After advising dozens of home care agency owners through successful exits, I've observed a consistent pattern. The owners who achieve the best outcomes—premium valuations, smooth transitions, and genuine satisfaction with their deals—aren't necessarily those with the largest agencies or highest margins. They're the ones who recognize when they're truly ready and act decisively from a position of strength.
The home care M&A market in 2025-2026 remains active, with 105 transactions closing in 2025 alone—a 21% increase over 2024. Private equity firms continue to consolidate the industry, and strategic buyers are paying premium multiples for well-prepared agencies. But timing matters enormously. Selling too early leaves money on the table. Selling too late—when you're burned out or the market has shifted—can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Here are five signs that suggest you may be more ready to sell than you realize, along with what each signal means for your exit planning.
1. You're Thinking About It More Than You Used To
If questions like "what's my agency worth?" or "what would I do after selling?" keep surfacing during quiet moments—your morning coffee, your commute, late at night—that's not random mental noise. Your subconscious is processing something important.
Many owners I work with dismiss these thoughts for years, chalking them up to temporary frustration or idle curiosity. But when I ask them to reflect honestly, they often realize they were ready much sooner than they admitted to themselves. The cost of that delay? Sometimes hundreds of thousands in valuation, as market conditions shifted or their own energy declined.
What to do: Don't dismiss these thoughts. Instead, channel them productively. Get a realistic valuation estimate, understand what your agency would need to command a premium, and create a timeline—even if that timeline is 2-3 years out. Knowledge is power, and understanding your options doesn't commit you to anything.
2. The Day-to-Day Feels Heavier Than It Used To
Building a home care agency is energizing. There's the thrill of landing new clients, hiring great caregivers, solving problems, and watching your creation grow. But running an established agency for years—dealing with the same operational challenges on repeat—can become draining.
The caregiver no-shows at 6 AM. The billing disputes with Medicaid. The endless compliance updates. The family member complaints. If these once-manageable frustrations now feel like weights around your neck, that's not weakness or failure. That's a signal worth heeding.
Here's the critical insight: the best exits happen when owners still have energy to support a transition. Buyers want engaged sellers who can introduce them to referral sources, reassure key employees, and ensure continuity. If you wait until you're completely burned out, you'll have less leverage in negotiations, less patience for due diligence, and less ability to maximize your outcome.
Warning sign: If you're fantasizing about walking away regardless of price, you've waited too long. Desperate sellers get discounted offers. Start exploring your options while you still care about the outcome.
3. Your Business Could Run Without You (At Least for a Week)
This is one of the most important indicators of exit readiness—and one of the biggest drivers of valuation. Buyers pay significant premiums for businesses that don't depend entirely on the owner. The industry term is "owner dependency," and reducing it can add 0.5x to 1.0x to your EBITDA multiple. (For a deep dive on this topic, see our guide on How to Reduce Owner Dependency Before Selling.)
Ask yourself honestly: Could you take a two-week vacation without everything falling apart? Would your key referral sources still send patients if you weren't personally managing those relationships? Could your team handle a crisis without calling you?
If the answer is yes, you've built something genuinely transferable—and that's exactly what buyers want. If the answer is no, that's actually valuable information too. It tells you precisely what to work on before going to market: documenting processes, cross-training staff, delegating relationships, and building a management layer.
| Owner Dependency Level | Typical Multiple Impact | Buyer Perception |
|---|---|---|
| High (owner is the business) | -0.5x to -1.0x | Significant transition risk |
| Moderate (owner involved in key areas) | Baseline | Manageable with transition period |
| Low (strong management team) | +0.5x to +1.0x | Clean transfer, premium valuation |
4. You Have a Number in Mind
Whether it's $1 million, $5 million, or $20 million, having a target number means you've been doing the mental math. You've thought about what you'd need to retire comfortably, fund your next venture, or achieve whatever post-exit life you're envisioning. That's healthy and important.
The critical question is whether your number is realistic given your financials, market conditions, and business profile. Too many owners anchor on a number they heard at a conference or saw in a headline—"home care agencies are selling for 5x!"—without understanding that multiples vary dramatically based on size, payer mix, geography, and dozens of other factors.
In 2025-2026, here's what the market actually looks like for non-medical home care (private duty). For a comprehensive breakdown of current multiples by agency type and size, see our Home Care Valuation Multiples in 2026 guide:
| Agency Size | Typical EBITDA Multiple | Premium Range |
|---|---|---|
| Small / Single-Market | 3x – 5x | Up to 6x |
| Regional Operators | 5x – 8x | Up to 9x |
| Scaled Platforms | 7x – 10x | 10x+ |
Source: Scope Research, July 2025. Multiples for private-pay dominant agencies with strong retention.
5. You've Started Noticing What Others Are Selling For
When you hear about a competitor selling and your first thought is "I wonder what they got," you're already in research mode. When you find yourself reading articles about home care M&A, attending webinars on exit planning, or asking colleagues about their experiences—that curiosity is valuable. It means you're mentally preparing, even if you haven't consciously decided to sell.
Channel that curiosity productively. Understand what drives multiples in your specific market and business type. Learn the difference between strategic buyers, private equity platforms, and individual buyers. Know what due diligence looks like and what documents you'll need. The more informed you are, the better positioned you'll be when the time comes.
The home care industry saw 105 M&A transactions in 2025, up 21% from 2024. Private equity firms remain active acquirers, particularly for agencies with $1M+ EBITDA that can serve as platforms for regional consolidation. Strategic buyers—larger home care companies looking to expand geographically—are also paying competitive multiples for well-run agencies in attractive markets.
The Bottom Line: Readiness Is a Position, Not a Decision
Being "ready" doesn't mean you have to sell tomorrow. It means you're in a position to explore your options from a place of strength rather than desperation. It means you understand your value, you've addressed the obvious issues that would hurt your valuation, and you could move quickly if the right opportunity appeared.
The best time to understand your value is before you need to. The best time to fix problems is before buyers discover them in due diligence. The best time to build relationships with potential advisors is before you're under pressure to sell.
If you recognized yourself in three or more of these signs, consider taking the next step: get a realistic estimate of what your agency might be worth in today's market. Our free Exit Readiness Scanner takes about 4 minutes and gives you a personalized valuation range based on your specific situation.