A typical business escrow will not usually cover the important items necessary to assure a successful transfer of pool accounts. If you have no experience in the pool business, you may leave out something important.

WHEN PURCHASING POOL ACCOUNTS, BE SURE TO OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING:

The Seller should train the Buyer for thirty (30) days. During the thirty (30) day training period, the Buyer receives all of the income derived from the accounts for both service and repairs. The Seller should train the Buyer for the first two (2) weeks on service and repairs, and the final two (2) weeks on repairs and any other problems the Buyer may encounter. Furthermore, the Seller should be willing to provide consultation to the new owner for an indeterminate period of time.

The Seller should also guarantee the transfer of accounts. The guarantee period should run for ninety (90) days from the close of escrow. During this period, the Seller should replace any account lost, due to any reason except negligence of the Buyer, with an account of equal value or, refund to the Buyer the amount paid for the account that discontinued service.

Some funds should be held in escrow for the ninety (90) day guarantee period to assure Seller compliance, and also to assure that the Buyers training is properly completed.

The Seller should also be willing to sign a Five (5) year Covenant Not to Compete on the accounts being transferred. It should not negatively affect your business, or your growth, if the seller continues to service pool customers. If the Seller does remain in the pool business, he is usually more available for advice and consultation.

The Seller should provide the Buyer, for his perusal, the current billing history for each customer being purchased. The Buyer should review this customer billing history prior to the opening of an escrow. It is important for the Buyer to review this customer history, prior to the purchase, to determine the acceptability of the accounts. Billing history should disclose the following:

When the account was billed. When the account paid. The monthly service charge. Repair charges. Sometimes, but not always, the start date for each customer.

All information pertaining to the customers will remain in the possession of the Seller until after the close of escrow. After the close of escrow, the Seller should deliver copies of all customer histories to the Buyer. Possession of the account histories will assist the Buyer when a customer has a question on a repair that was done by the Seller. Since most repairs have a one (1) year warranty, the Seller will remain responsible for warranty work on all repairs done, prior to the close of escrow.

The Buyer, or Buyersí Pool Broker, should receive a list of the accounts, prior to the close of escrow, for the purpose of verifying the accounts being transferred. If the Seller will not provide a list of accounts, I would not consummate the purchase.

Once you have determined what route you are interested in, the next step is to speak to the owner.