How to buy a dental practice is a question about sequence more than skill. The clinical part you already have; the deal part is a set of steps that go wrong mainly when they are done in the wrong order: an offer before the returns are read, a lender approached after the price is fixed, an allocation argued about after closing. This page puts the steps in the order that keeps the buyer in control, and points at the two free sheets on this site that do the arithmetic at each one.
Before the letter of intent: ratios, not feelings
Ask for last year's collections and the active patient count and run the checklist sheet. A price at 75% of collections and $416.67 a patient on the worked example is a statement about what the seller thinks the patients are worth; you do not have to agree, but you should know the figure before you fall for the operatories. Talk to an SBA lender at this stage too, because their appetite fixes the funding stack you can offer.
Between the letter and closing: the list and the calendar
Write the document list before the letter of intent is signed and date every request. Sixteen of 24 received on day 20 of 60 is 67% complete with 40 days left, which is a manageable chase; the same eight items outstanding on day 50 is a delayed closing. The register in Pro keeps each item with its dates so the chase is a filter rather than a memory.
At closing: the stack, the split and the transition
The acquisition cost calculator shows the stack the lender will fund. On its example a $450,000 price with the bank at 80% and the seller at 10% is $110,000 at the keys and $68,731.68 a year of payments; the earnings after your own pay must cover that, and 131% is the worked example's margin. Agree the asset allocation and the seller's transition period in the same agreement, so the patients meet you before they meet your name on the door.
Questions people ask about how to buy a dental practice
Do I need a broker to buy a dental practice?
No. Brokers find practices and run the process for a fee from the deal. This site is for the buyer doing that work, and its tools are the arithmetic a broker would run for you.
How long does the whole purchase take?
The worked example allows 60 days from the letter of intent to closing. The lender's underwriting and the landlord's consent to assign are the two clocks you do not control.
What does Keysvo Pro add?
The register: every practice you look at with its ratios and costed stack, the offers, the dated document list, the lender and the closing date, for $14 a month.