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North Carolina Childcare Business Brokerage

Sell Your North Carolina Childcare Center, Preschool, or Private School With Complete Confidentiality

With 37+ years of exclusive early-education transaction experience, SIP and its North Carolina-licensed team help owners maximize exit value while protecting staff, enrolled families, and legacy.

Request a Confidential North Carolina ValuationCall (888) 881-0118 (Hablamos Español)
  • 37+ YearsEst. 1989
  • 1,000+Centers sold
  • $1B+In closed sales
  • ConfidentialBlind-profile process

Why Selling a Childcare Business in North Carolina Requires a Specialist Broker

Selling a licensed child care center in North Carolina requires coordinating a new DCDEE license for the buyer, criminal background check qualifications, the center's star rating, and NC Pre-K eligibility. General business brokers often overlook these regulatory triggers, risking closing delays or enrollment loss.

Strictly speaking, a North Carolina childcare license does not move with the business. State rules (10A NCAC 09 .0204) say a center license can't be bought, sold, or transferred, and the prospective owner must apply for a new license at least 30 days before acquiring the center. That one rule sets off a chain of steps the buyer, the lender, and you all have to plan around:

  • A new license, 30 days ahead. The buyer applies to DCDEE at least 30 days before acquiring the center and receives a temporary license once the application is in.
  • A new star rating. The temporary license lasts six months or until DCDEE issues the new owner a star-rated license.
  • Background check qualifications. Operators and staff need a DCDEE qualification letter, based on state and federal fingerprint checks.
  • NC Pre-K eligibility. Programs serving NC Pre-K children must hold a four- or five-star rated license, so the new owner's rating matters.

SIP has focused on childcare and private-school transactions since E.T. and Pam Strickland founded the firm in 1989, and our North Carolina broker, Robert L. Johnson, is an active center owner. We build these steps into the purchase agreement and closing schedule from the start, so licensing and funding deadlines are planned for, not discovered late.

How We Value North Carolina Daycares, Preschools & Educational Real Estate

A defensible price starts with the right earnings measure and a clear view of the real estate. We work through both with you before your business goes to market.

SDE or EBITDA

Owner-operated centers are usually valued on seller's discretionary earnings (SDE): profit with the owner's salary, benefits, and one-time or personal expenses added back, because the buyer will usually step into the owner's role. Larger centers and multi-site groups with a director and management team in place are usually valued on EBITDA, the measure multi-unit operators and investors use to compare acquisitions.

Leased Facility or Fee-Simple Property

In a leased center, much of the value rides on the lease: the term remaining, renewal options, rent, and whether the landlord will consent to an assignment or a new lease for the buyer. When you own the building outright (fee simple), the real estate is valued separately from the business, and the two can be sold together or separately.

Keep the Building, Become the Landlord

Owners who want ongoing income can sell the business, keep the real estate, and sign the buyer to a new triple-net (NNN) lease, under which the tenant pays property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of rent. The rent you set works on both sides: it is an expense in the business's earnings and the income that sets the building's value as an investment.

Multiples vary widely: two North Carolina centers with similar revenue can be valued very differently once enrollment, staff tenure, licensing history, the star rating, NC Pre-K classrooms, and the lease are taken into account. How our confidential valuation works

Navigating North Carolina DCDEE Licensing, Star Ratings & NC Pre-K

What changes hands in a North Carolina childcare sale, what doesn't, and who signs off.

Who licenses the new owner

The Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), part of NC DHHS, licenses child care centers. The prospective owner applies for a new license at least 30 days before acquiring the center. When DCDEE receives the application, it issues a temporary license, which must be posted where parents can see it every day.

From temporary license to star rating

A temporary license stays in effect for six months, or until DCDEE issues a star-rated license (or a provisional or other license, or a denial). In North Carolina the star rating is part of the license itself, so the buyer's center earns its rating on its new license. We plan around that timeline, especially where enrollment or funding depends on a higher rating.

Criminal background checks

Under G.S. 110-90.2, operators and everyone providing care need a valid criminal background check qualification letter from DCDEE, based on state and federal fingerprint checks and sex offender registry searches. Qualifications are renewed every five years.

NC Pre-K

Programs serving NC Pre-K children must maintain a four- or five-star rated license (10A NCAC 09 .3002). Because a new owner starts on a temporary license, we raise NC Pre-K continuity with DCDEE and your local NC Pre-K contractor well before closing.

Visit DCDEE's child care site

General information, not legal advice. Agencies update their forms and rules, so confirm current requirements with your licensing office.

Statewide Representation Across Every Major North Carolina Market

SIP's North Carolina-licensed broker and associate represent sellers across the state. DCDEE licenses child care centers statewide, so the same rules apply in every market.

  • Charlotte Metro

    • Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
    • Concord & Cabarrus County
    • Gastonia

  • The Triangle

    • Raleigh & Wake County
    • Durham
    • Chapel Hill

  • The Triad

    • Greensboro
    • Winston-Salem
    • High Point

  • Eastern & Coastal

    • Wilmington
    • Fayetteville
    • Greenville

Don't see your area? Our North Carolina team works statewide; call (888) 881-0118.

North Carolina Childcare Sellers: Common Questions

Private. Confidential. No Obligation.

Request a Confidential North Carolina Valuation

Tell us about your North Carolina center and what you are considering. Your inquiry is confidential and puts you under no obligation.

Robert L. Johnson, Broker at School Investment Properties, childcare business brokerage

Broker | Multi-State

Robert L. Johnson

Robert has owned and operated several centers in the Southeast and currently owns a center in Monroe, Georgia. That operating experience helps bring the right buyer and seller together and keep a sale moving through closing.

Meet our team

Also licensed in North Carolina

  • Tristen GeorgeSales Associate

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(888) 881-0118

Hablamos Español

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