How much does a Commercial Laundry Equipment Leasing cost to buy?

A typical Commercial Laundry Equipment Leasing sells for 2.2x to 4.5x seller's discretionary earnings. With estimated SDE of $169K, expect to pay roughly $372K to $761K before adjustments for assets, debt, growth, and local market quality.

How much does it cost to start a Commercial Laundry Equipment Leasing?

Startup costs range from $75K to $500K depending on location, equipment, and scale.

Route

Commercial Laundry Equipment Leasing

Washers, dryers, and rent checks hiding in apartment basements

Bottom line

Worth studying, but do not buy without strong local proof.

Commercial laundry equipment leasing companies place, lease, and service washers and dryers in apartments, dorms, hotels, senior housing, and multifamily buildings. The operator either collects machine revenue under a revenue-share agreement or rents equipment to property owners on long-term contracts.

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Acquisition score

Margin · multiple · SBA data

58Strong

Avg revenue

$650K/yr

$200K–$2.5M range

Profit margin

26%

~$169K SDE

Multiple

2.2–4.5×

of SDE

Est. buy price

$372K–$761K

startup: $75K–$500K

How It Works

The company buys or finances commercial machines, installs them at host properties, handles repairs and payment systems, and shares revenue with landlords or charges a fixed lease. Growth comes from adding buildings, upgrading card/mobile payments, and replacing unreliable local operators.

BizBite verdict

Worth underwriting

Commercial Laundry Equipment Leasing maps to the Laundromat model. The category can work for acquisition buyers, but the right answer depends on source freshness, verified economics, and the specific red flags below.

58Strong

medium data confidence · 60/100strong financing fit

Why it may work

+Category usually has strong acquisition-financing fit
+Lower labor intensity than many SMB categories
+5 clear operating upside levers identified

Be careful

!Source link status has not been verified yet
!No last-checked date yet
!No SBA category enrichment yet
!Capex-sensitive model

Category operating model

Laundromat

low labor

high capex

medium owner

Revenue drivers

• Washer and dryer turns per day
• Average vend price by machine size
• Wash-and-fold or pickup/delivery attachment
• Vending, ATM, detergent, and ancillary sales
• Hours open and neighborhood density

Key risks

• Old machines can create a near-term capex bomb
• Short lease term can destroy acquisition value
• Utility costs can quietly compress margins
• Turns/day claims are easy to exaggerate without machine-level proof

What you need to believe

The location has durable renter/student/urban demand.
Machine replacement needs are reflected in the purchase price.
Lease control is long enough to recover the acquisition premium.
Reported cash sales are verifiable enough to underwrite.

Deal Calculator

Priced off $169K SDE — can this deal service its own debt?

2.15×

DSCR · Lender-comfortable

Purchase multiple — 3.2× SDE ($540K)

Category range: 2.2×–4.5× SDE

Down payment — 10% ($54K)

SBA minimum equity injection is 10% for change-of-ownership

Interest rate — 10.50%

Typical SBA 7(a) range: 9.5–12% (prime-based)

Loan term — 10 years

Standard SBA 7(a): 10 years for business acquisition

Purchase price

$540K

3.2× of $169K SDE

Cash to close

$70K

$54K down + ~3% closing

Debt service

$7K/mo

$79K/yr on $486K loan

Cash-on-cash

129%

cash back in ~10 mo

Debt service coverage · what the lender sees

2.15×+$8K/mo after debt

Most SBA lenders want ≥1.25× coverage; 1.5×+ is a strong file.

SDE = revenue × margin estimate for this niche; it includes owner compensation, so budget your salary out of cash flow. Excludes working-capital injection, capex reserves, and taxes. Actual SBA terms vary by lender and borrower.

Pros

+Multi-year property contracts create sticky route revenue
+Payment upgrades can lift same-location revenue without new sites
+Service quality is a clear wedge against absentee machine owners
+Can bolt onto laundromat, appliance repair, or property-service operations

Cons

-Equipment is capital intensive and breaks at inconvenient times
-Property managers may demand revenue share or tenant-service guarantees
-Route economics depend on building density and machine uptime

Best For

Operators comfortable with equipment finance, repair logistics, and B2B property-manager sales

Operating Costs

Costs include washer and dryer purchases or leases, parts, technicians, payment processing, insurance, vehicles, and host-property revenue share. Newer efficient machines reduce utility complaints and downtime.