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Buying a Dimensional Sign Business

letterworks

Premium Subscriber
Yep, I've been doing just that.

I can't tell if landlord is trying to use the booth as leverage, saw my covid financials (Plexiglas screens=high numbers for one year) and got greedy, or just throwing a number out there without much thought.

As far as I know the landlord has a number of other buildings but is basically just a small family (ish) operation that perhaps lacking in normal professionalism. That works ok if you get a deal and month to month rent. It becomes a nightmare if they get greedy.

They have already damaged the relationship enough that I'd be unlikely to stay long term. But, I still would prefer to do business "as is" before deciding future changes.

Vacancy rate for industrial is (not kidding) well below 1% around here and of course nearly all of those would likely need a multi year lease and not really be cheaper, and only a fraction of those units would allow a booth to be put in. But with a mild recession predicted, even staying a few months might open up options that are a better fit even if not cheaper.

One particular customer (mutual to both current business and new business) who is quite connected in the developer community and holds some properties himself might have some options that could avoid the lease issues in the short term. In the longer term a lease is fine if that's what makes sense.

I'll be waiting on the current landlord for a few days more though.
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
To me, the lease is as important, if not more so, than the business itself. It costs a lot of money to move and setup and it almost sounds like the only real thing of value is an old paint booth. Booths are not really that expensive relative to the cost of other equipment in this business. A used booth to a property owner is probably more of a nuisance than an asset. It's generally scrap and the cost to dismantle exceeds the scrap value. Plus you have to patch the roof after you remove it. Call his bluff, landlords are opportunistic douchbags.
 

letterworks

Premium Subscriber
Landlord is just an unprofessional idiot.

I'm almost ready to sign, no one can find the actual lease to review. Agent draws up an assignment that only vaguely references a lease. I sign that.

Then they find the lease hours later......and want $500 to assign the lease (agent says seller would pay).....and they want 10k deposit due to the paint booth. Now, if they hadn't pulled out the lease I can sort of see the deposit but come on....I haven't even pulled the trigger on the business and this guy is all over screwing me over every chance he thinks he has.....why the hell would I agree to become his tenant now.... EVER.

Looking at other places but seriously, rates at $25 per sqft for small places here....it's insane. So glad I own my place!

Otherwise, may (try to) make a deal on just the intellectual property/ customer historyand name and let the current owners sell their stuff and pay the landlord less.

Or walk away, and take a few months to figure out how to take up the gap in the market with what equipment I have already.
 

letterworks

Premium Subscriber
Landlord is just an unprofessional idiot.

I'm almost ready to sign, no one can find the actual lease to review. Agent draws up an assignment that only vaguely references a lease. I sign that.

Then they find the lease hours later......and want $500 to assign the lease (agent says seller would pay).....and they want 10k deposit due to the paint booth. Now, if they hadn't pulled out the lease I can sort of see the deposit but come on....I haven't even pulled the trigger on the business and this guy is all over screwing me over every chance he thinks he has.....why the hell would I agree to become his tenant now.... EVER.

Looking at other places but seriously, rates at $25 per sqft for small places here....it's insane. So glad I own my place!

Otherwise, may (try to) make a deal on just the intellectual property/ customer historyand name and let the current owners sell their stuff and pay the landlord less.

Or walk away, and take a few months to figure out how to take up the gap in the market with what equipment I have already.
So, I walked away for this potential business purchase today. (not a holiday up here in Canada)

I was told everything would have been ready to sign "soon" but I had set my drop-dead date of returning my deposit as tomorrow noon. They had "a few days" (my words in an email) to get their sh#t together to give me something to sign. They didn't, and it wasn't a fake deadline. As I said to the agent, buying a business takes an excess of enthusasim and energy. After 3 months of trying, I ran out.

The other truth is that I should have walked away weeks ago.

Unfortunately now the would-be sellers now also know how crappy the landlord is and they will have to deal with the move out. I may try to give a hand to get the better CNC they own running so they can demo it to sell, if they choose to liquidate stuff which is my assumption.

I may look into how to do the work out of my own space but for the moment I don't even want to think about letters.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
So, I walked away for this potential business purchase today. (not a holiday up here in Canada)

I was told everything would have been ready to sign "soon" but I had set my drop-dead date of returning my deposit as tomorrow noon. They had "a few days" (my words in an email) to get their sh#t together to give me something to sign. They didn't, and it wasn't a fake deadline. As I said to the agent, buying a business takes an excess of enthusasim and energy. After 3 months of trying, I ran out.

The other truth is that I should have walked away weeks ago.

Unfortunately now the would-be sellers now also know how crappy the landlord is and they will have to deal with the move out. I may try to give a hand to get the better CNC they own running so they can demo it to sell, if they choose to liquidate stuff which is my assumption.

I may look into how to do the work out of my own space but for the moment I don't even want to think about letters.
Not knowing your situation and just reading things posted on here... I've been hoping you'd walk away from this "opportunity". Sounds like you'll figure something else out.
 
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