Count the owners you know who've sold in the last few years. Now count the ones who used to say they'd never sell. The second list keeps getting shorter. The home services M&A market trends behind that aren't just a feeling at the supplier's counter. They're real, and they're worth understanding whether you're thinking about selling or not. Most of what's driving it is simple, and most of it has nothing to do with whether your own company is ready. Here's what's behind the wa

Two buyers call in the same week. One is the competitor whose trucks you've been racing to the same jobs for fifteen years. The other is an investment-backed platform you heard about from a mailer. If you want to sell your home service business, PE vs strategic buyer is the first comparison you'll have to make, and nobody hands you a scorecard. That was Frank's week. His biggest rival showed up at the shop with two coffees and a question about whether he'd ever think of selli

Ten private equity platforms hold fewer than one in twelve of the HVAC contractor locations in the country, according to a tracker updated in June 2026, and most of them are still buying. That's why a private equity home services acquisition pitch might land in your voicemail, your mailbox, or your inbox before the year is out. Frank, who runs HVAC and plumbing crews outside Kansas City, got his as a voicemail from a firm he'd never heard of. A competitor two towns over had s

Marta runs a landscaping company outside Charlotte. Sixteen crews, a mix of HOA maintenance contracts and residential design work, and a Saturday night habit of typing the same question into Google: what is my landscaping company worth. She's not alone. It's one of the most searched questions among trade business owners, and one of the hardest to answer honestly. Most of what comes back is a calculator, a rule of thumb, or a range so wide it tells you nothing. The truth is th

Why the Market Is Strong, Why Buyers Are Hungry, and Why Now Deserves a Real Conversation If you own an HVAC company along the Front Range or anywhere in Colorado, you have probably noticed something over the last couple of years. The phone calls. The letters. The LinkedIn messages from companies you've never heard of asking if you've ever considered a partnership or an acquisition. Maybe you've taken a few of those calls out of curiosity. Maybe you've ignored all of them. Ei

Your route manager knows every account by name. Your longest-tenured tech has been with you longer than some marriages last. Selling doesn't have to mean handing either of them over to someone who doesn't see any of that. Pest control employees, especially your route managers, are valuable assets a buyer cares deeply about protecting alongside your contracts. In today’s market, reliable employees are difficult to find and businesses with long tenure employees are more valuabl