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Selling a Funeral Home in Central Ohio

Many Central Ohio funeral homes have been in one family for generations. When the next generation doesn't want it, a sale keeps the name in town.

Columbus Business Brokers Desk covers what buyers check first and how they think about price.

Rather talk it through? (614) 555-0148

Funeral director in a dark suit reviewing service arrangements with a colleague in a quiet office of a brick funeral home

What a buyer checks first

  1. Calls per year over the last five years
  2. Share of cremations versus traditional burials
  3. Preneed contracts and how the funds are held
  4. Condition of the building and the vehicles
  5. Licensed staff who will stay
  6. Your role in the community after the sale

Call Volume Comes First

Buyers start with how many families you serve each year and which way that number is heading. Five years of history is a good start.

Then they look at the mix. Cremation keeps growing nationally, and a cremation usually brings in less revenue than a traditional funeral. A buyer will want to see how your average revenue per call has held up as your mix changed.

What Happens to Preneed Contracts?

Families who prepaid for services expect the funeral home to honor those contracts, whoever owns it. Ohio regulates how preneed money is held, through trusts or insurance.

A buyer's attorney will want a full list of outstanding contracts, how each one is funded, and whether the funds cover today's prices. A clean, well documented preneed book adds to a buyer's confidence. Gaps get priced in.

A funeral home sells its name as much as its building. Buyers pay to keep the name families already trust.

Your Name Usually Stays

Buyers almost always keep the family name on the building. In many towns it's the most valuable asset in the deal.

That's also why buyers often want you to stay involved for a while after closing, at services, in the community, or both. Decide how long you're willing to do that before talks start.

Licensed Staff and the Building

Ohio requires licensed funeral directors and embalmers, and good ones are hard to hire. If your licensed staff plan to stay, say so early. If you are the only licensed director, the buyer will need a plan to replace you.

Buyers will also walk the building, the parking lot and the fleet. Deferred repairs on an older building show up as a lower offer.

Who Buys Funeral Homes Here?

Regional and national funeral home groups buy to add locations. Nearby independent owners buy to grow. Licensed directors working for someone else sometimes buy with SBA financing.

Each one offers different terms and a different promise about keeping your staff and your name. Our guide on how to sell a business in Columbus walks through the full process, and what your company is worth covers the math.

For a private estimate, use the value form or call (614) 555-0148.

Call the desk: (614) 555-0148