North Shore Design-Build Remodeler, 64-Year Kitchen & Bath Contractor, Cook County IL

$3.6M

Revenue

$780K

SDE

2.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 64-year-old design-build residential remodeling company operating in Chicago's affluent North Shore suburbs. The business handles whole-home remodels, additions, kitchen renovations, and bathroom upgrades for an upscale clientele, and it also captures smaller recurring work like roofing and fence repair from its existing homeowner base. In 2025 the company completed 133 projects at an average value of $27,000, driving roughly $3.6M in revenue and $780K in owner cash flow.

The defining feature here is the customer base: wealthy North Shore homeowners with large homes and ongoing property investment needs who call this firm for everything from major renovations to minor repairs. That repeat-and-referral dynamic is what has kept the business alive for six decades with, notably, zero marketing spend. The company runs lean with 4 full-time employees plus 25 contractors, operating out of a leased 4,450 square foot office and warehouse at $5,000 per month.

At a $1.75M asking price against $780K in cash flow, the deal is priced at roughly 2.24x SDE, which is squarely in line with construction and remodeling comps. The seller is retiring, offers financing, and will stay through a transition. The obvious upside lever is that a business generating this kind of volume on pure word of mouth has never turned on a real demand engine.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is real for the category, with $780K of cash flow on $3.6M revenue at a healthy 22% margin. The business runs asset-light on leased premises with only $100K of FF&E, so there is minimal capital tied up and cash conversion should be strong once you validate the pipeline of signed contracts.
The moat is a 64-year reputation compounding inside one of the wealthiest zip-code clusters in the Midwest. Repeat and referral clients call this firm for everything from full kitchens to fence repairs, which creates a recurring, sticky relationship rather than one-and-done project work that most remodelers live and die on.
The affluent North Shore market gives durable pricing power and a customer base with discretionary income that keeps investing in large homes through most cycles. High-end homeowners tend to renovate for lifestyle rather than necessity, and this firm already owns mindshare with them.
The operator advantage is glaring: the company does zero marketing. A buyer who installs even basic lead generation, a referral program, and design showroom presence could grow revenue meaningfully without leaving the existing service area or reputation behind.

How to improve it

Turn on demand generation in the first 90 days. The business does no marketing today, so a targeted North Shore digital presence, Google reviews harvesting, and a formal referral incentive could lift project count above the 133 baseline without diluting the premium positioning.
Raise average project value by leaning into whole-home remodels and additions over $27K jobs. The clientele has the budget, so packaging design-build scopes and upselling adjacent work (roofing, exterior) on existing job sites can grow ticket size with the same lead flow.
Formalize the estimating and project management systems so the business is less dependent on the owner's judgment. Documented pricing playbooks, gross-margin targets per project type, and job-costing software reduce key-person risk and protect margins as volume scales.
Tighten the contractor model into a more reliable crew structure. With 25 contractors and only 4 full-time staff, securing preferred subcontractor relationships or bringing key trades in-house would improve scheduling, quality control, and margin capture.
Build a recurring maintenance and small-project offering as a lead nurturing channel. Wealthy homeowners who call for a fence repair are the same ones who will fund a $150K kitchen later, so a light-touch service program keeps the firm top of mind between big jobs.
Implement deposit and progress-billing discipline to strengthen working capital. Structured milestone payments on larger renovations reduce cash-flow strain and financing needs during peak construction seasons.
Expand geographically into adjacent affluent suburbs using the same reputation and playbook. The North Shore brand travels well to neighboring high-income communities, offering a low-risk way to add capacity-driven revenue.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the cash flow quality and owner add-backs. Confirm the $780K SDE is clean, understand how much of it is the owner's own labor as lead salesperson and estimator, and quantify what it would cost to replace that role since a buyer stepping in absentee would erode margins.
Validate the revenue mix and 2025's 133 completed projects. Remodeling is lumpy, so pull three to five years of financials to confirm the $3.6M is a normal year rather than a peak, and check whether backlog and signed contracts support forward revenue at close.
Test the repeat-and-referral claim with hard data. Request customer lists showing percentage of revenue from repeat clients versus new, because the entire thesis rests on a self-sustaining referral engine that must survive an ownership change.
Examine the related-party lease carefully. Rent of $5,000 per month is paid to a separate entity owned by the seller, so verify it is at true market rate and lock in a long-term lease or purchase option so the buyer is not exposed to a post-close rent hike.
Assess key-person and labor dependency. With only 4 full-time employees and 25 contractors, understand who actually runs projects and holds the customer relationships, and whether the licensed contractor status transfers cleanly to a new owner in Illinois.
Because high-end remodeling is discretionary, model a downside scenario. Stress the numbers against a housing slowdown or credit tightening that could compress project count, and confirm the seller financing terms give you cushion if a soft year follows close.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →