Bankrupt 10 unit, laundry mat and car wash

[JaMarcus Joseph]

I have a 10 unit, laundry mat and car wash combo under contract. It's 100% occupied and the extras are functional. It was built in 2007. They have not produced any financials and the realtor is not sure they will.  Last year's tax records show the income for the property was 51k and the expenses were $74k. I know these records likely aren't accurate because the owner is in bankruptcy from mismanaging 4 sets of complexes and pocketing profits.  The apartment side of the building(all three are connected) is two story and doors are internal. The laundry mat has 4 washers and 4 dryers. The car wash has 3 manual stalls and 3 vacuum cleaners. This first picture is using the numbers from the taxes.

This pro forma isusing potential income given advertising expenses. It's the only car wash and laundromat between 2 smaller cities. I think it has the potential to be managed to become profitable. Do the numbers for the additional business seem reasonable? I'm hoping they're way low as far as average daily use is concerned. 

[Matt R.]

I was looking at a car wash/quick lube place that was for sale in my area about a year ago.  While doing that, I found this site for car wash operators http://www.autocareforum.com/  .  They have discussion boards, just like BP, and one of them is "should I buy this wash"; people post potential deals and get opinions on the hardware, numbers, etc.  One thing I remember seeing on there is that it's not unknown for a wash operator to pocket the cash (all those quarters) to dodge the taxes, but then when they want to sell, they have the problem you're running into - no good documentation of what their sales are.

People on that site encouraged me to do more research, and I figured out that the wash I was looking at was probably not a good deal for me.  As I recall, a couple of the guys there also operated laundromats, and might be able to talk with you about that business as well.

I am not affiliated with that site, other than as a member.  I don't get anything for referring people to them.

Matt R.