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For Home Services Platforms · Direct Engagement

The best operators never hit the listings. We call their owners first.

Brokered listings mean auctions — every consolidator in the market bidding on the same shop. Sentinel is the retained buy-side engine behind home-services platforms: we approach founder-led HVAC, plumbing, and trades operators by name, off-market, qualify them against your buy box, and put you alone at the table.

or call (888) 560-5852

Direct
Owner outreach at scale
Closed
Solo practices to platforms · since 2020
20+ calls
In 90 days on high-velocity mandates

Auctions vs. Proprietary Flow

Every listed business comes with an auction attached.

By the time an operator reaches a broker, the seller's fee is priced in and every consolidator in the market sees the same deal. The platforms that grow fastest own the top of their funnel — proprietary conversations with founders who weren't for sale yesterday. That funnel is what we build and run for you.

The brokered route
Seller's brokerage fee (6–10%), priced in$360K–$600K
Auction — every buyer sees the dealMarket top
Your position in the processOne of many
The retained route
Success fee — reduced tierSet on one call
RetainerRepaid by the first close
Your positionOnly buyer at the table

The retainer typically repays itself on the first closed deal — and the exact numbers take one five-minute call.

Quick answer

For home-services platforms — HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest — Sentinel sources owner-direct, off-market targets with verified financials, matched to your buy-box before you ever see them.

Key takeaways

  • Trade businesses rarely list; the good ones sell off-market to whoever reaches the owner first.
  • Every introduction is pre-qualified on revenue band, EBITDA, decision-maker status and timeline.
  • Sector-exclusive mandates are available — overlaps are disclosed before engagement.
  • Submit your buy-box; a principal replies within one business day.

What We Run For Consolidators

A dedicated origination engine on your buy box.

Sentinel sources for retained buy-side partners — we never present ourselves as the buyer, and on your mandate we act for you alone — never for the seller. On a retained platform mandate the cadence we build to runs 2–5 qualified calls a week, 1–3 LOIs a month, and 4–10 closings a year — per platform.

01 · COVERAGE

Your market, mapped to the owner

We build the full owner universe for your buy box — HVAC, plumbing, and the trades around them — and approach founders by name, off-market. No broker listings.

02 · QUALIFIED

Owner-verified before you see it

Every submission is a business whose owner confirmed the criteria and said yes to a meeting — revenue, recurring mix, transition posture verified on the call.

03 · APPROVAL-GATED

You approve every name first

Every target is approved by you by name before any introduction. One target, one partner — your targets are never shopped to another buyer.

04 · FLOOR

Stated up front

20+ qualified calls in the first 90 days and reported weekly. Our floor is higher than most firms' ceiling.

The Record · Alongside Partners

Since 2020

Sourcing, qualifying and closing alongside partners

Transactions closed with leading North American groups — from single-doctor practices to multi-location platform acquisitions — with capital deployed alongside partners under signed mandates. Partner and platform identities are confidential by policy — named references available under protocol during your diligence.

From the Live Board

Home-services mandates sourcing right now.

Straight from the live mandate board — anonymized by policy, criteria never softened. Your mandate can be live, sourced, and qualified within the week.

01

Founder-led operators — national

Established home-services businesses for a platform deploying growth capital.

$5M+ revenue · founder-led · growth capital
See it on the board
02

HVAC & plumbing platform — Southeast or Texas

PE-backed platform seeking add-ons: owner open to a 12–24 month transition.

$1M–$4M EBITDA · 40%+ recurring service-agreement revenue
See it on the board
03

Your mandate here

The engine is sector-agnostic; the depth points wherever your mandate does. On the board within the week — criteria locked, owners approached by name.

Criteria locked · owners approached by name · no broker listings
Claim the slot

Engagement Structures · Published Openly

The whole structure, on one page.

A monthly retainer, plus a reduced success fee on closings.
Month to month · no lock-in

Success-fee-only is available too, at a materially higher fee than Mandate Partners pay. The specific numbers take one five-minute call and arrive in writing within a day — the full ladder is on the engagement structures page.

Straight Answers

What consolidators ask first.

We buy HVAC and plumbing companies. Do you cover the trades?
Yes. A live mandate on our board is a PE-backed HVAC and plumbing platform seeking add-ons at $1M–$4M EBITDA with 40%+ recurring service-agreement revenue, and founder-led home-services operators at $5M+ revenue are sourced nationally. Roofing, pest, and other trades are briefed the same way — criteria locked, owners approached by name, no broker listings.
What does retained origination cost?
Sentinel runs on a monthly retainer plus a reduced success fee on closings, month to month — the retainer typically repays itself on the first closed deal. Success-fee-only is available at a materially higher fee; the specific numbers take one five-minute call and arrive in writing within a day.
How do we know it's working?
A qualified-call floor stated in writing on high-velocity mandates, reported weekly.

Next Step

Tell us the buy box. We'll tell you if we can fill it.

A principal replies within one business day.

The Sentinel deal team
PARTNER DEVELOPMENT DESK · verify ↗
✓ A principal replies✓ Confidential✓ One partner at a time✓ Month to month

Or write to [email protected] · call (888) 560-5852

Day 1Floor in writing
The Sentinel Floor
A qualified-call floor, stated in writing up front

A qualified call: every criterion met, and the owner said yes to the meeting, calibrated to the mandate. The floor for your mandate is agreed before signing and reported weekly.

Tell us your mandate
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