***New Video Alert!
Ever wondered how to compete with private equity groups and bigger buyers when you don’t have the highest offer?
In this episode, I reveal how to make your offer stand out by building trust, credibility, and certainty for the seller — without overpaying.
If you’re serious about buying a business the right way, this one’s for you.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/XEz79uFFVWc
Cheers
See you over on YouTube
David C Barnett
After submitting 34 sealed bids, one of my offers on a surplus military house here in Moncton was finally accepted. https://youtu.be/ysGfHbm4nfo
For anyone who hasn’t been following along:
A military base closed here a couple of years ago, and the government put all the former military family homes (PMQs) up for sale. These are four-bedroom houses located just a couple of blocks from where I already live, close to my kids’ school and in the same neighborhood where my ex-wife lives so from a personal and logistical standpoint, it’s an ideal location for me.
Because the homes were sold through a sealed tender process, the bank treats this as a private sale, which adds an extra requirement to the mortgage approval.
Inspection Done. Mortgage Approved. One More Hurdle.
The inspection went fine.
I met with the banker and the mortgage is fully approved conditional on an appraisal.
Since this wasn’t a normal MLS transaction, the bank wants an independent appraiser to confirm that the value supports the loan amount.
Honestly, I wasn’t worried. I got a very good deal on the property, and I fully expected the appraised value to come in higher than what I’m paying.
Good News from the Appraiser
He told me he has already appraised two other houses with the exact same layout in the same military housing area and both of those came in at over $100,000, which is well above my purchase price.
So from the bank’s point of view, there shouldn’t be any issue at all with the mortgage conditions.
I’m still curious to see the final written appraisal, so I’ll be asking my banker for a copy once it’s available, and I’ll share what happens next.
Closing Date May Move Up
So things are moving along faster than expected, which is fine by me.
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***New Video Alert!
A business broker shares a real story where a seller’s lawyer destroyed a deal at the last minute. Everything looked aligned- buyer ready, due diligence done until legal strategy and poor structure caused chaos.
In this video, I explain what really went wrong, how this could have been prevented, and what brokers, buyers, and sellers must do differently to avoid losing great deals at the finish line.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/7togJsoXZyg
Cheers
See you over on YouTube
David C Barnett
When financing falls apart on a deal, it’s often not because the numbers don’t work — it’s because people overlook the simplest source of capital available: the seller.
I recently had an interesting phone call with an equipment leasing broker who specializes in arranging operating and capital leases for heavy equipment, restaurant equipment, and store fixtures. https://youtu.be/LH3FdgmywrA
He was working on a deal involving a small specialty food store that was shutting down. The business had reached the end of its lease, and all of the equipment was still installed in the space — display cases, coolers, counters, baskets, trays, and all kinds of small items.
A successful food operator in a neighboring town wanted to expand into this location. The brand was strong, the operator had decades of experience, and the opportunity made sense because much of the infrastructure was already in place. Expanding into a fully equipped space dramatically reduces startup costs and risk.
The leasing broker was able to arrange financing on all of the major equipment — anything with serial numbers such as refrigerated display cases, freezers, and likely the point-of-sale system.
But the smaller items created a problem.
Trays, baskets, scoops, and small fixtures don’t have serial numbers. They’re easy to move, hard to track, and not permanently attached to the building. From a lender’s perspective, these items don’t make good collateral. If the bank ever had to seize them, they could literally walk out the back door.
As a result, no lender wanted to finance that portion of the equipment package.
The buyer was already going to be stretched putting up the cash for inventory, so the broker called me asking if I had any ideas for how to finance that last piece of the deal.
This immediately reminded me of concepts I use when performing machinery and equipment appraisals — specifically the difference between:
Fair market value in continued use, and
Fair market value removed (liquidation value).
For many pieces of equipment, a huge portion of the value isn’t the metal itself — it’s the installation.
Think about a large refrigerated cooler. It might be manufactured overseas, shipped, delivered, installed, wired by electricians, and connected to compressors and plumbing. All of that labor and logistics add enormous value.
If the equipment stays in place and continues operating, that value is preserved.
If it gets removed, much of that value disappears instantly.
Once it’s disconnected, hauled away, stored, and eventually sold, you’re now dealing with a fraction of its original value.
My suggestion to the leasing broker was straightforward.
If the big equipment can be financed through leasing companies, then the seller should finance the smaller items directly, just like vendor financing in a business sale.
Even though this isn’t technically goodwill, the seller is protecting the installation value of the equipment. If the deal collapses and the equipment has to be removed, the seller faces storage, transport, and resale losses. The buyer, on the other hand, receives maximum value by keeping everything in place and operational.
By holding a note on the smaller equipment, the seller:
Protects the value of what they already own
Makes the transaction possible
Often achieves a higher total recovery than liquidation would provide
From the buyer’s perspective, it reduces the upfront cash burden and keeps the expansion financially manageable.
One of the most surprising things I’ve observed over the years is how rarely people think of simply asking the seller to finance part of a deal.
It’s often the easiest source of financing available.
If someone owns the assets outright, they can decide to accept payments over time simply by agreeing to it. There’s no bank committee, no rigid underwriting, and no collateral hurdles.
In many cases, seller financing creates a win-win outcome that wouldn’t exist otherwise.
Want deeper dives like this?
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***New Video Alert!
I take you behind the curtain of how I stayed on top of the numbers in my business and why my old system finally hit a breaking point.
If you’re dealing with manual reconciliations, multi-currency headaches, or duplicated invoicing work, you’ll relate to this.
I’ll show you what wasn’t working, what I wanted instead, and why I’m confident the move to a cloud system was the right call.
Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/LfaGUfwStqo
Cheers
See you over on YouTube
David C Barnett
Online Entrepreneurs- Get your cash faster!
New Livestream guest- Ariel Blum
I’m happy to have Ariel join me on a live broadcast.
He’s got tons of experience in the payment processing industry.
Tune in to learn how this industry works and how Ariel’s company is disrupting things.
Here’s the AI summary of our pre-call…
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Ariel Blum discussed his company's innovative service with David Barnett, which provides small businesses with immediate liquidity by accelerating their cash flow. The service, which operates off interchange fees and SAS fees for platform partners, allows businesses to access up to 70% of their sales proceeds instantly, without incurring interest or fees. Ariel highlighted success stories from e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses, emphasizing the service's role in procurement and ad spend. Despite minor fraud issues, the company is well-capitalized and aims to capture market share from traditional financing methods like factoring and merchant cash advances. Ariel also shared his personal experiences living in Israel during turbulent times.
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This is a ‘must see event’ for people who sell online.
I’m having him on as part of my personal quest to help people avoid getting into trouble with merchant cash advance purveyors.
Be sure to join live so that you can ask questions, replay will be available.
Set yourself a reminder on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/xfisZuCM-bM
We’ll be going live Monday January 12, 2026
See you there!
David C Barnett
