Laundromats for Sale

Most laundromats change hands on a multiple of seller’s discretionary earnings, and the spread between a cheap one and an expensive one usually comes down to three things: the lease, the equipment, and how much of the work the owner does.

The lease matters more here than in almost any other small business. Water, sewer and venting are expensive to move, so a laundromat is worth what its remaining lease term lets a buyer earn. Ten or more years including options is the usual comfort level for lenders.

Equipment age sets the capital a buyer has to plan for. Washers and dryers that are near the end of their life, or still coin-only, get priced as a near-term replacement cost.

Attended stores with wash-and-fold or pickup and delivery earn more but take more labor. A fully unattended store is closer to a passive investment and is valued that way.

Ask for twelve months of water and utility bills alongside the profit and loss statement. Water usage is the most reliable way to confirm reported revenue in a cash-heavy business.

Get the lease, every option to renew, and the landlord’s willingness to assign it. Then get an equipment list with model years and any service records.

Walk the store on a weekend and a weekday. Turns per machine per day, competition within a couple of miles and parking tell you more than the listing does.

DealLedger reads the public listings pages of business brokers directly and records when each listing first appears and when it comes down. Days on market count from the first day we saw the listing; “by” means the listing was already up when we started reading that broker’s site, so it has been listed at least that long. Price ÷ cash flow is the asking price divided by the seller’s stated cash flow (SDE), where both are published. All data is public domain (CC0). Full methodology.