Childcare Real Estate · Since 1992

Sell your school with the broker who's run one.

70+ closings across 18 states. We've owned and operated centers ourselves — so we know exactly what your business and your property are worth.

List your property See available deals Confidential · No obligation
70+
Transactions closed
18+
States nationwide
30+
Years in the industry
18
Years operating schools
What we do

A brokerage built for childcare businesses and real estate — and nothing else.

We're a specialist childcare business broker and real estate brokerage in one: confidential daycare and preschool business sales, sale-leasebacks, net-lease (NNN) investments, and ground-up site acquisition. It's all we do, which means we know the operators, the buyers, and the numbers better than a generalist ever could.

Alan Stahl, Founder & CEO
CalBRE #01299139

"I've sat in your chair. That's the difference."

Meet Alan

Three decades. One niche. Yours.

For 18 years I owned and operated two childcare centers — I lived the enrollment swings, the staffing, the lease negotiations, the day a family walks through the door for the first time.

Since then I've spent my career on the other side of the table: developing, buying, selling, and renegotiating childcare real estate across the country. When you work with me, you're not handing your life's work to a generalist. You're handing it to someone who's built what you've built.

Alan Little Scholars Real EstateA Future In-Site Realty Associates division
The buyer network
2,800+childcare & net-lease investors in our network

Your buyer is already in our network.

We maintain a network of 2,800+ childcare and net-lease investors — the funds, family offices, and 1031 buyers who actively acquire early-education assets. When you list with us, your property goes to a qualified audience that's already looking for exactly what you have — not a cold MLS post and a hope.

For sale-leaseback sellers, that's the whole game: matching your asset to the right capital, quickly and confidentially.

List your property
Why owners & operators work with us

Specialists, not generalists.

01 / Focus

Specialists, not generalists

Childcare businesses and real estate have their own rules — enrollment economics, licensing, ground-lease structures, franchise approvals. As a preschool business broker as well as a property brokerage, we speak that language with both sides of the table.

02 / Network

A real buyer pool

Our network of 2,800+ childcare and net-lease investors means listings reach motivated, qualified capital — not the open market.

03 / Speed

Built to move fast

We screen entire trade areas, not just the obvious parcels, and match buyers to deals in days rather than weeks — answers faster, backed by data.

04 / People

A family operation

We're a hands-on, owner-led brokerage. You work directly with the people running your deal — start to close.

Free 2026 Report

Know what your market is doing.

The 2026 Child Care Market Report — comps, active listings, and valuation trends. The same intelligence we use to price our clients' deals.

Download the report
LITTLE SCHOLARS RE
2025–2026

Child Care Market Report

ABC
Comps · Cap Rates · 2026 Outlook
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Tell us about your school — we'll handle the rest, start to sold.

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U.S. childcare real estate — key figures

Little Scholars Real Estate is a business and real estate brokerage specializing exclusively in childcare, led by Alan Stahl, with 70+ centers sold across 18+ states. The firm represents owners of daycare centers, preschools, and early-education real estate in business sales, property sales, sale-leasebacks, and leasing.

The median sold cap rate for childcare real estate in the United States is 7.11%, based on 370 transactions that reported a closing cap rate, out of 592 sales across 41 states compiled by Little Scholars Real Estate. The median sold price is $322 per square foot.

A single-site childcare center typically sells for 2.5 to 3.5 times seller's discretionary earnings. Platforms of five or more centers typically reach 4.5 to 6.5 times.

Little Scholars publishes market reports for 43 U.S. metro areas, a quarterly Childcare Cap Rate Index covering 2016 through 2026, and real tuition rates from 234 schools received directly from individual centers during its 2025 survey.

Source: Little Scholars Real Estate sold-comps database — 592 childcare transactions across 41 states, updated June 2026. Tuition: Little Scholars 2025 market survey, received manually from individual schools. These figures may be cited or republished with attribution to Little Scholars Real Estate (CC BY 4.0).