Who can sell a Texas construction company with project-based revenue?

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · September 2026 · 843 words

A Texas construction company with project-based revenue, such as a general contractor or a firm that wins its work by bidding projects, is best sold by an advisor that specializes in construction transactions; MDR & Associates does not represent general contractors or project-bid construction companies. We do represent home-services and trade companies with repeat customers and their own crews: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, landscaping, garage doors, pest control and similar businesses. If your company is one of those, or has a large service side, the second half of this article is about you.

Either way, here is what buyers look for in a contractor sale, so you can judge any advisor and prepare your company.

Why project-based revenue is valued differently

Buyers pay for earnings they believe will continue. A project-based contractor has to win its revenue again every year, often through competitive bids, so next year's income depends on bids that have not been won yet. Recurring revenue, such as service agreements, maintenance contracts and repeat residential customers, is more predictable, and buyers generally pay more for each dollar of it. That is why two contractors with the same profit can be valued very differently.

It also explains why the owner matters so much in a project business. If the owner is the one who prices the work, holds the relationships with builders and developers, and backs the bonding, a buyer is really buying a pipeline that runs through one person.

What buyers check in a contractor sale

• Backlog. Signed work not yet completed, its expected margin, and how it compares with prior years.
• Bonding capacity. A bond is a guarantee from a surety company that the contractor will complete the work. Bonding lines often rest on the owner's personal guarantee and finances, so buyers need to know whether the surety will carry on with them, and on what terms.
• The WIP schedule. The work-in-progress schedule shows, for each open job, the contract value, costs to date, estimated cost to complete and percentage complete. Buyers use it to check that revenue and profit have been recognized correctly and to find jobs that are over-billed or under-billed.
• Project versus recurring mix. The share of revenue that comes back without a new bid.
• Key estimators and project managers. The people who win and run the jobs. If they leave, the backlog may not be replaced.
• Customer concentration. A few general contractors or developers supplying most of the work is a risk buyers price in.
• Claims, warranty and safety record. Open disputes, callbacks and insurance history.

Which contractors MDR & Associates represents

Our work in this area is with home-services and trade companies: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, landscaping, garage doors, pest control and similar businesses that serve repeat residential or commercial customers with their own crews. Companies of this kind on our results page include Alliance Mechanical Services, Apple Garage Doors and Blooms Landcare. Buyers, including private equity groups and larger strategic companies, are drawn to these businesses precisely because much of their revenue comes back year after year.

The questions in a trade-company sale are different from a contractor sale. Instead of backlog and bonding, buyers look at the size and loyalty of the customer base, the number of maintenance agreements, how calls are booked and dispatched, technician retention, vehicle and equipment condition, and how much of the work the owner still does personally.

If you have a mix of project and service work

Many trade contractors do both: new-construction installs bid through builders, and service, repair and maintenance for existing customers. Buyers will separate the two and value them differently. The service side, especially maintenance agreements and a large base of repeat customers, usually carries most of the value. Before a sale, it pays to:

• Report service and project revenue separately in your financials, with the margin for each.
• Put maintenance customers on written agreements wherever you can.
• Track how many customers return each year.
• Reduce reliance on any single builder or general contractor.
• Make sure more than one person can estimate and schedule the work.

Getting ready, whoever sells it

Whatever kind of contractor you own, accurate job costing, a current WIP schedule, financials that reconcile to your tax returns and a management team that can win and run work without you all raise the value and shorten due diligence. Pre-exit consulting over the 12 to 24 months before a sale is often where that work happens, and our long read on preparing your business for sale covers the general steps any owner can take.

Where MDR & Associates fits

If your company is a trade or home-services business with repeat customers and crews, MDR & Associates is a firm to talk to: more than 250 closed transactions since 2008, representation of the owner only, and a success fee owed only if the company sells. If you run a general contractor or project-bid construction firm, we will tell you that plainly on the first call so you can look for a construction specialist without losing time. Either way, contact us for a straight answer.

Where this fitsSelling a home services company in Texas →