Car Wash Forum
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New Member Looking to buy a self serve car wash
- Thread starter Rayford
- Start date
traveler17
Well-known member
What is the revenue? Has he shown you numbers?
Fort Worth, Texas
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
A six bay doing 65K is really low. Asking almost 6 times revenue is nuts unless the dirt is worth it.
We need a ton more information. How old is the equipment? What is the condition? What is the location like? How much are you going to have to put into it to get it up to snuff to make the return you want?
That was my thoughts too. When I looked at it one of the bays was missing all the hoses. It has decent traffic. Mostly blue collar people in the area. Close to an interstate. There is a big tunnel car wash right on the interstate about 1 mile away. I just wanted to know what more experienced people thought. I am not sure what the real estate is worth.
Waxman
Super Moderator
It's easy to get the tax assessed value. As far as income verification, you do that by looking at 3 years income tax returns for the business.
Car washes typically sell for 3-5 x gross revenue. But that's a guideline and you want to consider many more factors in determining the feasibility of the purchase. Age and condition of property / equipment, car counts, is it well kept and fully functioning, how are the Google reviews, etc.
Go there and sit in your car on weekdays and weekends, day and evening hours. Observe the place. Is it busy? What are the customers like? What is your own experience when you wash your truck there? Is the pressure good, water hot, soap rich, foam brush like shaving cream, good scents, vacuum suck well, etc?????
Car washes typically sell for 3-5 x gross revenue. But that's a guideline and you want to consider many more factors in determining the feasibility of the purchase. Age and condition of property / equipment, car counts, is it well kept and fully functioning, how are the Google reviews, etc.
Go there and sit in your car on weekdays and weekends, day and evening hours. Observe the place. Is it busy? What are the customers like? What is your own experience when you wash your truck there? Is the pressure good, water hot, soap rich, foam brush like shaving cream, good scents, vacuum suck well, etc?????
Roz
Well-known member
In real estate there is nothing holding you back from making an offer at your valuation, perhaps including how you got to the number if vastly different than the ask. Worst case they reject the offer or make a counter offer. You never know where the seller is in the process, sometimes it takes time to find/see reality. Buying and selling is a process, not an exact science. That being said washes at low revenue could easily sell for higher multiples because of the land value. If location is good then the higher price than the 3-5x norm may just be noise. Don't lose a a great opportunity because of the place being run into the ground. I paid $375K for a place that grossed half of your number above and it became the best accidental purchase I ever made (I attended an auction). Caveat, I then invested more than the purchase price renovating the place (entirely). Sometimes you need to have faith in your ability to make a successful business from a disaster...
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