Los Angeles Target Scan
The Region This Scan Covers
Southern California (LA, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura). 1,759 change-of-ownership loans approved in these counties from fiscal 2020 through 2025, at a $585,000 regional median.
FY2025 in this region: 395 loans against a six-year pace of about 293 a year. Los Angeles County 214 · Orange County 101 · Riverside County 35 · San Bernardino County 30 · Ventura County 15
Most active lenders across this region: Live Oak Banking Company (178) · Bank of Hope (143) · Hanmi Bank (106) · Open Bank (101) · Commonwealth Business Bank (99).
The Trades That Rank Here
1. Residential Care / Homes for the Elderly (RCFE)
17 regional loans · $1,054,000 median · charge-off sample too thin to publish · $1,063,700 national median
A trade whose seasoned national cohort falls just short of the size at which this site publishes a charge-off rate. That cohort has recorded no charge-offs, and it is named here as an unpublishable reading rather than as a rate, because a single default in a sample that size moves it by more than a point. California's demographics plus a licensed-bed ceiling on supply make demand structurally durable.
The CA license (Community Care Licensing) is the asset and it does not simply transfer: plan the change-of-ownership application early, it gates closing. Staffing ratios and citation history are the diligence core; a facility with open citations is a repricing event.
Sourcing: Web search is the WRONG tool here: these are 6-to-15-bed board-and-care homes with almost no web presence. The lead universe is the CA Community Care Licensing facility search (CCLD), which publishes every licensed RCFE with capacity and citation history. That roll IS the pipeline, and its obscurity is precisely why the vertical stays cheap.
2. Home Health & Non-Medical Home Care
26 regional loans · $864,150 median · 2.5% seasoned charge-off · no national comparison for this trade yet
The same aging-population tailwind as RCFE but with a far lower licensing barrier to entry, which means more targets and easier closings.
Payer mix is everything (private pay beats Medi-Cal). California's caregiver-registry requirements, overtime rules, and 1099 misclassification exposure are the standard repricing triggers.
3. Commercial Cleaning / Janitorial
13 regional loans · $365,500 median · charge-off sample too thin to publish · $400,000 national median
Contract revenue against Southern California's vast commercial base, near-zero capex, and a highly fragmented owner base: the most straightforward roll-up mechanics available. The seasoned cohort is too thin for a published rate.
Customer concentration plus California labor law is the risk stack. Wage-and-hour class exposure and work-authorization compliance are materially more dangerous here than in other states.
Sourcing: Property-manager relationships (BOMA-LA, IREM) surface these faster than search does.
4. Pool Service Routes
No regional count · the loan file has no row for this trade · no national comparison for this trade yet
A genuinely LA-specific asset class: year-round pool density means monthly recurring revenue that behaves like a subscription. Routes trade on a multiple of MRR, which makes pricing legible and roll-up math clean.
Route density is the whole economic story: a scattered route with the same MRR is worth materially less. Verify accounts against bank deposits, not the seller's spreadsheet, and check chemical-handling compliance.
5. Auto Repair (General & Collision)
43 regional loans · $861,000 median · 4.49% seasoned charge-off · $592,850 national median
General repair and collision pooled together clear the cohort size this site publishes at, which most of this scan does not, and they land mid-table rather than safe. Financing is never the obstacle at this volume, and car-dependent Southern California is the structural tailwind.
Technician retention IS the business; a shop that loses its master tech loses its capacity. Order a Phase I environmental assessment (solvents, lifts, underground tanks) before you are contractually committed.
6. Veterinary Practices
8 regional loans · $953,000 median · charge-off sample too thin to publish · $802,300 national median
Recession-resistant spend and a consolidator-hot market that proves the economics. The seasoned cohort is under this site's publishing floor, so the case is the demand rather than the loan evidence.
California's practice act provides for a veterinary premises owned by a corporation other than a veterinary corporation, with a licensed veterinarian registered as its licensee manager. Confirm with counsel how the clinical services are furnished before an LOI. Also: PE consolidators have bid prices up, so you are competing on price with cheaper capital.
Sourcing: CA Veterinary Medical Board license roll is the lead universe; verify ownership structure before any outreach.
The Other Regions Scanned
The same loan evidence picks different winners near different cities, which is the point of scanning regions instead of averaging the country. What repeats across more than one is on the scan index, with the method and the source behind every figure here.
Method & Source
Computed from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level file, change-of-ownership approvals FY2020-25; charge-off rates from the FY2018-19 seasoned cohort. Rankings weigh loans approved in this region's states, median loan size at searcher scale, and survival. Charge-off rates are a lower bound on a seasoned cohort, so read the ordering, not the level. The full method, and what the three scans agree on, are on the scan index.