Longshot: Anyon know of a car wash for sale? W

[Fentonite]

My wife is a retired paramedic, but certainly young and fit enough to work. Being a "housewife" is not good for her. She has decided that she wants to buy an existing self-serve car wash (4-8 bays, spray and scrubby things, you know. She's also considering having one bay as an automatic, which I am opposed to, at least for now. We are very early in the process, and its a bit of a goose chase. Realtor wants us to get ore-qualified before they show us stuff, and the bank won't really even talk until have an address and three years tax returns to talk about.

She's working on a business plan (which will also need to be tailored to a physical address), and researching everything she can. I think I may pull $300k out of our house equity, just so we have a down payment should something come along, My understanding is that the good ones don't last on the market. The SBA for the rest of the loan. From what I've read, a fair price is that which the revenue will pay off in 5 years (some say 4, some 7).

I imagine she'll develop an S-corp for the financial advantage.

So,,, anybody know perhaps an elderly couple who are ready to cash out their car wash?

I should probably find a financial or tax advisor to help me avoid some mistakes. I am admittedly ignorant in the realm of finance. The truth is that I don't even know what I don't know. Any such folk on here wanna let me buy you dinner and learn from you?

Thanks

[Wulf202]

Having worked on several car washes and chatted with the owners. Auto bays are a pain if neglected but money makers if done right. Either get good with diagnostics or also include in your list of things to look for, a service company that is fair and competent.

Good luck

[Irving]

Get a new realtor. Use sites like https://www.loopnet.com/ to look for commercial properties. Make friends with someone already in the business. We did that and she turned into an investor as well. Consider other options like Dog washes, ice/water stands, rv parks, self storage, etc. Good luck and have fun.

[Delfuego]

I don't, but it is a good business (or was historically). I know a local guy that did very well for his family owning a few car washes. Tell her good luck!

[Gman]

This sounds kind of familiar. Are you cooking meth and you need a cash business to launder money?

[Grant H.]

This sounds kind of familiar. Are you cooking meth and you need a cash business to launder money?

I assumed the stray W in the title was a hat tip to such an idea...

[Irving]

Another thing to consider would be just owning a venue, think of a dance hall. You rent it out for parties, events, whatever. They are pretty popular for weddings, funerals, quinci?eras, etc. If you set it up right with the ability to have a cash bar, then you could put an ATM inside and I know a guy.

[Fentonite]

The stray W was just my fat thumb. There have been some breaking bad jokes, but she really doesn’t want anything that fancy, and sure doesn’t want employees.

We spoke to a new realtor team today. The hunt is on!

Thanks for all the tips above.

[Irving]

Make friends with an attorney that deals with estates and you can get deals before they hit the market.

[colorider]

Rv and boat storage lot. You own dirt that turns a nice profit with little to no maintenance. A LOT of people out there looking for a spot to store their rv,boat or vehicles.

[Fentonite]

All good ideas!

[def90]

There is a car wash next to the Del Taco on Broadway and Belleview that I'm pretty sure had a for sale sign on it a few months back.

[brutal]

Rv and boat storage lot. You own dirt that turns a nice profit with little to no maintenance. A LOT of people out there looking for a spot to store their rv,boat or vehicles.

Speaking of which, I have a friend that is opening a 38 bay indoor RV storage 3 miles south of Elizabeth. I think the spots are all 16x32 with private access.

[arbol]

I'm ashamed to say how much a month I pay in storage fees. I know I should try and rotate, but, as we all know moving is a pain. If anyone has a good deal on storage, where I can lock in the rate for a decent amount of time (years) please let me know.

[Fentonite]

def90 - thanks for the tip, we'll check it out.

Colorider - I like that idea a lot. Seems like one could buy some land that isn't fit for building on, and put a tall fence around it. I wonder how much liability the owner would have for theft and such.

Irving - I figured you'd have some ideas, and you don't disappoint. I don't think an event center would be for us, but we're already talking about having a dog wash at the car wash. Never seen it, but I heard it's a thing.

Still very early stages, hopefully it doesn't fizzle out.

[Irving]

I was gong to suggest the dog wash at the car wash. I was talking to a guy that owned car washed when I was working down in Florida and that's what he was saying. You need to be set up to accept credit cards as well. They are more convenient for users, and usually a total rip off at the same. I used a card reader at a car wash near my house the other day. It had time timer/counter, so I just did my thing and stopped when I was done. When I finally saw the charge, it was $20.

Oh yeah, an air pump and vacuum might turn into high maintenance items. When I looked into them, they were cheap, but the motors go out on them. I never found out how much motors cost to replace. They are probably cheap and easy to change, but I never got that far.

Oh yeah, land that isn't good to build on, isn't suitable for RV storage because you need big, flat area that is cleared of low trees, which basically describes land that is good to build on.

[Great-Kazoo]

There is a car wash next to the Del Taco on Broadway and Belleview that I'm pretty sure had a for sale sign on it a few months back.

We left that area in 95, as gang graffiti started appearing. Great intersection,use to be a crappy area.

[brutal]

I was gong to suggest the dog wash at the car wash. I was talking to a guy that owned car washed when I was working down in Florida and that's what he was saying. You need to be set up to accept credit cards as well. They are more convenient for users, and usually a total rip off at the same. I used a card reader at a car wash near my house the other day. It had time timer/counter, so I just did my thing and stopped when I was done. When I finally saw the charge, it was $20.

Oh yeah, an air pump and vacuum might turn into high maintenance items. When I looked into them, they were cheap, but the motors go out on them. I never found out how much motors cost to replace. They are probably cheap and easy to change, but I never got that far.

Oh yeah, land that isn't good to build on, isn't suitable for RV storage because you need big, flat area that is cleared of low trees, which basically describes land that is good to build on.

That new to be a storage lot will also likely require passing a soil test among other BS to get zoning approval. God help you if you want to erect any structures.

[Irving]

Anything you buy that has, or had chemicals, is now your issue of a clean up is required. Primary suspects are gas stations and dry cleaners. Strip malls are difficult to sell, I'm under the impression that part of that reason is because they all probably had a dry cleaner at one time. I don't really know though.

[Fentonite]

I know our local building code won’t let you put in a old-school two-strip driveway with soil in between, even if that’s what was original. Makes sense then that there would be some reg about needing pavement under vehicles to catch drippings. ( Well, it makes sense that if they have one law, they’d have the other. I don’t think it actually makes sense, as oil will still wash off the pavement. )

[00tec]

Anything you buy that has, or had chemicals, is now your issue of a clean up is required. Primary suspects are gas stations and dry cleaners. Strip malls are difficult to sell, I'm under the impression that part of that reason is because they all probably had a dry cleaner at one time. I don't really know though.

I read an article about one close to you recently. Didn't know that was a thing

[Irving]

Yeah, the one in original Thornton? It's been for sale for years I guess.

[00tec]

Yeah, the one in original Thornton? It's been for sale for years I guess.

I'm not sure what constitutes original Thornton, but it was the one by the post office there.
It was about the newest owners basically going broke over a dry cleaner that was there years ago

[earplug]

Consider a portable wash unit.

[Irving]

I'm not sure what constitutes original Thornton, but it was the one by the post office there.
It was about the newest owners basically going broke over a dry cleaner that was there years ago

Yeah, that lot was the first commercial area in Thornton and had the post office, grocery store, hardware store, etc. Now it's an unmaintained dump with only 2-3 active businesses at a time there. Black Bag motorcycle training is there though.

[bczandm]

Likely not what you were looking for but:
https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/Revolutionary-Waterless-Car-Wash-Business/1892908/?utm_source=bizbuysell&utm_medium=emailsite&utm_campaign=shtmlbot&utm_content=headline

[Fentonite]

Likely not what you were looking for but:
https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/Revolutionary-Waterless-Car-Wash-Business/1892908/?utm_source=bizbuysell&utm_medium=emailsite&utm_campaign=shtmlbot&utm_content=headline

Yeah, she’s looked into that option. Thanks though.

[Wulf202]

Figures from an owner I talked to a while ago put new construction for automatic units at profitable quickly. This was in a small rural town so the land wasnt expensive. The two bay unit was about a mil though without dirt.

[arbol]

Consider a portable wash unit.

I saw this on a google search of "most profitable businesses." It's huge when you can not have an office, or a store, and just go out there and make $50/hour, etc.

[BladesNBarrels]

I saw this on a google search of "most profitable businesses." It's huge when you can not have an office, or a store, and just go out there and make $50/hour, etc.

I read similar articles back in the 70's and was enticed by the fast easy money.
Started worm farming and found the market was saturated.
Only the first in the business were making money selling to those that followed.
Same experience when I sold some land to a Llama rancher/farmer.
He found he paid $30k each for breeding females and the coyotes and other predators (including the male Llamas) got the crias.
I had to foreclose on his loan on the land when he went into bankruptcy.
Assess the risk you want to take and the amount you can lose.

[MrPrena]

Thornton is building many new car wash places.
I would look into place with many vacuum slots.

I only go to a place that has free vacuum. I feel more comfortable being there and I can always vacuum for free if there is line all the way to the street.

Car wash places are advertising hard on Facebook.
cheap monthly passes and affordable details.

[Fentonite]

Looked at one in Thornton today. What a dog! Looked like it was under constant attack by vandals, burglars and thieves. Someone had even tried to break into the office by smashing bricks out of the back. Not encouraging.

[ray1970]

Looked at one in Thornton today. What a dog! Looked like it was under constant attack by vandals, burglars and thieves. Someone had even tried to break into the office by smashing bricks out of the back. Not encouraging.

A new owner would squelch that type of activity. Just saying.


Parts of Thornton are bad. (Irving?s end of town.)

Parts of town aren?t too bad. (Ray1970?s hood.)