The numbers
As stated by the listing on September 11, 2026.
- Asking price
- $800,000
- SDE
- $400,000
- Gross revenue
- $1,500,000
- Multiple
- 2.00x
- Established
- 2000
- Employees
- 10
Why we like it
Kansas City sits on clay that swells when it soaks up water and shrinks hard once the ground dries out, and a foundation built on top of that cycle moves, season after season, whether anyone touches it or not. Missouri's freeze-thaw winters add a second push against basement walls and footings. The trade that answers this is foundation repair and waterproofing: push piers and helical piers to arrest settlement, interior drainage and sump systems to manage the water table, injection work to seal the cracks in between. Much of the demand does not start with the company marketing for it. It starts with a home sale: an inspector flags a crack, a lender wants an engineer's letter before the loan closes, and the repair has to happen on the deal's timeline, which is why real estate agents and inspectors are often a bigger source of calls than any advertising the company runs itself. This business has worked that trade in Jackson County for 26 years with a crew of ten, long enough to have thousands of past jobs still sitting under whatever warranty was issued at the time of installation. The number worth finding before anything else is not this year's revenue but the size of that open warranty book, because a foundation repair company keeps owing on a pier long after it is installed, and a buyer takes on every one of those obligations along with the business.
You probably need a licence to run this
Missouri has no statewide contractor license, but Kansas City area municipalities commonly require a local contractor license or registration to legally pull permits for foundation and structural work, and pier installations typically need a plan stamped by a licensed engineer rather than the contractor. Confirm exactly which licenses the current owner or business holds, in which Jackson County municipalities, and whether those are personal to the owner or held at the company level, since a personal license does not automatically transfer to a new owner.
What worries us
- Open warranty book transfers to the buyerFoundation repair companies typically issue long, often lifetime, transferable warranties, and 26 years of installs means a large number of past jobs the new owner is on the hook to service if they fail, with no indication in the listing figures of how large that obligation is.
- Referral relationships may be personal to the sellerIf real estate agents, inspectors, and engineers send work because they know and trust this owner specifically, that pipeline can thin out after a sale unless the seller actively transfers those relationships during a transition period.
- Work volume tracks ground moisture and weatherFoundation and waterproofing jobs slow when the ground freezes or during dry stretches when clay isn't actively moving, so monthly cash flow is likely uneven even if the stated annual numbers look steady.
The callSuits a buyer willing to underwrite the warranty liability and rebuild referral relationships in person, not someone wanting a passive, hands-off operation.
Our calculations
Our standard SBA 7(a) acquisition structure applied to the asking price. Assumptions below.
Sources
| SBA 7(a) loan | $759,544 |
| Seller standby note | $42,197 |
| Buyer cash at close | $42,197 |
| Total sources | $843,938 |
Uses
| Purchase price | $800,000 |
| Closing costs (est.) | $24,000 |
| SBA guaranty fee | $19,938 |
| Total project | $843,938 |
- Monthly payment
- $6,505
- Annual debt service
- $78,055
- DSCR
- 3.40xSTRONG
- Injection check
- Meets 10% ($84,394 against $84,394 required)
- Closing costs estimated at 3% of asking price
- Owner salary of $120,000, loaded
- Rate of Prime + 2.25% = 9.25%
- 25-year term, fully amortizing
- Injection split half cash, half seller standby note
How we would go about buying it
The order matters. Every step below is free until the last one, and each is a chance to walk away before it costs you anything.
- 1
Call the broker, not the bank
The listing is brokered, so the broker is the gate. Ask for the CIM and the last three years of tax returns, and expect to sign an NDA first. Do this before you talk to a lender: no lender will size a loan without the numbers, and the broker will not release them to a lender you have not engaged.
Open the listing - 2
Ask these before you spend anything
Specific to this business, from our read of the listing. The answers decide whether the numbers above survive contact.
- How many piers, wall anchors, or linear feet of waterproofing installed by this company are currently under an active warranty, and is that warranty self-funded or backed by a third-party insurance product?
- What share of jobs originate from real estate agent or home inspector referrals versus repeat and direct customers, and will the owner personally introduce the buyer to those referral sources during a transition period?
- Who is the engineer of record that stamps the structural repair plans for pier and underpinning jobs, and is that an in-house engineer or an outside firm the new owner will need to maintain a relationship with?
- What contractor licenses or registrations does the business or the owner personally hold across Jackson County and the municipalities it works in, and do those transfer to a new owner or require a fresh application?
- What is the age, mileage, and ownership status (owned versus financed or leased) of the drill rigs, hydraulic pier equipment, and service trucks?
- 3
Take it to lenders who do this size
Talk to more than one. Rate is the least of it: the lender who has done fifty of these in Missouri will close, and the one who has done two will waste your quarter. Below are the lenders whose typical deal size actually fits this one.
- 4
Structure the offer around the coverage
Our structure clears the floor at 3.40x, and a lender will run its own version with its own add-backs. If the earnings come back lower than stated, the price has to come down or the seller note has to grow. Model both before you make an offer.
Model it yourself
Who we would call
Active Missouri acquisition lenders whose typical deal size fits this one.
- OakStar Bank
24 loans in MOmedian $878,000median rate 9.63%~15 days to first disbursement
- Midwest Regional Bank
21 loans in MOmedian $774,000median rate 10.25%~30 days to first disbursement
- Live Oak Banking Company
17 loans in MOmedian $952,000median rate 8.75%~20 days to first disbursement
Loan counts and medians are that lender’s change-of-ownership loans in Missouri, FY2025 to FY2026 Q3. Funding speed is the lender’s national median from approval to first disbursement. Names link to our data profile for each lender.
The fine print
The statements this write-up makes about the trade and its rules, as opposed to the figures, were checked against public sources on September 10, 2026. 8 claims were checked.
Run your own numbers
The deal analyzer models price, seller note, equity injection, and DSCR under current SBA terms, with every assumption adjustable.
Open the deal analyzerListing facts as stated by the listing on September 11, 2026, not independently verified. Structure, payment, DSCR, and injection figures are our own computation under the assumptions above, using the Prime rate as of September 28, 2026. Lender shortlist from the SBA 7(a) FOIA file, FY2025 to FY2026 Q3, as of June 30, 2026. Methodology. See an error? Email us and we will correct it.