Wraith Brokerage

09/02/2026

Almost every owner walks into their first offer expecting one wire for the full amount. What usually arrives is a schedule.

Some of it lands at closing. Some the buyer pays down over three to five years. Some depends on whether the business performs after you are no longer running it. All of that is ordinary in deals this size, and none of it is a problem until the terms get signed without anyone reading them closely.

We wrote a plain-English breakdown of seller notes and earnouts. What they are, why buyers ask, and the specific terms that decide whether you collect.

A plain-language guide to seller financing and earnouts, explained from the seller’s side: how deferred deal structures work and the tradeoffs to weigh.

08/27/2026

Buyers don't discount your business. They discount what they can't verify.

Five things that quietly cost you multiple, and what to do about each before you go to market.

Messy books. Get three years of clean accrual statements and separate owner perks from real operating expense. If a buyer's accountant has to rebuild your P&L, they rebuild it conservatively.

Customer concentration. One account over 20% of revenue is a risk premium. Spend the next six months growing the tail, not the whale.

Owner dependency. If the business needs you in every decision, you're not selling a company, you're selling a job. Hand off your top three relationships and your top three recurring decisions now.

Weak retention data. If you can't show churn by cohort, buyers assume the worst number that fits. Start tracking it today so you have real history at close.

Undocumented processes. Write SOPs for the ten things that break when you're gone. It costs you a few weekends and it moves the number.

Every one of these is fixable in six months. None of them are fixable in diligence. Fix them early and you negotiate on strength. Fix them late and you negotiate on price.

Wraith Brokerage represents founder-owned businesses in property management, software, and services. If you're thinking about a sale in the next 12 to 24 months, the prep window is now.

DM "VALUE" for a readiness checklist.

08/25/2026

Just let us be excited.