The Answer is Yes
Most dry cleaners don’t own their buildings, but the ones that do will tell you that it was the best move that they ever made. Even in the midst of the pandemic, commercial real estate prices were up 1.3% from April 2020-2021, signaling that this market is poised to continue growing.
Ross Lipton of A Cleaner World in Miami bought his first building out of bankruptcy for $500K and invested an additional $700K in equipment. He admits that during the buildout there were days that he got the jitters, but as soon as he moved in, he realized that the purchase was exactly the right thing for his business. Two years ago, with an eye toward expanding, he bought another building through the SBA’s 504 program, and in 26 months it has doubled in value.
If you’re considering buying a building, the list of benefits is long and worth consideration: paying rent to yourself, tax advantages in the form of depreciation and interest, local, state and city incentives supporting small businesses, forced savings (think retirement), rental income, and a bankable asset.
Owning real estate means that your business is building equity, and you are building wealth. In short, ownership means you are in control. You can make the decisions when you want—yes, expand…yes, renovate…yes, sell…yes, the choices are yours.
Owning your own property puts you in control of your company so that you can focus on what you do best: running your dry cleaner.
