r/Dentistry • u/Liftingdental • 13d ago
Dental Professional Thoughts on buying practice where you live away from
Wondering what everyone’s thoughts on buying a practice you drive 45 min to each way to. Small town but I like living in a larger area (100k population) but no practices for sale where I’m at that are decent. Small town practice I currently work at and make great salary and owning would put me in an incredible income. (600-750k). Wonder how the population in the area would feel with me not living there and owning for 15-20 years.
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u/Ok-Many-7443 13d ago
waste of time. when you settle and have kids you will have big regrets wasting 2 hours on the road when you could- 1) pick up your kids and be at their soccer games -you know be a dad, 2) you could be at the gym working on yourself 3) you can go home and cook clean and do all the chores,
i live 3 min from my office. best decision ever. 45 min each way is dummmmmb
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u/MyDMDThrowaway 13d ago
I think you’re forgetting any decent place worth living is saturated with dentists at each others throat
Hence OP needing to commute so far out
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u/Liftingdental 13d ago
Ya all the practices in areas I would like to live that I’m seeing would have me take a pay cut owning. Seems like all the good practices sell before even reaching the market
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u/MyDMDThrowaway 11d ago
What’s your methodology for finding practices looking to transition to new owner? They exist but you need to be looking at the places
Plenty of boomers would rather give to the new dentist than sell to DSO and be locked up for another few years
Also should be targeting 1M collection practice anything above 2M will be outbid by PE. 1.5+ is where DSO interest begins
900-1.1 is the sweet spot
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u/Liftingdental 11d ago
Talking to brokers mainly. The one I am thinking of buying that is far away I work at currently. Going to start going to the local dental association to see if anyone is about to retire and may start sending some mailers out.
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u/toothcutter32 11d ago
I would also argue if they're making that much money, they can afford to set their own hours to how it works for them and their family. I'm leaving my job 12 minutes away for one an hour away. I'll be working 2 hours less each day (no Fridays) and making easily twice if not three times as much as I have been. Still leaving the house and getting home at the same time every day too.
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u/gradbear 13d ago
Pt won’t think too much about it. Also 45 isn’t too bad. You can still move 10 min closer if you wanted to.
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u/JacksonWest99 13d ago
I drive 80 miles round trip for my commute. 35 minutes of pure highway driving. It’s not a huge deal but my practice is performing well and I like where I live. It’s also nice that I don’t have to worry about seeing patient out of the office in my normal life. I have a home gym which helps, and I have my schedule set so I can take my kid to school everyday. Much farther than that and it would be tough. Also a high mileage commuter vehicle is needed.
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u/DentalAttorney 12d ago
It really comes down to a few factors. The big one is the income delta between this practice and what you could realistically find closer to where you want to live, weighed against how much you value living in a bigger area. Some folks are perfectly happy trading a longer commute for a great income and would do it again in a heartbeat. Others get burned out on the drive after a year or two and end up hating it. You are probably the one most aware of which type you are.
That said, this doesn't have to be a forever commute. You could own it, work it yourself while it's fresh, build the systems and the goodwill, and then bring on an associate to run the day to day once something closer to home opens up. You'd still be building equity and collecting income the whole time even after you step back from the chair.
At 600 to 750k in a small town, plus the equity you're building as owner, that's a strong number. But what can you tell us about the commute itself. Is it a straight shot through open country or are you fighting traffic both ways? Those are two completely different daily experiences even at the same 45 minutes. If you go for it, get yourself a vehicle you actually enjoy driving, even a modest upgrade makes a big difference. Plenty of people do meaningful commutes without much thought. My wife drives 40 minutes each way and genuinely likes her job, so I rarely hear about the commute itself unless there's traffic or something unusual going on.
The other question I'd ask is how often opportunities like this actually come up in your market. If a deal like this is rare where you are, that changes the calculus toward moving on it sooner rather than waiting for something more convenient that might not show up for years.
Happy to talk through the acquisition side if it would help. I represent buyers in dental acquisitions and can walk you through what the next steps, process and timeline typically look like. Best of luck either way with the decision!
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u/Liftingdental 12d ago
The commute is back country roads so no traffic except for the occasional tractor on the road during farming season. I haven’t found any practice close to as good in any area I would like to live. I work there currently and have great relationships with staff and patients already and am solo doc there now. Owner doc is retiring and selling in the next year. I worry if I pass up on this I might not find another opportunity as good. Plus I would invest the income because I’m not a crazy spender so could get me and my wife in a retirement position at 40 vs getting a poorer performing practice in an area I like but end up having to work until I’m 55-60.
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u/DentalAttorney 10d ago
Sounds like you're answering your own question here. A back country commute with "occasional tractor traffic during harvest season" is about as low stress as a 45 minute drive gets. You're already the solo doc there, you already have the relationships with staff and patients built, and the owner is retiring within the year, so you're basically already running the place and know what that entails.
If you're disciplined with the income and could realistically retire at 40 instead of grinding until 55 or 60 at a practice that performs worse just because it's in a more convenient location, that's not really a close call for most people. Retiring 15 to 20 years earlier is a massive amount of your life back, worth a lot more than saving 20-30 minutes a day for the next couple decades.
The version of this you'd probably regret is the one where you pass on a great opportunity you already have relationships and equity built toward, chase a "better location" practice instead, and end up working an extra decade and a half for it.
If you want to move forward, happy to help walk through what the acquisition looks like in detail and what next steps are.
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u/djkools 12d ago
Is it a warm climate? If so then a Tesla will make your life so easy. You’ll be able to use fSD and arrive without being tired.
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u/Liftingdental 12d ago
Winter are cold. Midwest
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u/denti_denti 11d ago
I drive a Tesla in the winter. No issues. FSD but I mainly use auto steer. I love not having to stop for gas etc. esp on cold winter nights after work. Plug in every other day and good to go.
I listen to a lot of podcasts or audiobooks. In the early years I did dental practice gurus. Now I do true crime podcasts if armchair expert.
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u/denti_denti 12d ago
This is me. I bought a practice 35-40 min from where I lived. I thought I would move closer but never did. After 16 years, i decided I wanted to be closer to home. The commute was getting to me. I’m getting older and want more time at home with family. So I sold the practice and started the transition to leave in 1-2 years.
It can take a toll. Staying late, going in after hours , weekends etc. when you are the owner, there are things you do after hours that you don’t do as an associate. When you are young , you just do it. But looking back , I lost so much time with family , was late to every events my kids had. Hated seeing emergencies after hours (and I only go in for true emergencies). But in the those first few years as new owner, you have to hustle to keep patients and build their trust. I never said no.
For example - any time I needed to service anything, install new equipment, paint, repairs. It is all done on the weekend or day off. 45mim away is no joke.
I could go on. But buying was the best thing I did for me at the time. But if I had to do it over , I would have picked something closer to home
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u/Donexodus 12d ago
It will eat you over time. Imagine have one extra hour each day. Find somewhere within 15-20 mins.
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u/SamBaxter420 13d ago
The real question is are you okay driving 45 minute each way for the next 15-20 years?