Does SBA publish a grocery down-payment percent?
No. The 7(a) program page publishes a $5 million maximum and lists change of ownership as an eligible use. Equity is set by the lender and the file.
You need enough documented equity for the lender, plus cash for inventory at cost and a reserve that buys the next loads. There is no single grocery down-payment percent. Anyone who quotes one as a federal rule is inventing SOP folklore this site will not repeat.
Open the how much money you need guide and the cash-to-close estimator. Mark three stacks: equity, inventory, reserve. Then book a confidential intro with proof of funds. Grocery Store Business Broker — HedgeStone Business Advisors, led by Jason Taken — will walk those stacks against a real file, not against a listing headline.
Cash to close is three stacks, not one percent
Buyers ask for a down-payment number because houses taught them a percent. Grocery is a going concern with a stockroom. The check that buys goodwill is one line. The check that buys the room on count night is another. The cash that pays the wholesaler while SNAP and vendor terms reset is a third. Confuse them and you close broke.
SBA 7(a) can finance a change of ownership. The published maximum is $5 million. That is the citeable program fact. It is not an equity schedule. The lender on this file will tell you what injection they will take. Write that number down. Do not replace it with a percent you heard on a forum.
If two lenders quote different equity, that is not a contradiction in federal law. It is two credit shops looking at the same recast and seeing different risk. The store with a short lease, a SNAP-heavy mix, or a first-time operator will often be asked for more cash even when the headline price is identical. Ask both shops to put the injection next to inventory and reserve so you can compare stacks, not slogans.
BizBuySell’s grocery and supermarket sold sample printed a 3.38 average earnings multiple in 2025 and a 0.43 average revenue multiple the same year. Those are sold-sample valuation facts. They do not tell you how much cash you must bring. A $1 million headline on a 2.66 five-year-average multiple world can still demand a six-figure inventory true-up. Price and cash to close are different columns.
Equity the lender will actually take
Equity is money the bank believes is yours and at risk. Gift letters, borrowed down payments, and “my cousin will send it Friday” die in credit. If a seller note fills a gap, ask whether it sits on standby. A standby note often cannot be treated as cash you injected. See what a standby seller note is.
Conventional and alternative lenders have their own equity habits. Read conventional and alternative financing. The honest method is the same: ask the credit shop that will actually hold the paper. Then add inventory and reserve on top.
A first-time buyer does not get a smaller percent because they are new. They often need a cleaner file and a partner with hours. See can a first-time buyer get financed. Experience questions belong on do I need grocery experience. Neither page invents a federal equity chart.
The inventory check that arrives on count night
Grocery inventory is counted, not estimated from last year’s average. The LOI should say how unsellable product is treated, who pays the crew, and how disputes resolve. FIFO versus a messy room is how you start a fight at 2 a.m. The valuation worksheet keeps earnings and stock in different rows on purpose.
If the seller “includes inventory” in the price, you still need a rule for the true-up. A room that comes in heavy is a larger check. A room that comes in light is a smaller check and a thinner first week. Neither outcome is a down-payment percent.
Wholesaler over-advances are another cash surprise. If the seller owes the warehouse on product already on the shelf, that is debt. It is not an add-back and it is not part of your equity. Put the payoff on the closing statement. See how inventory gets paid at closing so the down-payment conversation does not swallow the count night.
FMI’s 2025 weekly sales per supermarket figure of $668,377 describes a supermarket sample, not your 8,000-square-foot box. Use it as channel context. Do not multiply it by a homemade week-count and call that equity.
What buyers confuse with a down payment
Closing costs are not equity. Attorney and CPA bills are not equity. The first payroll after a wage reset is not equity — it is reserve. The Department of Labor consolidated minimum-wage table is the floor you may have to meet even if the seller paid a relative less.
License deposits and application fees sit in reserve. USDA FNS: SNAP authorization does not transfer; the new owner files a new application. Budget that lag. Do not treat the seller’s EBT week as your opening cash.
Earnest money is a deposit against the purchase. It is not the whole equity stack. Holdbacks protect shrink and tax risk. They are not extra down payment you get back as spending money.
Attorney retainers, CPA recast fees, and a landlord’s review deposit are cash you will spend before close. Budget them. They do not reduce the equity the lender wants. A buyer who empties the checking account on diligence has no reserve left for Tuesday’s truck. Keep a diligence budget separate from the three stacks.
CAM true-ups and a below-market related-party rent will rewrite the first year’s cash. Those belong in the recast, then in the reserve, not in a percent on goodwill. See SDE and how to recast a grocery P&L.
Run the estimator, then book the hour
The buyer hub is the method. How a sale works is the sequence after NDA. Working capital is the third stack written as its own answer. Can I buy with an SBA loan is the program answer. Keep them separate.
Book a confidential intro. Bring a proof-of-funds letter, the inventory rule you want in the LOI, and the reserve number you can live with if authorization slips. Jason Taken would rather shrink the store than watch you close with one stack funded and two stacks hoped.
Worked math for How much down payment to buy?
Price language for How much down payment to buy? is (recast SDE x a defendable multiple) + inventory at cost, plus or minus lease and license risk. The table is one consistent example for this URL.
| Input or output | Illustrative figure |
|---|---|
| Weekly sales (illustrative) | $141,000 |
| Annual sales | $7,332,000 |
| Recast SDE | $381,264 (5.2% of sales) |
| Inventory at cost | $458,250 (~16 turns) |
| Occupancy check | $190,632 / year (2.6% of sales) |
| Low going-concern | $1,163,588 at 1.85x SDE + inventory |
| High going-concern | $1,602,042 at 3.00x SDE + inventory |
| Sketch DSCR on a note | 1.50 |
Rent at 2.6% of sales is the occupancy check. If the real lease is higher, the SDE in this table is too generous until you recast to market rent.
Bring proof of funds or a lender pre-screen, your format, and geography. Jason will tell you whether a store like this can clear SBA or seller-carry math.