Education and Care · Seller's Guide

How to Sell a Daycare or Child Care Center

Child-care centers sell on licensed capacity, enrollment, and the real estate. Here is how licensing and census set the value.

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Why It's Different

What makes selling a child care center different

A child-care center's value is driven by licensed capacity and enrollment, your Community Care Licensing capacity, current census against that capacity, waitlist, and tuition rates. Full enrollment with a waitlist is worth far more than empty licensed slots.

Licensing transfer and the real estate are central. The state license does not simply transfer, the buyer must be approved and licensed, and the facility, whether you own or lease it, plus zoning and any conditional-use permit, is core to value.

How It's Valued

What is a child care center worth?

Most buyers value a child care center on a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE), your profit plus the owner's salary and the personal expenses run through the business.

Child-care centers are usually valued at about 2 to 3.5 times SDE, plus the real estate valued separately when you own it, with high enrollment, strong rates, and a waitlist at the higher end. I rebuild SDE with proper add-backs, and when the property is included, handle it under my DRE license, #02372118.

A broker's job is to rebuild your SDE with the right add-backs so your true earning power, not just the tax-return bottom line, sets the price. Get a free, confidential valuation →

Confidentiality

Selling without your staff or competitors finding out

Selling a child care center works best when no one finds out until the right moment. Employees, competitors, customers, and suppliers learning early is the number-one fear owners have, and for good reason, it can cost you staff and revenue mid-sale. I market every business with a blind profile: a teaser that describes the opportunity, the numbers, and the area only in general terms, and never names your business. Every buyer is screened and signs a non-disclosure agreement before they learn which business is for sale. Your team keeps working, your customers keep coming, and your sale stays private until it closes.

What's your child care center actually worth?

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Frequently Asked Questions

Selling a child care center, answered

The license is facility-specific and the buyer must be approved and licensed by Community Care Licensing through a change-of-ownership process. I coordinate the sale timeline around that process and work alongside your licensing consultant so approval and escrow line up.

Yes, directly. Census against your licensed capacity, tuition rates, and a waitlist are the core value drivers. A center running near capacity with a waitlist commands a premium, and we present enrollment and rates clearly.

Often. When you own the facility, the real estate is valued separately and can be sold with the business or leased to the buyer. That side is handled under my California DRE license, #02372118.

About Your Broker

Martin Navarro, Business Broker

Martin Navarro is a California business broker, DRE #02372118, and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and a member of the California Association of Business Brokers (CABB), the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), ACG Los Angeles (Association for Corporate Growth), and the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. Gas stations, car washes, self-storage, and other businesses with real estate are a specialty within his full-service brokerage practice. Martin serves business owners across Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Ventura, and Orange County, and throughout Southern California.

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