If your offer only works when the seller carries a note, you are limiting yourself to the owners willing to do that, and not every owner is. The way to stand out is to make your offer easy to believe: show proof of funds early, talk to an SBA lender before you make an offer, and know exactly what you want to buy and why you are the right owner for it.
Seller financing is popular with buyers. In BizBuySell's buyer survey for the second quarter of 2026, 70% of buyers said they would consider it as part of a transaction. But wanting it and getting it are two different things. When an owner has no plan to carry a note, an offer built around one starts the conversation on the wrong foot.
I have been on the buy side too. I bought my senior care business years before I sold it, so I know what it feels like to be one buyer among several. Here is what helps.
Show proof of funds early
Sellers and their advisors hear from a lot of people who are curious about buying. Proof of funds separates you from the curious. Showing that your down payment is real tells the seller you are serious before anyone starts arguing about price.
Talk to an SBA lender before you make an offer
A lender conversation tells you what you can actually close, not just what you hope to close. You learn roughly how much a lender may finance, how much cash you will need to bring, and what they will want to see from the business.
When you make an offer after that conversation, you can explain how you plan to pay for it. A seller hears a plan instead of a hope, and that changes how seriously your offer gets read.
Know what you want to buy and why you fit
The third step is knowing what you want to buy and why you are the right owner for that business. Sellers care about who takes over what they built: their customers, their employees and their reputation. A buyer who can explain how their background fits the business reads as a safer choice than one who says they would buy anything.
Why a sure offer can beat a bigger one
To a seller, an offer that is actually going to close can beat a bigger one that might not. A deal that falls apart in financing or diligence can cost a seller months, and sometimes the momentum of the whole sale. Owners and their advisors know that, so they weigh how likely an offer is to close, not only the headline price.
If seller financing ends up in your deal, great. Just don't make it the only way your offer works. If you are early in your search, my page on buying a business covers how to get ready before you start making offers.
If you know someone shopping for a business, send this to them.
Ready to talk it through? Talk with me about selling. No cost, no obligation.
Read the transcript
Should you offer seller financing when you sell? Owners ask me about it a lot, and here's why it matters.
90% of buyers expect seller financing, but only 29% of owners plan to offer it. That's from BizBuySell's second quarter report. So if your offer depends on the seller carrying a note, you're fishing in a pretty small pond.
I've been on the buy side too. I bought my senior care business years before I sold it, so here's how to stand out.
First, show proof of funds early. It tells the seller that you're for real.
Second, talk to an SBA lender before you make an offer so you know exactly what you can close on.
And third, know what you want to buy and why you're the right owner for that business.
To a seller, an offer that's actually going to close can beat a bigger one that might not. If you know someone shopping for a business, share this with them.
