The ones that "got away"

[Harv]

For those who are looking at laundromats for sale, I thought there might be some interest in reviewing the ones we evaluated and eventually turned down. We were even lower on the learning curve then than we are now, but we did our best to make an educated business decision on each one. In addition to doing our own evaluations, we brought in our CLA rep and/or our local distributor on most of them.

Which of these would you have considered?

Mat #1
Pros:
<ul type="square"> Cute (from the outside) stand-alone building
Has own parking lot (maybe 6 vehicles) + a little street parking
[/list]
Cons:
<ul type="square"> Inside was a real fixer-upper
Sewer was backed up during our first two visits
Most machines near end of their life; some already dead
Dubious demographics (across the street from oil refinery; low density housing neighborhood)
Owner kept poor records; couldn't substantiate his claims
Water bill did not support his claims
7 years left on lease, no options; landlord won't renew
[/list]
Mat #2
Pros:
<ul type="square"> Totally refurbished by Maytag distributor
All new equipment
10 year lease with one 5-year option
[/list]
Cons:
<ul type="square"> Very narrow aisles; cramped layout
Little room for "extras", like soda/snack machines, card system, seating
Marginal demographics (few apartments; mostly single-family dwellings)
Neighbor tenants told us it's a lunch-time hangout for local high school "thugs"
Local police said it's been vandalized countless times
History search revealed four previous owners over last 10 years
Proforma (and price) based on distributor's rather optimistic projections
[/list]
Mat #3
Pros:
<ul type="square"> Good location and demographics
Great parking, front and back
Pretty well maintained
Good spacious feeling
[/list]
Cons:
<ul type="square"> Asking price: $1.2 million! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif (3,000 sq ft)
Owner would not show us tax statements, openly telling us that they don't report their "real" earnings
Invited us to make an appointment to come watch them count coins (like we just fell off a turnip truck? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif)
Wouldn't show us the water bills unless we made a written offer
14 years left on lease, but it was a sub-lease with no right of assignment!
Our CLA rep discovered that the owner was already building a bigger, better mat less than a mile away!
[/list]
Mat #4
Pros:
<ul type="square"> Could buy it for a song
[/list]
Cons:
<ul type="square"> Pretty far from where we live (maybe 30 minutes)
Ridiculous demographics; across the street from swanky golf course/country club; upper class single-family dwelling area
Netting less than $2K per month (not verified)
Referred to by our CLA rep as "a turkey" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
[/list]
Mat #5
Pros:
<ul type="square"> Another "bargain priced" mat -- divorce situation
[/list]
Cons:
<ul type="square"> Tiny, sad little place
Mostly toploads; not much water/sewer/utility service
Across the street from acres and acres of totally empty fields
Barely netting $1K per month
[/list]

[Howard]

Looks like you found just about every dog that exists.

[Harv]

In addition to the "dogs" (glad you agree), I guess I should mention that we also sent out a "letter of inquiry" to about a dozen laundromat owners in the area. It was short and to the point:

<font color="purple">XYZ Laundry
P.O. Box 1234
Metropolis, CA 94567


Dear Sir/Madam:

We are looking to purchase a self-service laundry in the local area. To that end we would like to inquire if the XYZ Laundry might be coming up for sale in the near future.

If so, please feel free to contact us at (555) 555-5555 or email us at harv@matsRus.com.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Harv What's-His-Name
</font color>

Sadly, we received only one reply. His mat was pretty run down, but in a great location right across the street from several major apartment buildings housing a large number of Hispanics. I was pretty excited when he called and told me who he was. Unfortunately, he went on to tell me that he owned most of those apartments, and to thank me for reminding him that he had been neglecting his mat. Shortly after that call, he replaced about half of his machines with shiny new ones.

I was glad to help. Sort of. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

As a footnote, I should point out that tracking down these owners was not always easy. We did best by going to the city hall permit department and getting a list of all laundry-related businesses on record. Some of the information was out of date (recent change of ownership?), and some were hidden behind corporate names. We eventually unraveled those through the Secretary Of State. Right off their web site, no less. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Hope this may be of help to someone out there.