NOW, if you are
a motivated and serious buyer, are you properly
qualified - business brokers can help here - to
make an offer then follow up on it? Anyone -
including business brokers telling you that 100%
financing is possible is LYING TO YOU!
As a general
rule, you will need at least 20% of the selling
price on businesses for sale - liquid cash -
to place as a down payment. Next you will need
relevant experience in either the industry in
question or in past ownership and/or high level
sales & marketing. Last, you will need good to
great credit - generally a credit score of 650
or higher. If you are unsure about the
qualification - contact business brokers for
said qualification. All good business brokers
qualify business buyers before disclosing
businesses for sale.
QUALIFY
yourself - do you meet the 3 criteria last above
- consider getting get a credit report on
yourself that you can show a broker/seller.
NEVER LEAVE THE CREDIT REPORT WITH THE BROKER OR
SELLER! Most business brokers will not require
credit reports and/or financial statements but
they are good to have in place when looking at
businesses for sale.
General
Qualification Rules Of Thumb...
-
Some sellers will hold up to
80% on a note AND some will not hold a note
at all.
-
Each seller is different -
it's their decision to hold a note - not
yours
-
Sellers and lenders will want
you to have relevant experience and good to
great credit if holding the note
or providing a loan
-
Some sellers or brokers will
want a deposit before disclosing financials
- DON'T DO IT! It's an old unethical trick
by business brokers
-
"Liquid Cash" is cash that
you can get within 7-10 days.
-
Take your liquid cash figure
and multiply it by 5 - this is the high end
of what you can afford