All Forum Posts by: Jordan Berry

I run Laundromat Resource. There's a free course on the website you can take. It's 3 lessons and the last two lessons will teach you how to value the laundromat by getting 4 numbers from the owner and how to verify the numbers of the laundromat. I think that will help you out. You can skip the first lesson (how to find a good deal).

Hey @Jonathan McCullough, I own a couple of laundromats and host a podcast/website/YouTube about the industry. Glad to answer any questions you have

@Sean Ade not at all. DM me your info and I’ll introduce you!

@Sean Ade Luke and Lee Williford own 40 laundromats all around Raleigh and Fayetteville. And they’re good dudes too

@Gregory Schwartz Eastern Funding might be able to help you out. Shoot me a DM with your email and I can introduce you to a VP over there who can go through that deal with you. I might be able to help you get that laundromat leased out too when you’re ready

I own laundromats and run a website/podcast for laundromat owners. Here are a couple of things to consider. 1. What is the competition like? 2. Why did it go out of business and how are you going to make sure that doesn't happen to you, too? 3. Do the demographics support having that laundromat there?

In terms of valuing the property, typically you would look at what fair market rent for the space would be and divide by the going cap rate for that type of property in your area. You can check out LoopNet to see what rents are for similar spaces in your area. You can also (kind of) use LoopNet to see what the typical cap rate is in the area. Better, though, would be to get the cap rate from a knowledgeable local commercial real estate broker.

Hope that helps some. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions or want the link to the website. There is a lot of free information and tools/resources there. Good luck!

@Will Kenner There shouldn’t be any major issues with having a laundromat on the property. I’m not sure why the property would be classified anything but commercial due to the laundromat’s presence by a bank. I don’t think you need to do any special inspections either. Just make sure they’re insured.

@Genny Li I agree that location is important but would argue that if you’re spending that much on repairs it’s probably time to buy new machines. Also, an extra $300/month is not going to move the needle for a laundromat that’s bringing in $15,000-$20,000/month. It’s nice to have it, but definitely not one of the main factors of success.

@David Dachtera

Hi David, here are a couple of quick things based on what you shared.

1. Major dividers like rivers, highways, etc do tend to divide up customers naturally, so that’s good. You’ll want to run a demographics report focusing solely on south of the river to see how many people are there, percentage of renters to buyers, median household income, and average number of people per household to make sure the area will be able to support that laundromat.

2. The distributor should be a great resource for you. I always recommend talking with a couple of them to make sure you have a good one and they’re giving you a fair quote.

3. Make sure you do some research on impact fees in your area (a fee to get permission to connect to the water/sewer). The fees can vary widely (I had a 3,200 square foot store here in So Cal that was going to be $390,000 in impact fees alone) and sometimes there aren’t any, but you definitely want to know what they are early in the process.

4. Plenty of people have great success building out their first store (the most recent podcast guest for example). You do need a solid plan for attracting and retaining customers, however. With a build out you’re in the business of customer habit interruption and retraining do have a plan on how to do that.

Let me know if I can be of any more help.

@Terrell Garren That’s a huge part of the appeal of laundromats