Gas Station Financing
Gas stations are financed differently from other commercial real estate, and the reason is sitting under the forecourt. Underground storage tanks make lenders cautious in a way a strip center never does, because contamination can exceed the value of the collateral and can attach to the lender if they foreclose.
That single fact shapes everything — which lenders will quote, how much equity you inject, and how long a closing takes. Here is how the routes actually work.
Five Ways a Station Gets Financed
SBA 7(a)
Buying the business and the real estate togetherThe workhorse for owner-operator acquisitions. It will lend against goodwill and equipment that a conventional lender treats as unsecured, which is exactly what a going-concern station purchase requires. Longer amortisation than conventional debt, lower equity injection, and a personal guarantee. The environmental review is the timeline risk.
SBA 504
Real-estate-heavy purchases and ground-upPairs a conventional bank loan with a CDC debenture at a fixed rate. Suits deals where the dirt and building carry most of the value, and where the buyer wants long fixed-rate debt on the real estate portion rather than a blended facility.
Conventional CRE debt
NNN-leased sites with a credit tenantOnce a station is leased to a strong tenant, it stops being a business loan and starts being a net lease mortgage. Pricing follows the lease — who guarantees it, remaining term, escalations and rent coverage — much more than it follows the store.
Seller financing
Bridging the last slice, and aligning interestsCommon on fuel deals and frequently underrated. A seller note closes a gap the senior lender will not, and it keeps the seller invested in a clean transition. It also signals confidence: an owner unwilling to carry any paper is telling you something about their own view of the business.
Bridge debt
Speed, or a story a bank will not underwrite yetShort-term, expensive, and occasionally the only thing that works — a site mid-turnaround, a closing that cannot wait for an SBA environmental review, a borrower whose last two years do not show what the next two will. Rates are high because these lenders underwrite the operator as much as the asset: they end up effectively partnered with whoever signs the loan, and they price that risk honestly. Used deliberately, with a defined exit into permanent debt, it is a tool. Used as a rescue, it is expensive.
Debt and Equity, Placed In-House
Most brokers hand you a lender's phone number and wish you luck. We run a capital markets desk — STAX Capital Markets — staffed by licensed commercial mortgage originators who structure the loan, take it to market and work it through to closing alongside the sale.
That matters more on fuel than on any other asset class. The financing and the diligence are the same file — tank records, the supply agreement, three years of gallons — and the deal stalls when the person selling the station and the person financing it are reading different copies of it.
David Lane
David leads the desk. He structures the debt and equity on STAX transactions and takes it to the lenders and capital partners most likely to close it — which on a fuel asset is a much shorter list than the general commercial mortgage market.
david@staxre.comConventional & SBA debt
Bank and credit-union relationships that have actually closed fuel, plus SBA 7(a) and 504 lenders who understand a UST environmental review rather than discovering it in credit committee. That difference shows up in the timeline, not the term sheet.
Private credit & family offices
Balance-sheet lenders who write their own rules. Slower to advertise and faster to close than a bank, and often the answer when a deal is sound but does not fit a credit box — an unusual structure, a portfolio, a borrower with a story.
Bridge & transitional
For closings that cannot wait and assets mid-repositioning. Priced accordingly, and quoted alongside the permanent debt it is meant to be replaced by, so the exit is on the table before the bridge is drawn.
Equity procurement
Not every gap is a debt gap. We source joint-venture and preferred equity from private equity groups and family offices that invest in Florida fuel and net lease — the piece that closes a deal a buyer cannot fund alone, whether that is a portfolio too large for their balance sheet or a fourth site their bank will not stretch to.
Lenders with Florida fuel mandates come looking for deals
Banks and credit funds get mandates — capital they have committed to deploy into a specific asset class in a specific state, on a clock. When that mandate is Florida gas stations, they have to go find the deals, because there is no screen to buy them off. So they call the brokers who transact the asset.
We take those calls. It means we usually know which lenders are actively hunting fuel this quarter rather than politely taking a meeting — and a borrower introduced to a lender with a live mandate gets a materially different reception than one who found the same bank through a search.
What Actually Decides Your Terms
Two buyers with identical financials get different terms on the same station. These are the reasons.
Your operating experience
The single biggest swing factor, and the one first-time buyers underestimate. An operator adding a fourth site and a career banker buying their first station are not the same credit, and lenders price that gap in equity rather than in rate. If you have no fuel background, expect to put in more — or bring an operating partner who does.
The environmental file
Tank age, wall construction, testing history, and any open discharge case. A Phase I is the starting point; anything unusual triggers a Phase II and adds weeks. Owners who pull their own cleanup-program file before applying routinely close sooner than those who wait to be asked — and they avoid discovering a problem after the clock has started.
Fuel supply agreement terms
Remaining term, volume commitments, assignment provisions, and any unamortised image or equipment funding that travels with the site. A lender is underwriting the gallons, and the gallons depend on a contract they will read closely. One expiring inside the loan term is a real problem.
Whether the real estate is included
Buying the business alone is a business loan against goodwill, equipment and a leasehold. Buying the dirt too gives the lender hard collateral and changes both the program and the amortisation available. It is often the difference between a ten-year and a twenty-five-year schedule.
Whether the lender has closed fuel before
Underrated and occasionally fatal. A term sheet from a bank that has never underwritten a UST site is not as firm as it looks — those deals stall in credit committee once the environmental report lands. Ask any prospective lender how many fuel closings they have done in the last two years before you rely on their paper.
Refinancing, and the Option Most Owners Miss
Owners refinance a station for three usual reasons: to pull equity out after improving performance, to replace expensive short-term or seller debt with longer amortisation, or to separate the real estate from the operating business so the property carries its own debt.
The option most owners never price is the fourth one. A sale-leaseback sells the real estate to an investor and leases it back on a long-term net lease. You keep running the business, and you release considerably more capital than a refinance would — because a buyer is paying a cap-rate price for the dirt rather than a lender advancing a percentage of it.
It is not free. You give up the appreciation and take on a rent obligation, and the tax treatment differs sharply from debt. But for an operator who wants capital to buy more sites rather than to sit on, it frequently beats borrowing — and it is the structure behind a good share of the growth in this sector. Worth modelling both before you sign either.
Gas Station Financing FAQ
How do you finance a gas station purchase?
Three routes cover most deals. SBA 7(a) is the workhorse for acquisitions that include the operating business, because it will lend against goodwill and equipment that a conventional lender treats as unsecured. SBA 504 pairs a bank loan with a CDC debenture and suits real-estate-heavy purchases. Conventional commercial mortgage debt applies when the site is leased to a credit tenant and behaves like any other net lease asset. Seller financing frequently bridges the last slice, particularly where the buyer is taking on operations.
How much down payment do you need for a gas station?
SBA programs generally require the buyer to inject equity in the range of 10% to 20%, with the lower end reserved for buyers who already operate sites. Conventional lenders typically want more. What actually moves the number is operating experience: a first-time owner with no fuel background is a materially different credit than an operator adding a fourth site, and lenders price that difference in equity rather than in rate.
Why is a gas station harder to finance than other commercial property?
Environmental liability. Underground storage tanks make lenders cautious in a way that a strip center never does, because contamination can exceed the value of the collateral and can attach to the lender if they foreclose. Most will require a Phase I as a starting point and a Phase II if anything in the file suggests a problem. Beyond that, the collateral is specialised — a fuel site with a canopy and tanks has fewer alternative uses than a generic retail box, so recovery in a default is narrower.
Can you get an SBA loan for a gas station?
Yes, and it is one of the more common uses of the 7(a) program. Fuel and convenience businesses are eligible, subject to the usual size standards and to the environmental review the SBA requires for properties with underground tanks. That review is the part that adds time. Owners who pull their tank records and cleanup file before applying routinely close weeks sooner than those who wait for the lender to ask.
Can I refinance a gas station?
Commonly, and there are three usual reasons: pulling equity out after improving performance, replacing expensive short-term or seller debt with longer amortisation, or separating the real estate from the operating business so the property can carry its own financing. The last of those is worth understanding before you refinance, because a sale-leaseback sometimes releases more capital than a refinance does — and taxes differently.
What do lenders want to see?
Three years of financials and tax returns, monthly fuel volume and inside sales, the fuel supply agreement with its remaining term and assignment provisions, UST registration and testing records, environmental site assessments, a current survey and title, and equipment ages. Effectively the same file a buyer asks for. Assembling it once serves both.
Does STAX provide financing?
We run a capital markets desk — STAX Capital Markets, led by David Lane, SVP — staffed by licensed commercial mortgage originators who structure the loan and place it. We are not the lender; the capital comes from banks, SBA lenders, private credit funds and family offices. But the work of packaging a fuel deal, taking it to the right lenders and driving it to closing happens in-house alongside the sale, rather than being handed off. We source equity as well as debt, which matters when the gap in a deal is not a debt gap.
Can STAX raise equity for a deal, not just debt?
Yes. We procure joint-venture and preferred equity from private equity groups and family offices that invest in Florida fuel and net lease assets. It is the piece buyers most often have no route to, and it is what closes a deal somebody cannot fund from their own balance sheet — a portfolio larger than their equity, or a fourth site their bank will not stretch to. Debt is the more common conversation, but the equity side is frequently what makes a larger deal possible at all.
When does a bridge loan make sense on a gas station?
When the timing or the story will not survive a bank's process — a closing that cannot wait for an SBA environmental review, a site mid-turnaround, or a borrower whose trailing financials understate where the business is going. Bridge lenders price high because they are underwriting the operator as much as the asset; they end up effectively partnered with whoever signs the loan. It works when there is a defined exit into permanent debt agreed before the bridge is drawn. It gets expensive when it is used as a rescue.
Structure it before you shop it
STAX Capital Markets places debt and equity on Florida fuel and net lease deals, alongside the sale rather than after it. Tell us the deal and we'll tell you honestly how it's likely to get funded — including when the answer is that it isn't, yet.