especially since you're doing it on leased land. You probably won't get a bank loan for this.

 

[Waxman]

for me the leased land aspect makes the project a nonstarter. Like others have said here a key component to a car wash business is maintaining control and ownership of the property/real estate. I'd like to know what research you have already done to get you to this point in your decision.

personally I started out with a love of cleaning cars and my ambition to start the car wash business flowed naturally from that. Yes I wanted to succeed Financially but that was not my main motivation in the beginning of my journey. As stated by other members, there are many investments that are more fruitful if you are spending $1 million.

 

[soapy]

We have tougher building codes in Idaho vs. Georgia but the last wash I built in Idaho was a 4 ss bay and double automatic. It was 1 million back in 2003 and would be at least 2 million today.

 

[OurTown]

Why not buy an existing location? Most likely it would cost less and include the land. It might not be shiny but you can make that way.

 

[OurTown]

Take a look at your exit strategy. With a new build on leased land I'm speculating you will have a difficult time selling later.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I mean why a car wash? Do you have experience, or have you chosen this from Car Wash Chronicles or InvestmentJoy videos? They make it look like you stop by once a week and pick up a bunch of money, but it's far from that simple.

Ballpark cost to build could easily exceed $1 million, could be a little less but will most likely be a lot more.

Almost anything else would be a better investment, especially since you're doing it on leased land. You probably won't get a bank loan for this.

And that doesn’t include the property.
This is a 7 days a week job.

 

[MEP001]

This is a 7 days a week job.

It can be if you try to do everything yourself. The biggest hurdle is finding good, reliable help, and you end up paying them practically a living wage. I've been on both ends, and it's tough work.

 

[MEP001]

Ballpark cost to build could easily exceed $1 million, could be a little less but will most likely be a lot more.

Did a little research. You're probably going to spend $2 million or more, and being on leased land you will almost definitely not get a loan.

 

[Greg Pack]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum. The bad news is new washes are a tough go right now. I built a 5/1 in 2003 for about 600K if I recall in Alabama (I think I paid around 135K for the property). As you know since then, everything has skyrocketed. New projects have a very tough time getting approved and for good reason, most will not return a reasonable ROI. At the end of the day it is a special purpose property that requires much more attention that many think. Thats why washes on leased land are looked as a poor choice. When it comes time to cash in your investment the land hopefully will hold significant value.

The good news is there are existing washes in many regions (including Georgia)that can be purchased for much less than it would cost to build new. Sometimes you can buy the entire place for the value of the property it sits on. Look in that direction for some deals.

 

[soonermajic]

Equipment $400 ---$650
Concrete, plumbing, electric & building $600 ---$750
So will be @ a minimum of $1.3 mil. Cpuld be $500k higher, or $100k less.
No way Id do that for a lease. NO WAY

Like others have said, find a used wash & buy that. BE PATIENT

 

[soonermajic]

Remember: You make your money when you buy