Seamus O’Brien

I specialize in the sale of dental real estate, and my clients typically fall into two categories: Category 1: Sale Leasebacks A sale leaseback is when an owner sells their building to an investor and in return signs a long-term term with them. This is ideal for owners who plan to operate at the location long term but want to unlock the capital tied up in the real estate. By structuring a sale leaseback, the real estate becomes significantly more valuable. In many cases, groups are able to sell their properties for 2–3x their original acquisition cost. This strategy is especially useful for dentists and DSO looking for ways to fuel growth. Category 2: Post-Practice Sale Transactions These clients are dentists who have sold their practice to a DSO but retained ownership of the real estate. They now have a lease in place with a larger operator. What many owners don’t realize is that once a DSO signs a lease, the property’s value often increases significantly. The building is now an income producing asset, which is evaluated differently and attracts a national buyer pool of thousands of investors. Lease term matters as well, the longer the remaining lease, the more valuable the real estate. Because of this, many dentists choose to sell the real estate shortly after partnering with a DSO to maximize value. Where I Come In: My job is to identify dentists who fall into these categories and can benefit from our services. A large part of what I do is educational and focused on helping dentists understand what their real estate is actually worth and walking through whether a potential sale makes sense based on their long term goals. If a sale does make sense, then I’m here to get it sold for them!

@AaronAZucker thank you!

@DentalREguy Congrats!

Just Closed - Smile Partners USA - New Boston, MI Happy to get another DSO deal across the finish line! This property featured a premium absolute NNN lease with 3% annual rental increases. We created a competitive bidding environment and received multiple all-cash offers near the list price. From going to market until closing, the entire process took only about two months. A great example of how the right marketing strategy creates a smooth and efficient transaction. Feel free to reach out with any questions or interest in the dental and healthcare real estate market.

Just Closed - Paradigm Oral Health & Blue Cloud Surgery Center - Louisville, KY Quick backstory on this one, this opportunity originally came from a simple cold call. After our initial conversation, I continued following up and presenting pricing over the next few years. When the timing was finally right for the ownership group to sell, we were able to earn their business. It’s one of those deals that serves as a great reminder of how important consistency can be. We generated multiple offers and ultimately moved forward with a local, all-cash buyer. Finding an all-cash buyer at this price point is rare, and their offer helped create a smooth escrow and closing process. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from dentists is that the buyer for their building will be a local investor. That's usually true if the building is vacant. That said, once a dental office has a long-term lease in place, the buyer pool changes significantly. The buyers for leased dental real estate are often investors from all over the country, many of them based in California and are in the process of a 1031 exchange. These investors are looking to place capital into assets that provide stable income, strong returns, and long-term leases. Dental deals check all of those boxes, and that's why we target our marketing around these buyers.

Just Closed – Specialty Dental Brands – Chesterfield, VA This deal was originally part of a portfolio, and we were ultimately able to close both sites individually with all cash buyers. It’s a great case study showing why we always market deals both individually and as a portfolio. There’s often a misconception that portfolio deals automatically command a premium, but in reality there are usually far more buyers for smaller price point deals than larger portfolio transactions. By separating the assets, we were able to source the right buyer for each property and successfully get both deals across the finish line. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

It’s rare to find a DSO lease structured as ABS NNN. ABS NNN means the tenant fully covers all building expenses including taxes, insurance, maintenance, and even the roof and structure. These are highly sought after deals because of the truly passive structure that most dental office investments do not provide. That’s one of the reasons I’m excited about this new deal I listed leased to Smile Partners USA. The tenant signed an ABS NNN lease and has 3% annual rental increases, providing steady income growth for the buyer. Please see the details below and reach out if you have any interest or questions!

Just Closed - Imagen Dental Partners - Hutchinson, MN Excited to announce that we just sold this DSO office in MN. This deal highlighted the significance of a cold call and understanding the dental real estate market. We were able to communicate the value of a DSO lease to the owner and source a buyer that we've closed with on over a dozen deals. It ended up being a very smooth transaction, and the sale price came in at 99% of our list price. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Just Closed - Paradigm Oral Health - South Portland, ME We recently sold this dental office leased to Paradigm Oral Health. This transaction was a great example of leveraging our national reach to get the highest price possible. We generated multiple offers, but the winning buyer ultimately ended up being a California-based 1031 exchange investor. Whenever I market dental real estate, it's essential to target active West Coast exchange buyers, as they are often among the most aggressive purchasers in the market. They are used to lower returns and and are attracted to the higher cap rate passive nature of NNN-leased healthcare assets. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Just Closed - Specialty Dental Brands We just sold this dental office leased to Specialty Dental Brands. Once we were under contract, we were able to close escrow in under 30 days. The buyer was all-cash and in a 1031 exchange. He was actively looking for deals in the area so this deal was a great fit. Working with an all-cash buyer can be highly beneficial, as it eliminates the need for lender approval and third-party reports. If speed of closing is an important factor for the seller, you have significantly more flexibility to shorten timelines when financing is not involved.

With all the M&A activity in the dental space, a lot of the practice buyers are DSOs. DSOs usually don't want to buy real estate, but instead will sign a lease with the doctor to occupy the space. Once there is a lease in place, those lease terms are what determine the value of the real estate. So what lease terms create the best value for your real estate? Here are the ideal lease terms that you should push for: • Long term lease – ideally a 10 year initial term if possible (the longer the lease, the more valuable the building) • NNN – tenant should cover all taxes, insurance, and maintenance as additional rent (any leakage in expenses lowers the real estate value) • Annual increases – 3% • Corporate guaranty from parent entity – not a shell guaranty. This means a corporate guaranty from the DSO, not a subsidiary company • High enough rental rate to support pricing (the higher the rent, the higher the sales price) If you structure a lease with these terms, then you're in a great position to achieve peak value for your building.

AZ has a real shortage of dental care, and they recently passed a bill to help address it. They created an Oral Preventive Assistant (OPA) role, which allows dental assistants to take on more preventive procedures. There’s been some pushback around the education requirements and who qualifies, but overall it seems like a step in the right direction. I’d expect to see more of this over the next few years, with states expanding the roles of hygienists and assistants to help meet demand.

Idk how the car sales industry still works like this. It’s one of the few industries that still feels totally unregulated. If you’re not an expert, you’re probably losing and don’t even know it. Wild that one of the biggest purchases people make is still this much of a mess.

Just Closed | MB2 Dental | Salt Lake City, UT This deal is a great example of how effective a simple cold call can be. After getting in touch with the owner, I explained what I do and how these properties are priced now that he has a lease in place. The property ended up being worth more than the owner expected, and it made sense for him to sell. Most of the deals I sell are based on cold calls just like this. It's crazy to think that it can work, but it really does. When you’re focused on a niche and can clearly explain how you add value, it goes a long way

Been hearing more conversations about Medicaid cuts and what it actually means for the dental industry. Most private practices and larger groups won’t feel much of a direct hit. Only about 41% of dentists take Medicaid and that number hasn’t really moved in a decade. The groups that will feel it most are nonprofits and community clinics that are built around serving Medicaid patients. They already operate on thin margins, so less federal funding is going to make that a lot tougher. To fill the gap in care, I could see a push for expanded roles for dental hygienists and dental therapists. Several states are already moving in that direction, and with the need for lower cost services, that trend likely continues.

If you’re considering selling your building but waiting to “time" interest rates dropping, history has shown that it's nearly impossible to predict. Everything seemed to be trending in the right direction this year, and then suddenly we’re dealing with a war in Iran driving up oil prices, increasing inflation, and ultimately pushing bond yields higher. No one could have predicted this shift, and that’s the point, these types of events can happen at any time. When the market is stable, like it has been over the past six months, that’s often the best window to act. You may not hit the absolute peak, but trying to time rates perfectly is rarely a winning strategy.

Excited for this new listing in Louisville, KY! I cold called this ownership group over three years ago and stayed in contact with them while they were in the process of partnering with DSOs. This deal features long-term leases with Paradigm Oral Health and Blue Cloud Pediatric Surgery Center. Paradigm is a rapidly growing DSO with 75+ locations nationwide and a subsidiary of BlackRock, and Blue Cloud is the largest operator of pediatric dental ambulatory surgery centers in the United States. These are fresh NNN leases with 9 years of WALT and 2%–3% annual rent increases. The property was constructed in 2014 and is fully built out for the tenants’ operations. The site is located in a densely populated area of Louisville, with over 240,000 residents within a five-mile radius. Please feel free to reach out if you have any interest or questions.

Just closed this DSO-leased dental office in Boise above list price, and the entire escrow process took only 9 days from contract to close. A quick deal story: I had been speaking with this owner for over two years. His tenant had just exercised their five-year option, so I called him and explained it was a great time to bring the property to market with a fresh term on the lease. We received multiple offers at list price, so the decision came down to which buyer had the highest probability of closing. This is a rare situation, but when you have motivated buyers and multiple offers, you have real leverage. I was able to leverage the competing offers and push one of the buyers to go above list price and put their money hard on day one of the contract, which significantly reduced the risk of the deal falling apart. No buyer wants to walk away from a deposit. It can feel like a big ask at first, but doing everything you can to increase the probability that your buyer will close is always worth it especially with 1031 exchange buyers who are often evaluating multiple deals at once.

While the DSO market is expanding quickly, there will always be a place for private practices in dentistry. Dentistry is different from a lot of other areas of healthcare. Patients often see the same dentist multiple times per year for decades. That relationship matters. DSOs bring scale and efficiency, but they usually can’t replicate the same level of personal connection that comes with a doctor who owns the practice and is deeply rooted in the community. In a world where AI and automation are becoming more common, that human connection may actually become even more valuable. Patients will crave that person-to-person connection.

Just got back from our annual company award trip in Maui. Gratitude was a big theme throughout the trip. This business is tough. Deals fall apart. Timelines get tight. There’s always another number to chase. It’s easy to roll straight into the next thing without stopping. Taking a second to actually feel grateful for the wins, the people around you, and just the fact that you get to do this matters more than we realize. Really grateful for an incredible 2025. Excited to get after this year.

Dental offices are valued based on a cap rate once there’s a lease in place. What does that actually mean? A cap rate is just a rate of return and a measure of risk. The safer the deal feels to a buyer, the lower the cap rate they’re willing to accept. They’ll take a lower return in exchange for stability. That’s why properties leased to groups like Heartland and Aspen Dental typically trade at lower cap rates. They’re large, established operators. Buyers see these as very safe assets to own. Here’s how the math works. Value = Net Operating Income ÷ Cap Rate If your dental office produces $100,000 in annual rent and the market cap rate is 7%: $100,000 ÷ 0.07 = $1,428,571 That’s the sale price of your building. The lower the cap rate the more valuable the real estate and vice versa. Here is an example: At a 6% cap? $100,000 ÷ 0.06 = $1,666,667 This is why lease term, annual increases, guaranty structure, and tenant strength matter so much. The real estate value is directly tied to how secure the income looks to a buyer. If you can secure better terms then your property will trade at a lower cap rate and higher price. If you own your dental real estate, understanding this math is important before signing a lease.