Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Stacey Salyer Show, the podcast for property management leaders ready to think bigger about growth. I'm Stacey Salyer and the only acquisition strategist in this industry who sat on all sides of the m and a table. I've been the buyer acquiring a 370 door competitor during CO using seller financing.
I've been the seller building and exiting a seven figure business. And I've been the corporate evaluator as director of acquisitions, assessing over hundreds of companies nationally. That means I know exactly what you're thinking, what you're missing, and what actually works when it comes to buying and integrating in this space.
On this show, we dig into acquisitions as a real business tool. Not luck, not someday. You'll learn positioning, strategy, numbers, and integration from someone who's actually done it all. Let's go.
Stacey Salyer: welcome back, uh, [00:01:00] to all my lovely listeners. This is the Stacey Salyer Show. And I am Stacey Salyer, your go-to for acquiring property management companies.
And today I have with me the amazing. Jordan Coleman I got to meet you in person last year. I believe it was at the NPA Broker Owner conference in Colorado, I feel like. Yeah, maybe. I
Jordan Coleman: think we were sitting at a, a breakfast table together and just said, Hey to each other and then conversations kind of turned into where we are today.
Stacey Salyer: Right. I know, I know. Yeah. , That just. Stranger talk and then turns into like good friendship. So I wanted to have you on 'cause obviously I specialize in teaching people how to acquire property management companies and you are the go-to expert
Jordan Coleman: mm-hmm.
Stacey Salyer: In lending on property management companies.
So I would love for you to introduce yourself and we'll go from there.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. Super honored and thankful for you asking me to be on your podcast. I know I mentioned this before, but [00:02:00] I think what you're doing is a really cool idea , in specialized niche. Like I mentioned to you, I feel like.
Property management is a little bit undervalued from the acquisition side of things. So a ton of people in this space , that are good at , the staffing control and the expense control , and kind of help you there. But having someone really help on the acquisition side I do it day in and day out on the lending acquisition side, but I think it's a really, really cool idea what you've kind of thought about doing this year.
And I think a lot of people could benefit from it. But my name is Jordan Coleman and I am with Live Oak Bank. And we specialize in , the acquisition financing side for property management companies. So we help from a lending perspective on acquisition growth. Working capital, refinancing existing business debt lines of credit and really help focus on how property managers can grow their [00:03:00] business scale from a profitability standpoint, , and really look at kind of partnering with people , to help them where they wanna get to.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. No, that's so cool. And I know when we met in person, I've been in the industry a long time and I didn't even know that that was a thing that somebody out there was specialized in solely, helping people get lending for property management companies. Uh, how long have you been doing that?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, so that's the really unique thing , in what Live Oak Bank strived for when we started back in 2008., They said, let's specialize in specific industries and started off with four, what we call verticals or industries. Build teams around that and say, let's understand, let's do some white paper, some research, see if it's , a business that we want to invest our time and employees in.
See if there's a good . Turnover. Is it the need there in the market? Property management. We started this industry about two years ago. Okay. [00:04:00] And really took six to 12 months of that white paper. , Is there a need? Do people need the financing and property management? We came to found that yes, it is much needed other than seller note debt.
Or you go to a local bank that doesn't really know what you're talking about. Yeah. And that it's a really, really good industry. It's a great business. If you run your business well and you have the right partnerships. And go to the events that it's a really, really good business for people to get into and grow and expand.
And so we said, absolutely. Let's go head first into property management. And here we are two years later just working our way into the property management realm.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. No, that's so cool. And I know I mean obviously I'm super passionate about buying property management businesses, whether it's the business or the just the contracts.
I kind of use the word business both to talk about both. And I just, I like, one thing I teach is you're literally buying cash, [00:05:00] like you're literally buying revenue. I mean, it's kind of almost a no-brainer as far as like acquiring a business. However, on the flip side, of course, there's a little bit of work , around it.
It's a little bit more complicated than maybe just like a quote unquote boring business, but it is an amazing business to own and then purchase and then build on top of that. So with what you guys do you, I guess I would just kind of be curious like , what do people need to know before they talk to you?
So I guess that, that would be a big question I have. If somebody's like, Hey, I,, joined Stacy's coaching program and I've got my roadmap. I'm , in my community having conversations , when should they involve you?
Jordan Coleman: I always say it's never too early to have the conversations , and that's again, coming from a buyer side or even on the seller side.
It is never too early to start having those conversations of whether you're a first time acquirer, you want to [00:06:00] take over the business you've been working for, but that may not be in two years. Have the conversations now so you can understand your equity injection requirements. Maybe you need to save a little bit of cash to get there to the seller side of, Hey, I kind of wanna retire in the next two years, what do I need to be doing?
How do you look at this cash flow? Can you kind of help me understand to get me ready for success? Always have the conversations earlier than maybe you think you need. Just so we can set you up for this is the process. This is how we analyze and look at the cash flow. Let's get you to a point on where you're comfortable or are your requirements checked and get that started sooner than later.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. And so when it comes to somebody buying a property management company, what are you looking at, from a financial standpoint?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, so it's gonna all boil down to a couple different things. So, one cash flow, we wanna make sure that the [00:07:00] business you're buying can support its own debt.
So if you know the seller's asking for an extreme premium on a purchase price and the business can't support it. Well, you're not gonna have a lender that can say, Hey, we're comfortable with this. It, there's no cashflow for you to buy the business. So cashflow is gonna be king, essentially, you gotta make sure the business can support its own debt.
So in order to do that, we would look at, tax returns, interim financials. Are there adjustments or add-backs that we can look at? So that could be salaries or staffing. If you've got an existing business already and you're kind of just rolling it into your existing, maybe you don't need some of these systems that are in place or you don't need some accounting things that are in place because you already have that taken care of.
So cashflow is very, very important. The next thing is the systems that you're having in place. What does your business plan look like? Do you understand the staffing is the key [00:08:00] employee, the seller? Is everything gonna kind of fall apart once the seller leaves? Have an idea of what that looks like and what does your transition plan look like , from all of those aspects of things.
Stacey Salyer: Okay, so that's cool. So if you were giving someone advice and they were like, Hey, should I look at maybe joining like a coaching type program? For that what do you think that they should be focused on, like learning in that program? Because I have a four month program that I do like group sessions with, and then I have one-to-one.
Do you think that's something that people need or that they could benefit from?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, I think whether you're a buyer or a seller and I'll kind of explain why on both kind of starting on the seller side. Mm-hmm. Again, everyone is going to retire at some point. You're going to be selling your business at some point in your life.
Whether it is in two years or whether it's in 20 years, you're not gonna have that business forever. And so if you wanna make the most [00:09:00] profit off of your business, one. Grow your business, acquire some companies, grow it to where you are scaling it and you're going to make profit off of that. But on the flip side, you have to have your expenses in control.
So make sure that you're partnering with the right individuals and people. To understand , and be coached through. What do I need the business to look like? How do I get there? How do I get to that point? So that's kind of from the seller's aspect of things. On the buyer side, if you're really passionate about property management and either wanna grow your existing business or get into the business for the first time, it's always a good idea to have an idea and a coach to understand.
What do I need to be looking for? How does this work? Because once you take over , the company, it's your company, right? Right. So you have to kind of choose and pick what makes sense for you as a new owner from an expense standpoint. How do you do certain [00:10:00] things? What systems do you wanna have in place?
And so, like I said, , it's good to start the conversations before you're too far in the hole or you're too. What am I trying to say? Too, too deep underwater until you're too
Stacey Salyer: far into the weeds or too, yeah, too far,
Jordan Coleman: too far into the process where you can't turn back. So understand what you're buying.
Understand what you know if you're selling what you want that to look like. So yeah, I think it's very, very important to have the relationships and to start those things before you think maybe you need to.
Stacey Salyer: Oh yeah, for sure. And I know I speak a lot about that as well because you just never know, right?
If you're out in your community having conversations and all of a sudden somebody's oh yeah, I'm looking to sell, but you haven't set up your foundation yet. It's not gonna do you any service to buy 200 doors and dump it onto your existing foundation if your foundation isn't solid. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, I have a lot of conversations with people like, [00:11:00] Hey, if you added 200 doors to your company tomorrow what does that look like?
Does anything break? What does break? 'cause something will break. Yeah. For sure. so one thing I also talk about. As I talk about green, yellow, and red flags because, that kind of makes sense, right? Are there any red flags that you would look at like as a lender that you're like, oh yeah, no, we can't move forward, or We highly advise you to not , move forward.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. Two things come to mind on the red flag side of things. One is going to be owner concentration. Mm-hmm. If you're buying a portfolio and there is a very heavy set of doors related to one or two owners. Big red flag for us. , You gotta also look at it. If you put yourself into someone's shoes, that's going to be providing and you're lending somebody money or a business, right?
And that business only has one source of revenue from one owner, and you're giving them, let's say, a [00:12:00] million dollars. Well, if that one owner. Says, I don't want to continue with this transition, or I found another property management company. How are you going to get repaid back? , You're not, you've now lost your only client.
So owner concentration , is huge for us that we like to understand. We really wanna see maybe 15% or less on a single one or two owner compared to doors. The second thing that is a red flag for us is location. So if you live in New York and you now want to buy a company out in California, well one.
Ton of different laws on the West coast than there are over here on the East Coast, and each state is very, very different. So the questions come up to, do, you know the laws, the regulations? It's completely different , in each state county that you go into and two. , You're on different time zones, how are you gonna help if there's an emergency over here?
Or how are you [00:13:00] really gonna run that day-to-day operations? So , those are two big things that we really hone in on as we're lending and, and trying to help property management companies acquire other businesses. Is. Have low owner concentration mitigate that risk there and the geography of where are , you buying, we really want it to be in somewhat of your immediate area where it's a drivable distance.
Now it could be six hours, but , it's drivable enough , to where you can really be there in a serious emergency versus. You have to get on a plane and, take three different stops to get to where you're trying to go. , Those are two big red flags or two things that we really like to understand on the front side of things as we're looking into this.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. So, yeah, and I always teach people that a red flag doesn't mean a no go, but it definitely means like a big pause and yeah, evaluate. And another thing that I always say is, just because you found a deal doesn't mean it's like a great deal or the deal for you, right? I think [00:14:00] people get excited and they're like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna buy this.
And I, when you start digging into it, you're like, uh, owner concentration, or they don't want a claw back. Do you ever run into that where the seller is adamantly no, I don't wanna do a claw back or anything like that?
Jordan Coleman: We have in the past, uh, and not saying that that's a deal breaker for us.
Obviously a clawback is going to be protection for the buyer, But on the flip side of that one seller can kind of help with that 12 month transition for a smooth, easy clawback period. Which one will kind of help? Lose any tenants potentially, but also help for a smooth transition from one owner to another.
Stacey Salyer: Yes.
Jordan Coleman: But the callback side, we have done deals without a callback. Of course we would prefer some type of callback for protection of the buyer. But in that case, we really want the business to be strong , to not really need to have that call back in there. But I would always say. Start with a clawback, try [00:15:00] to do some type of clawback agreement as a buyer.
Just for protection.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. Do you find it works better? Let's say the owner, the seller's, like really not in the day-to-day, like truly they're a legit, CEO. They have a full team. That team runs really well. Do you find that works? Like in that situation that might work better?
Jordan Coleman: In regards to a clawback or in regards to,
Stacey Salyer: yeah.
Yeah. Well, not ha Yeah. Like not having a clawback maybe in that situation.
Jordan Coleman: I mean, to me it, it's kind of a, a moot point on either, I always say try for a clawback, kind of regardless of the ownership structure. Now, if maybe you're the key employee and you're buying the business, there's a little bit less transition risk because you're already kind of the face of the company.
You're already really the one running the day to day. But. If there's an absentee owner. Questions, just kind of thinking of this scenario that would come up on an acquisition side is, what's their staffing look like in place and how are you going to keep the employees post-transition?
[00:16:00] 'cause if they're the ones running the day to day, we really wanna make sure, again, it's a smooth transition. You understand their systems, you understand the staffing and the employees. And that again is where. Have the conversations , with the coaches that specialize in the industry of how do I do that?
What does this look like? Because again, you want to have a very smooth transition.
003 Lending on Acquisitions - Jordan Coleman - Copy: Mm-hmm.
Jordan Coleman: And if you don't ask the questions or figure it out before you're kind of too deep into an acquisition. Well then you may run into issues.
Stacey Salyer: Right? Yeah. And I think it's really important. I know one thing I teach is having those conversations with the potential seller upfront.
Like I have lots of resources, like long lists of every key point that really you should hit on. Because sometimes, if you assume anything, right? I mean, we all know what happens when you assume, right? So, I think that's one. Thing I try and hit home with everyone is you've gotta bring that up.
Yeah, [00:17:00] team, what's the seller gonna do for a transition? Like everything and anything. Insurance, tail insurance, all that kind of good stuff, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with lending, but I mean, it's a big piece of just running the business. and all those, key points and just never assume anything.
Ever.
Jordan Coleman: No. I mean, I think especially if it's your first acquisition, ask the questions, understand what you're buying, ask the specific questions. Because again, at the end of the day, once you acquire this business, it is now your responsibility. You want to know as much upfront as you can and partner with the right people.
Again, whether that's coaching or from a lending and banking perspective to help you understand. Let's hop on a call, a zoom call or meet in person and walk through cash flow and make sure you understand what you're buying. What does this look like for you as you're acquiring the business?
Stacey Salyer: Right. Okay.
So one question I have about like the lending piece of it or the money piece of it. Out there, like on on Facebook, it seems like [00:18:00] everybody's so, focused on like the multiples that people get versus in my opinion, yes, that's important, but I mean, there's so many other things that I think are super duper important.
So like, is there an average multiple that you're seeing or, have things shifted over the last few years or how does that work?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. I would agree. People love to talk about the multiple and what is the business worth , and what can I sell it for. Right,
I always say each acquisition is dependent on multiple things.
Not every buyer can support the same amount of debt as a different individual. Some people need to take more from the business, from a personal lifestyle. Some people, this is their second, third, fourth acquisition to where maybe they can leverage a little bit more debt. So each acquisition, just like what you were saying, it's not the same for , each person.
So, I mean, I would say just kind of an average multiple on what we see is also dependent on door [00:19:00] count, right? Door count and the area that you're living in. So, I would say kind of what our starting point as we're looking at things is doors a hundred doors or less, probably two, two and a half times multiple of the average ebitda.
And then when you start to get into 150, 200 and plus. you may be able to increase that multiple a little more 'cause you've got more revenue, you're gonna have more NOI, which is net operating income to where maybe that multiple is three and a half. Maybe four times at the kind of higher end if you know , they have an existing business and can kind of consolidate expenses and they don't necessarily have to pull a salary from the business and they don't need to replace the seller.
So I would say that's kind of the average range of a multiple, but , each transaction is very dependent on. Who's buying what business.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. Well I'm glad you said that because I literally say that I feel like [00:20:00] I'm like, it really just depends. I always teach people, I'm like, it's just like real estate sales.
'cause a lot of us in property management have done a real estate transaction or two. Right. And you have your purchase and sale agreement, right, which is boilerplate. It's kind of the same. But every transaction's different because every house is different and every seller and buyer's different.
And it's the same with a business. There's so many variables that you can look at. And , what it's like worth to you. Kind of like you hit on that what you can absorb or not absorb or do they have like really amazing processes and systems that you're right, that you are also almost kind of buying?
Like maybe you have good ones, but they have like fantastic ones. You're like, oh wow, I can like kind of buy that. Versus. Just not. Yeah. So I'm glad that you said that. Thank you.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. I mean, yeah, I, I say it all the time because we'll get a lot of prequalification questions on sellers. They'll say, can you do a cash flow and tell me what the business can afford?
And I always have to start [00:21:00] with, this is going to be dependent on who you sell the business to.
Stacey Salyer: Right.
Jordan Coleman: Right. It, it changes and, and can vary depending on that individual.
Stacey Salyer: Yes. I know. I, you should keep track this year how, how many times you have to say that.
Jordan Coleman: at about 10 so far.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. Okay. Well that could be like part of your 2026 wrapped on there we go.
What you say?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, my KPI and track of that.
Stacey Salyer: There you go. Yeah. That's your KPI, uh, it's like all over like on every single document. No, that's really cool. And I, I like that. So is there any major thing that you could share like that somebody maybe they don't normally think of from either the buyer or seller side or, I don't know, something where someone's listening to this and they're like, oh, I had no idea that was a thing.
Is there anything that we haven't hit on yet?
Jordan Coleman: I, some things that do pop up is on these property management acquisitions. We sometimes have sellers come to us or [00:22:00] we are kind of helping a buyer walk through the process and we say we have to have three years of tax return.
Stacey Salyer: Okay.
Jordan Coleman: And, and that's how we are kind of analyzing the business cash flow.
And a lot of times sellers will come back and say, well, I'm just selling you my doors. I'm not selling you, my total company. And we kind of have to explain, well, we do understand that. But being a cashflow based lender and getting a business loan, they're essentially buying a business. We've, we've gotta have something to show that what they're asking for.
Can be supported by the debt. So, in our transactions and from an acquisition side, we do have to get three years of, of seller tax returns year to date, interim financials, to understand and look at trends. Right doors been lost. If there has been, there's a red flag, there's some questions.
Have margins gone down? If so. That's a potential red flag. There are going to be questions, so,
Stacey Salyer: right.
Jordan Coleman: Even though sellers think I'm only selling my contracts and my doors, which essentially you are right there, there's still a cash flow component to [00:23:00] the business that you're selling that we've gotta analyze and look at.
Stacey Salyer: So that is a really good point for the three years and I think, yeah, and a good point to your case, like even though it's maybe not a stock purchase, like they're not buying the actual corporation, they still are essentially buying a business with all the contracts that come with it.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. And I mean, we can look at adjustments and add backs, and again, maybe you've got your existing business and you don't need certain things, whether it's staffing or you don't need a huge expense because you've already got this taken care of. We can look at adjustments and add backs, but we've gotta have something to look at and review and go over to look at trends and make sure that what you're buying is supported.
Stacey Salyer: Right. Right. And so as far as somebody being a buyer, is there anything in particular that they should be doing to set themselves up for success?
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, I mean, I think again, have the conversations early. Mm-hmm. We pre-qualify a lot of buyers. If they've got existing businesses, we'll pull [00:24:00] credit, we will check out their existing business.
'cause that's going to really help us understand this is what your existing business looks like. , We're hoping that that's how you're gonna mirror and operate this business over here as you roll it up into one. So having the conversation, getting what we call kind of pre-qualified to kind of check out.
That way. You talk to a seller and you say, Hey, I, I've talked to Live Oak Bank. They specialize in, in this type of lending, they specialize in property management. I have already been, approved or checked out from me personally. I'm ready to go. I just need to find that right business to acquire.
Stacey Salyer: Sweet and yeah, no, that's really good. That's, yeah. I, I always, yeah. Say go get pre-qualified. Get, get ready, get all your ducks in a row, make sure that you don't have any major cracks in your personal foundation. Right.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah.
Stacey Salyer: And all that, because integration, regardless, I feel like even if you are ready, there's still gonna be challenges with integration bringing on new doors.
Jordan Coleman: Oh yeah.
Stacey Salyer: It doesn't. Yeah,
Jordan Coleman: I mean anything, [00:25:00] anything new or that is kind of being acquired. You're always going to have a transition period. You're always going to have your a little bit of a trial and error period of, of kind of how you're integrating everything together. So, I mean, it's, it's always gonna be hectic for the first little bit as you acquire something.
Stacey Salyer: . Yep. And so is there like a sweet spot for you guys, as far as like door count size or like monetary size , that you guys handle? Or can you handle small, big. Multi-state.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah, kind of anything in between. So we can lend from $10,000 from a loan amount all the way up to 5 million.
Stacey Salyer: Okay.
Jordan Coleman: So yeah, very, very broad range on what you can acquire and, and that $5 million is of your existing balances. So let's say you've got a $5 million loan today, and in five years you came back and your balance is now at two and a half million. We have a full two and a half million dollars now that you can kind of acquire and grow in your runway with, a potential a [00:26:00] hundred percent financing as you acquire more and more acquisitions.
Stacey Salyer: Wow. Yeah. That's that's fantastic. That's awesome. And then I know you kind of mentioned if somebody was like in New York but they wanted to buy in California, that would be a red flag. That's still possible depending on what who they are or like what kind of business they're running.
Jordan Coleman: There would be a lot of boxes that would have to be checked.
Stacey Salyer: Okay.
Jordan Coleman: And everything would have to fall in line in order for us as the bank to get comfortable with that. I would say, I don't ever wanna say never, but there would be a lot of scrutiny and boxes that we really would need to, very, very strong liquidity.
Really have an understanding of the strong business plan. And a lot of things would have to line up for us to get comfortable with that.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. Okay. That's cool. That makes sense. Gosh, what else? I'm trying to think. There's just so many things I feel like we can talk about when it comes to acquiring and the lending piece of it.
Is there anything that you guys are doing this [00:27:00] year, like working on any sort of special programs that you wanna share?
Jordan Coleman: I mean, I would not, anything out of the ordinary will definitely be at broker owner. The national will be at Southern States. Couple kind of just smaller events in between.
But. We do try to do as many educational webinars as we can. Of course you can always have a kind of a one-on-one conversation with myself on what you want this to look like for you. So, are well off record. Do you want me to ask you any specific questions pertaining to you and kind of what you're doing this year?
Stacey Salyer: You can, if you want. I mean,
Jordan Coleman: it's, I didn't know if there was like anything, that you really wanted to kind of hit on on your end?
Stacey Salyer: I mean, I can always, I mean, if you ask me, that's cool, but otherwise, I mean, I kind of just hit in like kind of like sprinkle in what I've been talking about.
Jordan Coleman: So
Stacey Salyer: yeah.
Totally up to you. But yeah, just wanted
Jordan Coleman: to make sure nothing I should be trying to ask you on, on this.
Stacey Salyer: Oh [00:28:00] yeah. No, no, you don't have to. I mean, unless you're like, oh, I'm super curious about whatever. Feel free then. Yes, that's
Jordan Coleman: fine. Well, I mean, I, I am, am a little personal. I mean, just because you are such a unique sector of the consulting piece, like how you find your clients and, or like how you coach them through the acquisition side.
'cause of course we're, we're doing the lending and the cash flow and wanna make sure business plan works out. But what, what on the consulting side does that look like?
Stacey Salyer: Oh yeah, for sure. So, as you kind of know, a lot of people know my story. I've been, I started in the business in oh four, built a business for a home builder in 2010, opened my own in 16, and then I did a local acquisition right at the start of COVID in my market.
That one I did sell financing and I do have a question about that after this, but, so I did the acquisition and it really just changed the trajectory of my life and my business, and it just was kind of like this eye-opening moment where I was like, wow, this is really cool. Because I was basically buying money.
I had about 200 [00:29:00] doors under management and I bought a little over 350, so. As you can imagine, that was a huge undertaking. Yeah, I guess it was a positive that it was COVID time and things were shut down. I had plenty of time to work on the business and moderately home skill school. My children, those are air quotes for those who are listening.
But yeah, I like I said, it was like life changing and I didn't have a ton of money. It wasn't like I was some millionaire. And so as time went on and I sold my business to a national firm, I did acquisitions for them nationally. I ran that team and, I closed deals from cold calls, like a thousand plus door deals, from cold calls to, a ton of relationship building and everything.
And as I got into consulting last year, I really saw a huge deficit, like nobody's teaching, acquiring, yeah. Right, so like they're teaching a lot of like door by door growth, which again is good. I mean, you should still focus on your door by door growth, but why not get [00:30:00] off that hamster wheel of like kind of crazy oh my gosh, like this month I brought in five and then next month I lost two and then I brought in seven.
And instead, why don't you get your house in order, your business in order, make sure your foundation is great and then you can work with me And I literally will teach you the roadmap. Of how to go out into your community, have those conversations. I teach all that from the beginning and then I really spent a lot of time on what I call the messy middle.
Because there's so much moving pieces. And that's kind of like when you were talking about no transactions the same.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. That.
Stacey Salyer: I really teach that and I have a ton of like materials and information that I share as far as all the conversations you should have and like what you should be looking for.
And then the different partners, I connect people with like people like yourself or I've got an attorney partner that works across the US and I have this like really cool ecosystem where I can literally say, Hey, let me teach you this [00:31:00] amazing skill. Where you can change your life as well and your business and then do that.
And then part, part of it as well is like the integration piece. So it's super exciting to go find it, do the messy middle, close it, but then the integration. I work a lot on that as well, so. I have a group program and then I also offer one-to-one advisory and, uh, yeah, it's super fun.
I am really passionate about it, as you can probably tell because it did, it really did change my life and it was really fun for me to do it on a national level as well. Just, yeah, hundreds of conversations. I met so many different people, saw so many different setups and my focus. I teach a lot on like how to go out and find boomer businesses because there is that, that wealth transfer that's happening.
And like you said in the beginning, one day you will sell your business.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah.
Stacey Salyer: And our boomer friends are aging out and so it's time they're great businesses to [00:32:00] buy. Usually you have a lot of opportunity to increase your revenue on them. 'Cause a lot of them were set up like jobs. Yeah.
And, uh, it's super fun. I love it.
Jordan Coleman: Would you say the best, or one of the ways to find the business to buy is, is networking and, and getting out in your own community, or do you have any advice on how to find that Right. Business to with wire?
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. No, and that's exactly what I teach, is you've gotta build the relationship.
So I have what I call your first line list. That I have everybody make, like anybody that works with me or they've heard me on some of my other podcasts and shows is every property management company add it, make a list, even if they're family owned, even if you think they'll never sell, you just set, put 'em on your list and then start on your secondary list, which is like all the real estate offices.
That do some kind of property management. Maybe they have some realtors in there that are kind of managing [00:33:00] books. It's just not like a real PMC. And then all your attorneys, your CPAs, all your business friends, like if you're in a Rotary club, Kiwanis, whatever, add all these people to your list and then be purposeful, like you actually have to time block and get out and build those relationships.
You may stumble upon somebody who's oh yeah, I wanna sell and let's talk. Or you're putting that bug out at there and telling people. And then that's the other piece of it too, is I tell people, go out and tell people, I'm Stacey, I am buying property management companies.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah.
Stacey Salyer: Just say it.
Jordan Coleman: I mean, it's the best way to network yourself because even if they're not wanting to sell today.
Stacey Salyer: Right.
Jordan Coleman: They may be ready in a year and they're gonna remember you coming into their office or giving them a call and kind of building that relationship. Oh, yeah. I kind of remember Stacy lives two miles away , and she's very [00:34:00] aggressive on wanting to buy , and I'm kind of ready to get out.
Right. Or maybe it's hmm. Maybe I'm ready , to retire , and sell my business now that somebody has come and approached me.
Stacey Salyer: . Yeah. I mean, maybe a big emergency happened at a house and tenants were screaming at you and you're done and you're like, wait, I heard Stacy's looking to buy. I'm gonna call her and just explore that conversation, see if I wanna done.
Yeah. And think just that top of mind, I think it's also important though, too. For you to be running a really good business in your community, I think your personal reputation matters. Yes. Your Google reviews matter. Your, uh, company like culture matters. Like having those relationships and showing that you run a good business, especially when it comes to that boomer seller, a lot of them have very long-term contracts.
I mean, some of these, 20, 30 years, they don't want to sell to just some nameless like Yahoo, right? They wanna sell to somebody that they. [00:35:00] Know and trust. And so that's a lot of what I teach as well is make sure again, your business is in order and that, I'm gonna teach you how to kind of build those relationships.
I mean, obviously some people do it naturally, but some people it's, it's not natural to them. So kind of doing that and then, then work on the teaching, the messy middle,
Jordan Coleman: I mean, it can be intimidating to have to put yourself out there and in any situation. So, but I would agree. I mean, it's, it's the best way.
The networking again, and that kind of goes back to why somewhat of a red flag on being in New York and buying California is you don't know the community. You don't really know , , the laws and the regulations. A lot of transition risk there. But. It is, it's, it's intimidating to put yourself out there and, and do that.
So that's awesome that that's something that you can kind of help coach and teach.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah, yeah. No, I love it. And it's, I mean, it worked really well for me personally, and then it worked well nationally as well. So, my cold calls were not like, Hey, this is Stacy, I'm [00:36:00] buying business, I'm, I'm buying property management companies in your area.
Do you wanna sell? That's not how I approached it. And so I teach. People like how I approached it and what worked for me.
Jordan Coleman: That's awesome.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. Yeah. So I do have a question. Is there any time where you think, or you maybe tell people like, Hey, I think you should actually do accept the seller financing deal versus like getting a loan from you guys?
Or is do you think like loans are better or is there a big difference?
Jordan Coleman: It, it's really dependent on the. The relationship and the situation between buyer and seller. So, I mean, we've done transactions where 50% of it was seller note financing. The other 50% was bank financing. It just made a little bit more sense.
We've done it where buyers say, I really don't wanna have the seller any part of my transaction. I want them out of the business, buy them out, never have to really talk to them again. And then sometimes we have sellers that. You just wanna do a little bit of seller note [00:37:00] financing, whether it's from tax purposes or transition risk.
So it, at the end of the day, it's gonna all boil down to can the business support both debts, right? And if so, it, it's really up to buyer and seller on how they wanna structure that we can lend up to as much as they're comfortable with or what they agree to. But seller note debt also has to cash flow , within the total project as well.
Stacey Salyer: Okay. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. So basically, I mean, you can kind of make anything work.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah. I mean, we can play around with how we want it to look. We just have to understand and have kind of a starting point of, have you and the seller had any conversation about purchase price and is there any seller note that's been discussed or talked about?
Stacey Salyer: Okay. Okay, cool. Well, yeah, is there anything else that you wanna share about what you guys are doing or anything else that would help the listeners understand the financing piece of it?
Jordan Coleman: I mean, I would say, obviously we are very [00:38:00] passionate about the acquisition side and help on the acquisition side.
But if there is. Seller note debt on your existing business, and you wanna look at refinancing that and getting the seller out of the picture. As long as that seller note debt's been active for two years, 24 months at a minimum, uh, we can most certainly look at refinancing that maybe there's a balloon payment coming up in a seller note debt and you don't have the lump sum to pay off.
Or maybe it's a five year note and it's kind of straining your cash flow and you wanna look at refinancing that. 'cause at that time we didn't know there were different options. We can refinance seller note debt as we're kind of on that, that topic. Or working capital. Maybe you've got a company and you have been in it for two or three years and you wanna kind of do a marketing campaign or you want to have a consultant and kind of hire somebody here or there.
Again, we can lend up to 10,000 all the way up to 5 million , and of course you don't need $5 million to work in capital, but. , There [00:39:00] is a little bit , of room there for a work, small working capital loan. If, if that's something that you wanted more of an organic growth and you don't have the acquisition side there.
Okay. We're ready to go. So yeah. , Different products for the property management side, it's not just acquisitions.
Stacey Salyer: Okay.
Jordan Coleman: But happy to talk to anybody that's listening. Have the conversations and see where we can help.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. Oh, no, that's really cool. And I'm glad that you brought up the refinance.
And I, I love that you also brought up like the working capital. I think that well, I've seen in the past where people don't necessarily set up their business as an asset or have that mindset like, this is an asset. Like I can borrow against it.
Jordan Coleman: Yeah.
Stacey Salyer: I don't always have to bootstrap everything.
I can borrow against it to make it better, bigger, whatever it is. Maybe it's not, not acquiring, maybe it is like doing a marketing campaign or I don't know,
Jordan Coleman: hiring staff because you're preparing for growth, right? As long as your business can cash flow and support the debt, which again, we will run through that same [00:40:00] scenario, just like on a seller acquisition.
As long as your existing business can support the debt. Working capital loans can be there for, to help for that growth when that time is needed and it's no prepayment penalty tied to those loans. So, maybe you get a hundred thousand dollars loan today which is a 10 year loan term, and you know that, or your idea is to pay it off in two years, right?
Completely fine with once your business kind of hits that growth point from that working capital. Pay it off and then come back in two years and do it all over again. So it's, it's a, it's a pretty cool product that you've got related to working capital if it's something that's needed.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah. That's so cool.
Well, I love it and I always love talking to you. I feel like we could probably talk all day about anything, banking, acquisition and I love having you be part of my world and like a great resource. 'Cause I always tell people like. You gotta surround yourself with the best. Right? And if you have the money questions, you gotta go to Jordan with Live Oak Bank.
Jordan Coleman: Well, I [00:41:00] appreciate it and again, so honored that you asked me to be on here and really appreciate it.
Stacey Salyer: Yeah, no, thank you so much for coming on. And I'll put all your contact info in the show notes, but is there any way that you wanna shout out like particular website or anything like that?
Jordan Coleman: No.
I mean, if you can't find my email for whatever reason, , on whatever you're providing, you can always go to just to live Oak Bank and search property management and my picture in bio will will pop up right there.
Stacey Salyer: Perfect. Awesome. Well, like I said, I'll put all of Jordan's contact info in the show notes if you are out and about through the United States this year.
It sounds like she'll be at a few different conferences and I hope to also see you in person at maybe one or two or some of them. And, uh, thank you again for coming on and have a wonderful day. You as well.
Jordan Coleman: Bye
Stacey Salyer: bye.
Outro: Thanks for listening to the Stacy Sier show. Here's the deal. You can read about acquisitions [00:42:00] anywhere, but you can't learn acquisitions from someone who's done it the way I have as a buyer, a seller, and from the corporate side evaluating hundreds of companies. That's why I need you to subscribe and share this with someone in your network who needs to hear it.
And if this episode landed, leave a five star review. It's how more PM owners find the only acquisition expertise in the space that comes from all sides of the table. And while you're at it, grab my Acquisition Readiness checklist on my [email protected]. Then when you're ready to move from Growth Thinking to Growth Building, explore the Built to Acquire program.
Don't leave it on the table. See you on the next episode.
