An auto repair center in the Texas Hill Country, with the seller carrying most of it at zero percent and staying on to run it.

The part that makes this rare

A zero percent seller note, principal only, on most of the purchase price.

The seller is carrying the majority of the purchase price at zero percent interest. Not a reduced rate, no interest at all, structured as principal only against a fixed monthly payment with a five year balloon. Every dollar of that payment comes off the balance rather than going to a lender, which is not something a bank will ever write.

It is also secured differently from an ordinary seller note. Rather than recording a second position deed of trust, the carried balance converts into the seller's preferred equity position inside the buyer's holding company, structured as an installment sale. That keeps a subordinate lien off title, which is what allows a first position lender to fund at full loan to value, and it hands the seller a tax deferral. That deferral is a large part of why they accepted well under the combined asking price rather than holding out.

At a glance

What we can show you before you sign.

The business

Three service lines, seven bays, one location since 1981.

Roughly half of the revenue is general repair and about a third is transmission work. The balance is advanced driver assistance calibration and precision alignment, and that is the interesting line. The calibration suite went in during 2021 and is fully paid down, it bills at a high hourly rate with no parts cost at all, and there is no competing calibration facility within roughly thirty miles. It pulls referral work in from body shops, fleets and institutional accounts across a wide rural catchment, and it is the clearest growth lever in the business.

The shop runs a five day week with an owner, six full time staff and a part time intern. It is independent, with no franchise agreement and no franchise fees. It has never run paid advertising in forty five years. Every customer it has came from word of mouth and from shop referrals.

The earnings figure in this package is seller's discretionary earnings. Three years of statements and the full add-back schedule are in the package. As with any acquisition, buyers should complete their own due diligence.

Where the upside is

The growth levers here are the ones nobody has pulled yet.

A shop does not run for forty five years on reputation alone by accident, but it does mean an owner who never had to do the things a buyer would do on arrival. This is not a turnaround. It is a well run business with an unworked list.

• Fill the calibration suiteThe highest margin service in the building, no parts cost, and no competing facility for roughly thirty miles. It currently serves a handful of body shop partners. Adding more of them is the single clearest lever.
• Advertise at allZero paid advertising today, and marketing amounts to one small annual community partnership. Search, maps and reviews are entirely unworked in a market where the shop already holds the reputation.
• Raise technician utilisationThe bays run well below the industry standard for billable hours per technician. Closing that gap scales revenue inside the building you already bought.
• Own the property, not a leaseThe real estate comes with the business at one price and was separately marketed at a real number. A buyer who later splits the two holds a financeable asset and an operating business rather than one lump.
• Use paper that costs nothingA note at zero percent is cheap to extend and cheap to pay down faster. Both options stay open in a way they never are on an amortising bank note.

The five year balloon can be met through accumulated cash flow, a refinance, extending a note that costs nothing to carry, or a combination. Ordering the commercial appraisal early helps set the plan.

Who this fits

This one wants a buyer who can read a structure.