Northgate Fuel & Market
4180 N Interchange Blvd, Tampa, FL 33613 · Gas station with convenience store and ancillary retail
The financial picture is reasonable but parts of it still rest on seller representations.
Pricing is defensible but leaves little margin. There is room to negotiate.
The trade area is dense, growing and well suited to this business.
The competitive position is untenable without a structural change to the business.
Lease term, cost or assignment risk needs resolving before an offer.
Ownership, licensing or public-record findings need direct explanation.
Some upside available through better execution.
Two things hold this score down, and both are fixable by someone other than you: thin documentation of the earnings, and an asking price above where the valuation methods land. Location and growth potential score well and are not in doubt. Competition is the one weakness that cannot be negotiated away.
What would move this score most
The largest single swing in the score. Documentation converts assumption into fact in both directions.
Lenders size the loan to the lease term. Extending it can change what you are able to finance.
Determines whether the stated SDE is transferable earnings or the owner’s wage in disguise.
Price is the one variable entirely within your control. Everything else is discovery.
Good, but negotiate
A workable business at the right price — but $65,800 of the advertised earnings has no document behind it, and until that changes the price should sit in the $272K–$375K range rather than at $449,000.
The location is genuinely strong and the business is real: fuel volumes, inside sales and ancillary income corroborate one another within a normal tolerance, and three years of filed tax returns show consistent growth. That is more than most listings at this size can produce.
The problem is that $65,800 of the advertised $240,000 cash flow is not supported by anything in the documents provided — the largest single item being a $36,000 related-party consulting fee that has recurred in each of the last three years. Strip the unsupported items and documented SDE is $174,200. At $449,000 that is 2.58×, which is inside the 1.5×–3.0× band for this category but roughly 18% above where the blended valuation methods land.
What has to be true for this to work: the seller produces two years of bank statements and sales-tax filings, the landlord confirms in writing that the two five-year options survive assignment, and the price comes down toward the mid-$300s. All three are achievable. None should be assumed.
Executive summary
What you are actually buying
A business, not a property. The land, tanks, pumps and canopy belong to the fuel supplier and the landlord; you are acquiring the inside operation — inventory, fixtures, the point-of-sale system, the licences that transfer, the goodwill and the leasehold interest.
That structure is not unusual, and it has a genuine advantage: the landlord carries the tank and environmental obligations. It also means almost everything you are buying depends on two contracts you have not yet read — the lease and the fuel supply agreement.
Advertised as an asset sale. Inventory of approximately $70,000 is excluded from the asking price and purchased separately at closing, and the fuel company requires a refundable deposit of $30,000–$40,000. Confirm in the purchase agreement, entity by entity, who owns each asset and licence you believe you are buying.
| Factor | Assessment | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Location & traffic | Strong | Interchange-adjacent site on a corridor carrying roughly 45,000 vehicles a day, in a trade area of about 37,600 people that grew 6.4% over five years. |
| Competition | High risk | Four fuel-and-convenience competitors within a mile, three operating 24/7 against the subject’s 5am–10pm. Late-night trade is being surrendered. |
| Financial verification | Elevated | $65,800 of advertised add-backs are not traceable to any document supplied. Until they are, that portion of the earnings is a hypothesis. |
| Lease & control | Moderate | Occupancy is a healthy 8.9% of revenue, but four years of remaining term and unconfirmed assignment consent are financing risks. |
| Entity & asset chain | Moderate | Two entities have operated at the address in six years, and a third holds the car wash. The selling entity is identifiable but its ownership of each asset is not yet proven. |
| Price | Elevated | At 2.58× documented SDE the price is inside the category band, but about 18% above where the blended valuation methods land. |
| Growth potential | Good | Extended hours, prepared food and a neglected digital presence are all cheap, controllable levers a new owner holds. |
The listing, line by line
What the advertisement claims, and what each claim actually means once you look behind it.
| Item | Advertised | Due-diligence interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Asking price | $449,000 | Business only. Inventory and the fuel deposit are additional — confirm exactly what conveys. |
| Cash flow / SDEHigh | $240,000 | Documents support approximately $174,200. The $65,800 gap needs an explanation before this figure can be relied on. |
| Gross revenue | $792,000 | The described streams reconcile to within 4% of this figure, which is a good sign. Still must be proven against tax returns and deposits. |
| InventoryMedium | $70,000 | Not included in the asking price. Buy only after a physical count at verified landed cost, excluding expired, damaged or obsolete stock. |
| Real estateMedium | Not included | You are buying a business, not property. Everything depends on the lease and the landlord. |
| Monthly rent | $4,900 | Headline figure only. Confirm taxes, insurance, CAM and every pass-through charge against the actual lease. |
| Lease termsMedium | 4 years remaining + two 5-year options | Verify commencement date, assignment rights, escalators, options, personal guaranty and default clauses against the executed lease. |
| Employees | 5 part-time, 1 full-time | Request the payroll register. Headcount on a listing is often the pre-sale number. |
| Established | 2019 | Confirm against the state corporate registry; the founding date and the current entity’s formation date are often different. |
| Reason for selling | Relocating out of state | Seller-supplied. Test it against the entity history and the financial trend. |
| Financing offered | Seller will consider a note | Seller financing is a confidence signal. Confirm the amount, rate, term and security — and use it. |
What the money actually goes to
| Component | Amount | When | Recoverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business purchase price | $449,000 | At closing | No |
| Inventory at costRecoverable in the sense that it converts back to cash as it sells. | $62,000–$70,000 | At closing, after count | Yes |
| Fuel company depositAdvertised as refundable and interest-bearing — verify the refund conditions in the supply contract. | $30,000–$40,000 | Before supply commences | Yes |
| Working capital reserve (estimated)Two months of operating cash cost. Not part of the purchase price, but you cannot open without it. | $116,633 | Available from day one | Yes |
| Total capital required | $657,633–$675,633 |
The headline number is $449,000. The number that actually has to be available is closer to $658,000–$676,000 once inventory, the fuel deposit and a working-capital reserve are funded.
Against documented SDE of $174,200, that is 3.2× of committed capital. Because inventory, the deposit and the reserve retain value, this is not the same as a purchase multiple — but it is the better measure of liquidity risk, and it is the number to hold in mind when a broker describes the price as "only two and a half times earnings".
Financial analysis
Every figure below is computed from the documents and the listing, not estimated. Where the seller's number and the documented number differ, both are shown.
| Line | Amount | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $792,000 | |
| Cost of goods sold | $578,160 | |
| Gross profit | $213,840 | 27.0% |
| Operating expenses | $121,640 | |
| Net income | $92,200 | |
| EBITDA | $108,400 | 13.7% |
| SDE — as advertised | $240,000 | |
| SDE — supported by documents | $174,200 | 22.0% |
| SDE — after paying a manager | $122,200 |
Add-backs, one by one
An add-back is an expense added back to profit because it will not continue under new ownership. Unsupported add-backs are the single most common source of inflated earnings in a small-business sale.
| Add-back | Amount | Status | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner salary | $48,000 | Already counted | Already included in the earnings bridge above, so counting it again would inflate SDE. Documented on the payroll register. A legitimate add-back — the buyer replaces this role. |
| Owner payroll taxes | $3,800 | Already counted | Already included in the earnings bridge above, so counting it again would inflate SDE. Employer-side burden on the owner’s salary. Legitimate. |
| Depreciation | $11,400 | Already counted | Already included in the earnings bridge above, so counting it again would inflate SDE. Non-cash. Legitimate, but note that the equipment it relates to will eventually need replacing. |
| Interest on equipment note | $4,800 | Already counted | Already included in the earnings bridge above, so counting it again would inflate SDE. Debt does not transfer with an asset sale. Legitimate. |
| Owner health insurance & retirement | $14,000 | Documented | A genuine personal benefit run through the business, and traceable to two documents. Counted in full. |
| Personal vehicle expense | $9,600 | Unsupported | No mileage log or vehicle invoice was supplied, and a delivery vehicle appears operationally necessary. Treat as unsupported until documented. |
| Consulting fee — related party | $36,000 | Unsupported | Paid in each of the last three years to an entity sharing the owner’s surname. A cost that recurs annually is not discretionary. This is the single largest unsupported item. |
| Family member salary | $20,200 | Unsupported | The listing describes six staff including this person. If the work is real, the cost continues under new ownership. |
Trend
| Period | Revenue | Gross profit | SDE | EBITDA | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | $731,000 | $191,500 | $151,800 | $92,000 | 1120S-2023.pdf |
| FY2024 | $764,500 | $203,100 | $163,400 | $99,600 | 1120S-2024.pdf |
| FY2025 | $792,000 | $213,840 | $174,200 | $108,400 | 1120S-2025.pdf |
Key ratios
Can it carry a loan?
DSCR is debt-service coverage: earnings divided by annual loan payments. Most SBA lenders want 1.25× or better.
| Scenario | Down | Loan | Annual debt service | DSCR | Cash flow after debt | Cash-on-cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) — 10% down | $44,900 | $404,100 | $66,798 | 2.61× | $107,402 | 69.3% |
| SBA 7(a) — 20% down | $89,800 | $359,200 | $58,162 | 3× | $116,038 | 58.1% |
| Seller note — 30% down | $134,700 | $314,300 | $76,474 | 2.28× | $97,726 | 39.9% |
| All cash | $449,000 | $0 | $0 | — | $174,200 | 31.2% |
- SBA 7(a) — 10% down: Comfortably bankable. Most SBA lenders want 1.25× or better.
- SBA 7(a) — 20% down: Comfortably bankable. Most SBA lenders want 1.25× or better.
- Seller note — 30% down: Comfortably bankable. Most SBA lenders want 1.25× or better.
- All cash: No debt service. Return is limited by the cash outlay, not coverage.
Does the revenue add up?
| Revenue stream | Amount | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside store sales | $396,000–$420,000 | $33,000–$35,000/month × 12 | likely |
| Fuel commissions | $288,000–$312,000 | ~26,000 gal/month × 12 × blended margin | unverified |
| Lottery commission | $9,600–$11,400 | $800–$950/month commission, not ticket sales | likely |
| ATM & air/vac | $5,400–$7,200 | Operator statements referenced but not supplied | unverified |
| Car wash revenue share | $22,000–$26,000 | Stated at roughly $2,000/month | unverified |
Quality of earnings
- No bank statements were provided, so deposits cannot be tied back to reported sales.
- This is a cash-intensive business and no POS or sales-tax filings were supplied. Treat stated revenue as unproven.
- Documented SDE falls roughly 27% short of the SDE the seller advertises.
- Cash-intensive operations warrant a longer verification window and an on-site observation period.
Documents still needed to underwrite this deal
- Twenty-four months of bank statements, so deposits can be tied to reported sales
- Fuel supplier settlement statements showing gallons, tender mix, commissions and any chargebacks
- Department-level POS reports by month, separating tobacco, beverages, prepared food and non-taxable sales
- State sales-tax filings for the same 24 months
- Invoices or a mileage log supporting the personal vehicle add-back
- The consulting agreement behind the $36,000 related-party fee, and evidence it terminates at closing
- Lottery, ATM and air/vac operator statements
- Written landlord consent to assignment and confirmation of the two renewal options
- Current tobacco, beer and food licences with transfer requirements
What it is actually worth
Five independent methods, weighted. The debt-capacity ceiling is what a lender will finance — often the most useful number in a negotiation.
| Method | Range | Weight | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDE multiple | $252,012–$504,024 | 45% | $174,200 documented SDE × 1.50–3.00× for Gas station / convenience store, adjusted -4% (Core main-street range. Band applies as published. Multiple adjusted down 4% for heavy owner dependency.) |
| EBITDA multiple | $313,641–$575,008 | 8% | $108,400 EBITDA × 3–5.5× for Gas station / convenience store. Relevant when the business supports hired management. |
| Revenue multiple (cross-check) | $118,800–$277,200 | 10% | $792,000 revenue × 0.15–0.35× for Gas station / convenience store. Used only to flag an outlier, since it ignores profitability. |
| Asset value (floor) | $88,800–$148,000 | 10% | $148,000 of equipment and inventory at stated value. This is the walk-away floor if goodwill proves worthless; used-equipment realisation is typically 60–80% of book. |
| Debt-capacity ceiling | $591,261–$656,957 | 15% | At 10.75% over 10 years with 15% down, and after a $60,000 owner salary, a lender underwriting to 1.25× coverage supports roughly $656,957. |
Blended fair value lands near $381,634 using the Gas station / convenience store comparable band, weighted across the methods above. The $449,000 asking price sits roughly 18% above it — about $67,366 of premium that the seller has to justify with evidence, not narrative. Because only part of the earnings picture is documented, the opening offer is held under fair value; every dollar of that discount is recoverable by the seller by producing records.
If the earnings land somewhere else
| Scenario | SDE | Implied value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller’s stated SDE proves out in full | $240,000 | $520,805 | Best case — every add-back is documented and recurring. |
| Documented SDE only | $174,200 | $378,018 | Our base case, using add-backs traceable to a source document. |
| SDE 15% below documented | $148,070 | $321,315 | A routine diligence outcome once one-time items are stripped out. |
| SDE net of hired management | $130,650 | $283,513 | What the deal is worth to a buyer who will not work in the business. |
Comparable multiples
| Category | Metric | Multiple range | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas station / convenience store | SDE | 1.5×–3× | Business-only deals (no real estate) sit at the low end. Fuel-commission models trade below fuel-margin ownership because the operator carries volume risk without margin control. |
| Gas station / convenience store — revenue cross-check | Revenue | 0.15×–0.35× | DealLens comparable-multiple reference table |
| Gas station / convenience store — EBITDA | EBITDA | 3×–5.5× | DealLens comparable-multiple reference table |
These are market reference ranges compiled from marketplace medians, broker surveys and lending norms — not records of specific transactions. They are used to sanity-check a price, never to prove a value.
Red flags (8)
Ranked by deal impact. Each finding carries the question that resolves it and the protection that limits it.
27% of advertised earnings has no document behind it
The listing advertises $240,000 of SDE. Working through the add-backs one at a time, $82,000 is traceable to a payroll register or a tax return; $65,800 is not. The largest single item is a $36,000 annual consulting fee paid to a related party, which has recurred in each of the last three years. A cost that appears every year is an operating expense, not a discretionary one.
“Please send the consulting agreement behind the $36,000 annual fee, confirmation that it terminates at closing, and the invoices or mileage log supporting the $9,600 vehicle add-back. Also confirm what work the family member on payroll performs and whether that role continues after the sale.”
Price on documented SDE only, and offer the seller a mechanism to recover the difference: an earn-out that pays the balance if the trailing-twelve-month SDE proves out post-closing. A seller confident in the figure will take it.
The earnings depend on the owner working 55 hours a week
Payroll runs 8.1% of revenue against 12–17% typical for a staffed convenience operation. The difference is the owner’s unpaid hours. Replacing that role at market cost — roughly $52,000 including payroll burden — takes documented SDE from $174,200 to $122,200, and takes the asking price from 2.58× to 3.67× earnings.
“How many hours a week do you work, which specific jobs do you do, and what would it cost to hire someone to do them? Please send the full payroll register so we can see the current staffing model.”
Either buy it as a job you are paid well to do, or price the manager into the earnings before you value the business. Do not do both.
Advertised cash flow was revised upward while the listing was live
An archived version of this listing from 14 March 2026 showed cash flow of $198,000. The current version shows $240,000 — a 21% increase on a business that has been publicly for sale throughout. Nothing in the materials supplied explains an operating change that would produce it. This is not proof of anything improper, but it is exactly the kind of revision a buyer is entitled to have explained in writing.
“The listing showed $198,000 of cash flow in March and shows $240,000 now. What changed, and can you send the dated revision history along with the month-by-month figures that bridge the two numbers?”
Make the purchase agreement warrant the financial figures as presented, with a survival period and a holdback against breach. A seller who will not warrant their own numbers has told you something.
Landlord consent to assignment has not been obtained
The lease requires written landlord consent to assign, and no consent has been produced. With four years of base term remaining, a lender will size the loan to the lease rather than to a ten-year amortisation unless the two five-year options are confirmed in writing and are exercisable by an assignee. A landlord entitled to withhold consent is a landlord entitled to reprice your deal after you are committed.
“Will the landlord provide written consent to assignment and written confirmation that both five-year options survive the assignment and are exercisable by us? We would like that before we go to a lender.”
Make landlord consent and written confirmation of the options an express condition precedent in the LOI. It costs the seller nothing if the relationship is as described.
Asking price sits 18% above blended fair value
Five valuation methods, weighted, put fair value near $381,634 with a range of $281,757 to $470,312. The $449,000 asking price is roughly $67,000 above the midpoint. That is not outrageous — it is inside the range — but it is a premium the seller has to justify with evidence rather than with the location.
“What supports $449,000 specifically? Which comparable sales are you pricing against, and can you share them?”
Open at $320,000–$340,000 against documented earnings and let the documentation move the number. The gap between documented and advertised SDE is the arithmetic that justifies the position.
Three of four nearby competitors run 24/7; this store closes at 10pm
Four fuel-and-convenience operators sit within a mile of the site, three of them open around the clock and two with substantially stronger prepared-food and loyalty programmes. Closing at 10pm surrenders the overnight trade that interchange sites are usually best placed to capture.
“Have you tested extended hours? If so, what were the hourly sales, and why did you revert? Are there lease or fuel-supply restrictions on operating hours?”
Get hourly POS data before closing and model the overnight shift properly: incremental sales against payroll, security and utilities. Treat it as upside you have verified, not upside you have assumed.
The capital actually required is 50% above the asking price
Inventory of up to $70,000, a fuel-company deposit of up to $40,000 and a two-month operating reserve of about $116,633 sit on top of the $449,000 price. Total capital committed is $658,000–$676,000. Buyers who budget to the headline price discover this in the week before closing, when they have the least negotiating room.
“Is the fuel deposit refundable in full, on what timetable, and can we see the clause? Will you carry the inventory on a short note?”
Fund the reserve before you sign, not after. A seller note on the inventory is the cheapest way to reduce the day-one cash requirement.
Revenue can fall 30% before the business stops covering its loan
Operating break-even is about $337,889. Including a typical acquisition loan it rises to $553,305 against actual revenue of $792,000 — a 30% cushion. That is workable, but for a business with fuel-price exposure and a competitor able to undercut on a price sign, it is narrower than the headline margin suggests.
“What were the lowest three months of the last two years, and what caused them?”
Hold a larger working-capital reserve than the model suggests, and structure the seller note with interest-only for the first six months.
Genuine strengths
The revenue streams reconcile
The individually described revenue streams total $721,000–$776,600 against a stated $792,000 — within a normal tolerance. Many listings at this size do not survive that test at all.
Three years of tax returns were supplied without being chased
Most sellers at this size supply a spreadsheet. Three consecutive years of filed returns showing a consistent 4% annual revenue trend is a meaningful signal about how this business has been run.
Debt coverage is comfortable at every financing structure
Even on documented rather than advertised earnings, DSCR runs 2.28× to 3.00× across the financing scenarios modelled — well above the 1.25× most SBA lenders require. This deal is financeable, which is not true of every listing at this multiple.
The landlord carries the tank and environmental obligations
The lease places responsibility for tanks, pumps, canopy, roof and environmental compliance on the landlord and fuel supplier. On a fuel site that is a genuine and unusual advantage — provided the indemnity survives assignment, which must be confirmed.
The seller will consider a note
Seller financing keeps the seller economically invested in the business surviving the transition, and it is the cleanest way to bridge a valuation gap. It is also the fastest way to test whether they believe their own figures.
What this listing used to say
Archived versions of the same advertisement, recovered and compared field by field.
7 versions of this listing were compared. The earliest archived capture is about 291 days old, so the business has been publicly for sale for at least that long — a long time on market, which is itself negotiating leverage. The asking price was reduced 3 times, a cumulative move of -18.2%. 1 material change was detected in a field that should not move on a stable business — see the change table below. Specific inconsistencies are listed beneath the change table and belong in your first call with the broker.
Changes detected
| Field | From | To | Between | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asking price | $549,000 | $519,000 | Dec 18, 2025 → Feb 9, 2026 | Medium |
| Gross revenue | $764,000 | $781,000 | Feb 9, 2026 → Mar 14, 2026 | Medium |
| Listing title | Profitable Gas Station & Market — North Tampa | Gas Station, Market & Car Wash — North Tampa | Feb 9, 2026 → Mar 14, 2026 | Low |
| Cash flow / SDE | $198,000 | $240,000 | Mar 14, 2026 → May 22, 2026 | Critical |
| Asking price | $519,000 | $489,000 | Mar 14, 2026 → May 22, 2026 | Medium |
| Asking price | $489,000 | $449,000 | May 22, 2026 → Jul 8, 2026 | Medium |
What the changes mean
The price came down 5%. Price cuts signal a motivated seller and a listing that has not cleared the market — useful leverage, and a reason to ask how long it has been for sale and how many offers have fallen through.
Advertised revenue increased 2%. Revenue restatements need a documented explanation — a change in definition, an added income stream, or a correction. Reconcile both figures to tax returns.
The listing was retitled, which often accompanies a re-list or a change of broker. Ask how long the business has genuinely been on the market.
Advertised SDE increased 21% between these captures. Earnings that rise on a listing that is already on the market are a red flag unless the seller can show the operating change that produced them. Ask for the dated revision history and the month-by-month figures that bridge the two numbers.
The price came down 6% in the same revision that raised the advertised earnings. Those two movements point in opposite directions and deserve an explanation.
The price came down 8%. Three reductions in eight months is a pattern, not a coincidence — the market has already declined this price twice.
- Advertised SDE changed once while the listing has been live, rising 21%. Ask for a dated revision history and the reason for the restatement.
- The asking price fell 18.2% across three reductions while the advertised earnings rose 21%. Those two movements point in opposite directions and deserve an explanation.
Version timeline
| Captured | Source | Asking price | SDE | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2, 2025 | wayback | $549,000 | $198,000 | $764,000 |
| December 18, 2025 | wayback | $549,000 | $198,000 | $764,000 |
| February 9, 2026 | wayback | $519,000 | $198,000 | $764,000 |
| March 14, 2026 | wayback | $519,000 | $198,000 | $781,000 |
| May 22, 2026 | wayback | $489,000 | $240,000 | $792,000 |
| July 8, 2026 | wayback | $449,000 | $240,000 | $792,000 |
| August 20, 2026 | live | $449,000 | $240,000 | $792,000 |
Who actually owns this business?
Corporate records show association with an address, not ownership of the operating business. The selling entity must be proven before any deposit is released.
| Period | Entity / event | What it means for a buyer | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2021 | NORTHGATE RETAIL HOLDINGS LLCFlorida LLC formed March 2019; principal address at the site; administratively dissolved September 2021. | The original operating entity. Its dissolution means any licence or contract held in its name did not simply carry forward. | verified |
| 2021–present | NORTHGATE FUEL & MARKET LLCActive Florida LLC formed August 2021; same principal address; single listed manager. | The plausible current operating and selling entity, giving roughly five years of continuous operation under this name. | likely |
| 2023–present | NORTHGATE WASH SERVICES LLCSeparate active LLC registered at the same address in 2023. | Likely holds the car-wash operation. If the car-wash revenue is part of what you are buying, this entity must be part of the transaction. | hypothesis |
Licences
| Type | Holder | Status | Transfers with the sale? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobacco / nicotine retail permit | NORTHGATE FUEL & MARKET LLC | Active | Not transferable — the buyer must apply in its own name before closing |
| Beer & wine (off-premise) | NORTHGATE FUEL & MARKET LLC | Active | Transferable subject to state approval of the new licensee |
| Food service establishment | NORTHGATE FUEL & MARKET LLC | Active | New application required |
| Lottery retailer | NORTHGATE FUEL & MARKET LLC | Active | New retailer application required |
Property records
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Owner of record | Interchange Property Partners LP |
| Parcel ID | 0000000.0000 |
| Last sale | April 2017 · $1,340,000 |
| Building area | 2,940 sq ft on 0.71 acres |
Closing requirements
- The purchase agreement must identify, by legal entity, who owns each of: inventory, POS, coolers and fixtures, trade names, phone numbers, social accounts, tobacco and beer licences, food licence, lottery account, ATM and air/vac contracts, and the leasehold.
- If the car wash is part of the deal, NORTHGATE WASH SERVICES LLC must be a party to the transaction or its assets must be expressly assigned.
- Obtain a UCC and lien search against both active entities before releasing any deposit.
Location & trade area
Traffic
| Measure | Value | Year | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interchange Blvd, west of the ramp | ≈45,000 AADT | 2024 | A high-volume commercial corridor. Pass-through traffic is the primary demand driver, and visibility from the ramp is worth confirming on site at peak hours. |
| Interchange Blvd, east segment | ≈57,500 AADT | 2024 | Higher still on the eastern segment, which is where the two strongest competitors sit. Volume alone is not the advantage — capture rate is. |
| 2035 projection | ≈50,200 west / 64,150 east | 2035 | Traffic is projected to grow, which supports long-term demand but also raises congestion and access risk. Check whether any planned road works affect the turning movements into this site. |
Demographics
| Metric | Value | US benchmark | What it means for this business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population (ZCTA) | 37,591 | — | A moderate residential base. Local demand alone is unlikely to fill the day — traffic and visibility matter. |
| Households | 14,208 | — | Household count is the denominator for any per-household spend estimate you build. |
| Median household income | $44,032 | $78,538 (US) | Well below the national median. This is a price-sensitive market; discretionary spend is limited and promotions drive volume. |
| Median age | 31.0 | 39.1 (US) | A young population. Skews toward convenience, quick-service food, mobile-first ordering and evening trade. |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 28.9% | 35.0% (US) | Educational attainment near the national norm. |
| Unemployment rate | 5.8% | 5.3% (US) | A normal labour market for hiring hourly staff. |
| Owner-occupied housing | 41.2% | 65.0% (US) | A high share of renters means faster population turnover; expect to keep re-earning local awareness. |
| Population change (2018–2023 ACS) | +6.4% | — | The trade area is growing meaningfully, which supports revenue growth without taking share from competitors. |
Crime
| Metric | Value | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Property crime rate, surrounding beat | Above the city median | Relevant to overnight operating decisions, insurance cost and shrink. Budget for camera coverage and a drop safe if you extend hours. |
Development nearby
| Project | Status | Impact on this business |
|---|---|---|
| 284-unit apartment development, 0.6 mi north | Under construction, delivery expected 2027 | Adds roughly 500 residents inside the immediate trade area. Positive for inside sales and evening trade. |
| Interchange ramp reconfiguration | In design | Access and turning movements could change. Confirm the design with the DOT before closing — a median closure would be material. |
The proposition that fits this trade area is convenience, speed and value for a young, dense, price-sensitive population, plus interchange traffic. The site should not try to out-scale the national brands nearby; it needs differentiated high-margin inside categories, reliable prepared food, and faster service — while controlling shrink.
Competition
This is a dense competitive micro-market. Four fuel-and-convenience operators sit within a mile, three open around the clock, and the two closest are better rated and far more visible online. The location is good because traffic is high — but the same traffic has attracted strong competitors. Underwrite this as a merchandising and operations business, not a fuel-volume play.
| Competitor | Distance | Rating | Reviews | Threat | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Brand Travel Center | 0.32 mi | 4.1 | 612 | critical | Directly adjacent; operates 24/7 while the subject does not, capturing late-night trade; 612 reviews indicates far higher visibility. |
| Regional Fuel & Food Mart | 0.48 mi | 3.9 | 288 | high | Directly adjacent; operates 24/7 while the subject does not; strong prepared-food programme. |
| Corner Market & Fuel | 0.94 mi | 3.4 | 96 | elevated | Within the immediate trade area; rated below the subject at 3.4. |
| Highway Stop Convenience | 0.97 mi | 4.3 | 401 | high | Within the immediate trade area; operates 24/7; rated 4.3 against the subject’s 3.6. |
| Northside Grocery Express | 1.8 mi | 4.0 | 158 | moderate | Comparable operator in the same category. |
| Eastgate Fuel Plaza | 2.7 mi | 3.7 | 219 | moderate | Operates 24/7 while the subject does not, capturing late-night trade. |
What this means for you
- Fuel price and brand alone will not produce a durable advantage here. The economics depend on inside margin and ancillary income, both of which are within your control.
- Closing at 10pm against three 24-hour competitors surrenders overnight trade. Quantify it with hourly POS data before you commit the payroll, not after.
- The subject sits in roughly the 20th percentile on rating among nearby competitors. That is fixable and cheap — it is mostly a matter of responding to reviews, fixing the bathroom, and consolidating duplicate map profiles.
- Measure conversion, not just traffic: gallons → store entries → inside basket. Ask for hourly fuel volume and inside sales by daypart to find where the traffic is not being monetised.
Lease & occupancy
| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Base rent | $4,900/month | Confirmed against the executed lease. |
| Taxes & insurance | Tenant pays pro-rata | Currently running approximately $1,000/month. Confirm the current-year assessment. |
| CAM | Not separately charged | Confirm no CAM reconciliation is pending. |
| Remaining base termHigh | 48 months | Below the ten-year amortisation a lender would prefer. |
| OptionsMedium | Two × 5 years | Documented in the lease, but written confirmation they survive assignment has not been obtained. |
| Escalator | 3% annually | Applies to base rent at each anniversary. |
| AssignmentHigh | Requires written landlord consent | Consent not yet obtained. Make it a condition precedent. |
| Personal guarantyMedium | Required — 24 months | Negotiate a burn-down or a cap. |
| Landlord obligations | Tanks, pumps, canopy, roof, parking, environmental | Favourable. Confirm the indemnity survives assignment. |
What the rent escalator costs you
| Year | Annual rent | Impact on SDE |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $70,800 | $0 |
| Year 2 | $72,924 | -$2,124 |
| Year 3 | $75,112 | -$4,312 |
| Year 4 | $77,365 | -$6,565 |
| Year 5 | $79,686 | -$8,886 |
- Written landlord consent to assignment has not been obtained.
- Confirmation that the two five-year options survive assignment and are exercisable by an assignee has not been produced.
- A 24-month personal guaranty is required; negotiate a burn-down tied to payment history.
- The 3% annual escalator costs roughly $8,900 of annual SDE by year five — about 5% of documented earnings.
Assignment requires written landlord consent that has not been obtained. Until it is, you do not know the price of the deal — a landlord entitled to consent is a landlord entitled to ask for something in exchange. Secure consent and confirmation of the options before you spend money on legal or environmental review.
Licences, compliance & environmental
| Area | Finding | What you must do | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobacco & nicotine | Retail permit is active in the seller’s entity name and is not transferable in this state. | Apply in your own entity name as soon as the LOI is signed. Confirm the age-verification process and check for any outstanding compliance actions. | Medium |
| Alcohol (beer & wine, off-premise) | Licence is active. Transfer is possible subject to state approval of the new licensee. | Confirm the licence number and status directly with the state, verify no violations attach, and make transfer approval a closing condition. | Medium |
| Food service | Establishment licence is active; the most recent inspection closed with no outstanding items. | Obtain the official inspection reports for the last three years rather than relying on a summary site. | Low |
| Lottery | Retailer status is active. A new retailer application and bonding are required for the buyer. | Start the application early; a gap in lottery service costs both commission and footfall. | Low |
| Weights & measures | No open items identified in the records reviewed. | Confirm the most recent pump calibration certificates are current. | Strength |
Inspection history
| Date | Authority | Result | Violations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-18 | State food safety division | Met inspection standards | 2 |
| 2025-09-02 | State food safety division | Met inspection standards | 1 |
Environmental
Medium- The site is a fuel-dispensing facility, so underground storage tanks are present and registered.
- The lease places tank, pump and environmental responsibility on the landlord and fuel supplier — favourable, but it is a contractual allocation, not a guarantee that the site is clean.
- No discharge or cleanup filings were identified in the records reviewed, which is a positive but not conclusive finding.
- State environmental agency storage-tank registration and the complete facility file for the parcel
- Discharge reports and any closure or no-further-action documentation
- Current tank and line tightness testing, leak-detection records and spill/overfill protection testing
- The lease and fuel supply provisions allocating pre-existing and post-closing contamination responsibility
- A landlord and fuel-supplier environmental indemnity that expressly survives assignment
Online reputation
| Profile | Platform | Rating | Reviews | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northgate Fuel & Market | 3.6 | 74 | The primary profile. A 3.6 with 74 reviews is recoverable — most of the negative reviews cluster on two fixable issues. | |
| Northgate Mart | 2.9 | 11 | A duplicate listing under the trading name. It splits search authority and drags the visible average down. | |
| Northgate Car Wash | 3.2 | 23 | Separate profile for the wash. If the wash is owned by a different entity, the profile may not transfer. | |
| Northgate Fuel & Market | Yelp | 3.0 | 8 | Thin review corpus, unclaimed. Free to claim and worth doing in week one. |
What reviewers keep saying
| Theme | Sentiment | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Bathroom cleanliness | negative | Most-cited complaint, 14 mentions |
| Friendly counter staff | positive | Second most common, 11 mentions |
| Pump card readers out of service | negative | 9 mentions across 2025–2026 |
| Good fuel pricing | positive | 7 mentions |
| Limited hot food selection | mixed | 6 mentions |
What a new owner could fix cheaply
- Consolidate or claim the duplicate map profiles and standardise name, phone and hours across all of them.
- Fix the two recurring complaints — bathroom condition and card readers. Both are cheap and both appear in almost every negative review.
- Respond to every review. Operators who respond consistently gain roughly half a star over a year without changing anything else.
- Publish hours and hot-food offerings on the map profile. The listing currently shows neither.
- Build an SMS list at the counter for fuel-discount promotions; this trade area is price-sensitive and responds to it.
Risks
- The rating sits around the 20th percentile locally, and the two nearest competitors are both better rated with far more reviews.
- If the digital accounts are held personally by the seller rather than by the entity, they may not convey.
Why might the owner be selling?
These are buyer-side hypotheses, not findings about the seller. Use them to design questions, never to draw conclusions.
| Hypothesis | What points to it | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| The stated reason is the actual reason | It is the most common genuine reason for a sale at this size, and nothing found contradicts it. | unverified |
| Owner fatigue after sustained long hours | Payroll well below category norms implies the owner is covering a large share of the labour personally, at 55 hours a week for six years. | likely |
| Competitive pressure from the two 24-hour operators within half a mile | Objectively present in the data. Whether it motivated the sale is unknown and should not be assumed. | hypothesis |
| Anticipated capital expenditure | The car-wash equipment and pump card readers both appear in reviews as failing. A seller facing replacement capex may prefer to exit before it lands. | hypothesis |
Questions that force a useful answer
- 1.What exact legal entity owns the business being sold, and on what date did that entity acquire the store operations?
- 2.Why sell now rather than exercise the renewal option, especially if the advertised cash flow is stable?
- 3.What capital expenditure do you expect over the next 24 months — pumps, coolers, car-wash equipment, POS, roof?
- 4.Have there been any defaults, notices to cure, fuel-supplier violations, licence warnings, landlord disputes, lawsuits, liens, environmental notices or delinquent taxes in the last three years?
- 5.How many offers have you had, and why did they not proceed?
- 6.What is NORTHGATE WASH SERVICES LLC, and is it part of this transaction?
Investment thesis
Why this could work
- A high-traffic interchange location in a trade area that grew 6.4% over five years, with 284 new apartments under construction within a mile.
- Three consecutive years of filed tax returns showing consistent 4% annual revenue growth — a level of documentation most sellers at this size cannot produce.
- The landlord and fuel supplier carry the tank, pump, canopy and environmental obligations, which removes the largest structural risk on a fuel site.
- Occupancy cost is a healthy 8.9% of revenue, comfortably inside the band for this category.
- Debt coverage runs 2.28×–3.00× on documented earnings, so the deal is financeable without heroic assumptions.
- Several cheap, controllable improvement levers: extended hours, prepared food, review management and profile consolidation. None requires significant capital.
- The seller will consider a note, which is the cleanest way to bridge a valuation gap and keeps them invested in a clean transition.
Why not at the asking price
- $65,800 of the advertised earnings is unsupported by any document provided, and the largest item recurs annually.
- The $449,000 asking price is roughly 18% above the blended fair-value midpoint of $381,634.
- All-in capital is $658,000–$676,000 once inventory, the fuel deposit and working capital are funded, not the $449,000 headline.
- The earnings depend on 55 hours a week of owner labour; replacing it costs roughly $52,000 and takes SDE to $122,200.
- Landlord consent to assignment has not been obtained, and the options have not been confirmed in writing.
- The listing has been on the market at least 291 days across three price reductions while the advertised earnings rose — a combination that needs explaining.
- Three of the four competitors within a mile operate 24/7 and two are better rated with far more review volume.
Three ways this goes
The unsupported add-backs do not survive scrutiny and true SDE is closer to $150,000. The landlord uses the consent requirement to extract a rent increase at assignment. The adjacent 24-hour competitor cuts fuel price and takes 8% of volume. You end up owning a job that pays roughly $80,000 after debt service, in a business you paid $449,000 for.
Documented SDE of $174,200 holds. You buy at $360,000 with 20% down and a small seller note, run it yourself, and clear roughly $120,000 after debt service in year one while building equity. Extended hours and better merchandising add $15,000–$25,000 of SDE by year two.
The tax returns substantiate the full $240,000, the landlord confirms the options in writing, and you buy at $410,000. Extended hours plus a prepared-food programme lift SDE toward $270,000 within 24 months. At a 2.5× exit multiple that is a business worth $675,000 against an all-in basis near $620,000 — plus three years of owner earnings along the way.
Negotiation framing
| Item | Recommended position | Why you can hold it |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | Open at $320,000 against documented SDE; be prepared to reach $375,000 if the documents substantiate more. | The gap between documented and advertised SDE is arithmetic, not opinion. $65,800 × the category multiple is roughly $143,000 of value. |
| Unsupported add-backs | Offer an earn-out that pays the difference if trailing-twelve-month SDE proves out post-closing. | A seller confident in their figures will take it. Refusal is itself informative. |
| Inventory | Pay verified landed cost after a closing-day physical count, excluding expired, damaged, obsolete and slow-moving stock. | Standard practice. There is no reasonable objection to a count. |
| Lease | Written landlord consent and confirmation of both options as conditions precedent. | Costs the seller nothing if the relationship is as described. |
| Personal guaranty | Negotiate a burn-down to 12 months on clean payment history, or a cap. | Landlords routinely concede this when the alternative is a vacant fuel site. |
| Days on market | Reference it directly but without triumphalism. | 291 days and three price reductions establishes that the market has already declined this price twice. |
Offer strategy
| Component | Detail | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Cash at closing | $260,000 (approximately 81%) | Enough to be credible and to clear the seller’s likely payoff obligations. |
| Seller note | $60,000 over 4 years at 8%, subordinated to bank debt | Bridges the valuation gap and keeps the seller economically invested in a clean transition. |
| Earn-out | Up to $55,000 payable if trailing-twelve-month SDE reaches $240,000 within 18 months | Lets the seller earn their asking price by being right, rather than by asserting it. |
| Inventory | At verified landed cost, counted on the closing date, excluding non-saleable stock | Separate from the purchase price so neither party is guessing. |
| Training & transition | 30 days full-time, then 60 days on-call, included in the price | Supplier and landlord relationships transfer through the person, not the paperwork. |
| Non-compete | 5 miles, 4 years | Prevents the seller reopening nearby with the customer relationships you just bought. |
Contingencies your LOI needs
- Satisfactory review of 24 months of bank statements, POS reports and sales-tax filings
- Written landlord consent to assignment and written confirmation that both five-year options survive
- Fuel supply agreement assignment confirmed in writing, including commission terms and deposit refund conditions
- Financing contingency at terms no worse than 10.75% over 10 years
- Clear UCC, lien, judgment and tax searches against both active entities
- Environmental file reviewed and found satisfactory by counsel
- Licence transfer or reissue confirmed for tobacco, alcohol, food and lottery
- No material adverse change between signing and closing
Your leverage
- 291 days on market across three price reductions — the market has already declined this price twice.
- $65,800 of add-backs the seller has not documented, each one an item you can price out loud.
- The unexplained upward SDE revision in the archived listing versions, with dates.
- Landlord consent has not been obtained, which is a risk you are being asked to accept and should be paid for.
- You are an owner-operator buyer, which is the only buyer profile this deal actually works for. That narrows the seller’s market considerably.
- Three of four competitors within a mile run 24/7 — a fact any informed buyer will raise.
- The seller will not produce bank statements or sales-tax filings.
- The landlord will not consent to assignment, or conditions consent on a material rent increase.
- The fuel supplier will not confirm the commission schedule in writing, or reserves the right to change it unilaterally without notice.
- The environmental file shows an open discharge without a closure or no-further-action determination.
- Documented SDE falls below $150,000 after full verification.
- Any material licence proves non-transferable and cannot be reissued to you before closing.
- The price will not come below $400,000.
LOI outline
- Purchase price and the exact allocation between goodwill, equipment and non-compete
- What is included and excluded, asset by asset, entity by entity
- Inventory treatment: counted separately at landed cost on the closing date
- Deposit amount, escrow agent and the conditions on which it becomes non-refundable
- Diligence period of no fewer than 45 days with full access to records
- Every contingency listed above, expressly stated
- Seller note and earn-out terms including security and subordination
- Training and transition obligations, in days and in scope
- Non-compete radius and duration
- Holdback amount, escrow terms and release schedule
- Exclusivity for the diligence period
- Confidentiality, and an express statement that the LOI is non-binding except as to exclusivity and confidentiality
Questions to send the broker
Ordered to expose deal-breakers before you spend money on lawyers or accountants. Written to be sent as they are.
Which exact legal entity is selling the business, and does that entity own the inventory, fixtures, POS, trade names and licences we would be acquiring?
Why it matters: Three entities are registered at this address. You cannot buy assets from an entity that does not own them.
A concerning answer: Vagueness, or an answer that changes when you ask a second time.
Please send the last 24 months of monthly POS sales by department, fuel gallons and commissions, lottery, bank deposits and sales-tax filings.
Why it matters: This is the bridge between what is claimed and what is real. Everything else is commentary.
A concerning answer: "The books are with the accountant" for more than a week, or partial data only.
The listing showed $198,000 of cash flow in March and $240,000 now. What changed, and can you send the dated revision history?
Why it matters: A 21% upward restatement on a business already for sale needs a documented operating explanation.
A concerning answer: "The first number was a typo" without supporting figures.
Please send the consulting agreement behind the $36,000 annual related-party fee and confirmation it terminates at closing.
Why it matters: It is the single largest unsupported add-back and recurs in all three tax returns.
A concerning answer: No written agreement exists.
How many hours a week do you work, which jobs do you personally do, and what would it cost to replace you?
Why it matters: Determines whether the SDE is transferable earnings or your wage in disguise.
A concerning answer: "Only a few hours" combined with payroll at 8% of revenue. The arithmetic does not work.
Will the landlord give written consent to assignment and written confirmation that both five-year options survive and are exercisable by us?
Why it matters: Determines whether this is financeable and at what term.
A concerning answer: Reluctance to approach the landlord before a signed contract.
Can the fuel supplier change the commission schedule unilaterally, and under what conditions can it terminate?
Why it matters: A third of the revenue sits inside a contract you have not read.
A concerning answer: The contract is described but not produced.
What are the exact deposit refund conditions and timing on the $30,000–$40,000 fuel deposit?
Why it matters: Advertised as refundable — the terms determine whether that is true in practice.
A concerning answer: Refund conditional on a minimum volume commitment you have not seen.
Is $5,900 a month the complete occupancy cost today? What are the annual escalators and every pass-through charge?
Why it matters: Occupancy flows straight through to SDE and is easy to understate.
A concerning answer: A CAM reconciliation you were not told about.
What capital expenditure do you expect over the next 24 months — pumps, coolers, car wash, POS, roof?
Why it matters: Deferred capex is a price adjustment, and reviews suggest the card readers and wash are failing.
A concerning answer: "Nothing needed" on a site with equipment complaints in recent reviews.
What is NORTHGATE WASH SERVICES LLC, and is it part of this transaction?
Why it matters: The car-wash revenue is in your model. If it sits in another entity, it may not be in the deal.
A concerning answer: The wash revenue is included in the figures but the entity is not in the sale.
Which licences transfer, which must be reapplied for, and under whose legal name are the current tobacco, alcohol, food and lottery approvals held?
Why it matters: A licence gap at closing costs revenue immediately.
A concerning answer: Uncertainty about whose name they are in.
Have there been any landlord notices, supplier defaults, chargebacks, regulator warnings, tax delinquencies, lawsuits, liens, environmental notices or insurance claims in the last three years?
Why it matters: You want this answered in writing before you spend money on professionals.
A concerning answer: A verbal "no" and reluctance to put it in the purchase agreement.
What inventory is included in the stated $70,000, how old is it, and will expired, non-compliant or slow-moving stock be excluded?
Why it matters: You are paying for this separately and in cash.
A concerning answer: Resistance to a physical count.
How many offers have you had, and why did they not proceed?
Why it matters: 291 days and three price reductions means something has been getting in the way.
A concerning answer: "Financing fell through" repeatedly — that usually means the numbers did not survive a lender.
Will you agree to a diligence contingency, an inventory adjustment, lien and tax clearance, and a holdback for undisclosed liabilities?
Why it matters: These are standard. Resistance to all four tells you more than any answer to the other fifteen questions.
A concerning answer: Any refusal without a specific commercial reason.
Diligence checklist
Financial
- 24 months of bank statementsmust
The only way to tie reported sales to money that actually arrived.
- Department-level POS reports by monthmust
Reveals category mix, seasonality and whether the revenue streams are what they are described as.
- State sales-tax filings for 24 monthsmust
A third-party record of taxable sales that the seller cannot restate.
- Documentation for every add-back over $2,000must
$65,800 of claimed earnings currently rests on assertion.
- Fuel supplier settlement statementsmust
Gallons, tender mix, commissions and chargebacks are a third of the revenue.
- Payroll register and Form 941 filingsmust
Establishes the true cost of the labour you will inherit.
- Lottery, ATM and air/vac operator statementsshould
Ancillary income is easy to overstate and easy to verify.
- Aged inventory report with vendor invoicesshould
You are buying up to $70,000 of it separately.
Lease & supplier
- Complete lease with every amendmentmust
The listing summary is not a contract.
- Written landlord consent to assignmentmust
Without it there is no deal, only an option to negotiate with a landlord.
- Written confirmation both options survive assignmentmust
Determines the loan term a lender will offer.
- Fuel supply agreement and commission schedulemust
Confirm whether the supplier can change your economics unilaterally.
- Deposit refund conditions and timingmust
$30,000–$40,000 of your capital sits behind these terms.
- Estoppel certificate confirming no defaultshould
Establishes that you are not inheriting an existing breach.
- Maintenance and environmental responsibility matrixshould
Establishes who pays when something under the forecourt fails.
Legal & entity
- Exact seller legal name and ownershipmust
You cannot buy assets from an entity that does not own them.
- Asset schedule tied to the selling entitymust
Three entities are registered at this address.
- UCC, lien, judgment and tax-lien searchesmust
Liens follow assets, not owners.
- Bulk-sale or sales-tax clearance as counsel advisesmust
Successor liability for unpaid sales tax is a real exposure in retail.
- Proof of ownership of trade names, phone numbers and digital accountsshould
Four map profiles exist; they may not all convey.
Licences & compliance
- Tobacco and nicotine retail permit application startedmust
Not transferable — a gap means lost revenue from day one.
- Beer and wine licence transfer path confirmedmust
State approval takes time and can be refused.
- Food establishment licence and inspection historyshould
Open items become your problem at closing.
- Lottery retailer application and bondingshould
Lottery drives footfall as much as commission.
Physical & environmental
- Storage-tank registration and full facility filemust
Contractual indemnity is not the same as a clean site.
- Tank, line and leak-detection test recordsmust
Establishes current condition rather than historical compliance.
- Environmental indemnity confirmed to survive assignmentmust
An indemnity that runs only to the seller is worth nothing to you.
- Equipment condition survey: coolers, POS, pumps, car washshould
Reviews suggest card readers and wash equipment are failing.
Commercial
- Hourly sales and fuel volume by daypartshould
The only way to quantify the extended-hours opportunity.
- Competitor fuel price survey by daypartshould
Establishes how much pricing headroom you actually have.
- Shrink, theft and chargeback historyshould
Cash-intensive retail hides losses in plain sight.
- Insurance loss runs for five yearsshould
Claims history tells you things nobody will say out loud.
- DOT confirmation of the ramp reconfiguration designnice
A median closure would be material to access.
Decision gates
Work these in order. A failed gate stops the process — it does not get renegotiated around.
| # | Gate | Pass condition | If it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seller identity and asset ownership | The exact legal seller is named, owns every asset and licence in the schedule, and has assignable lease and supply rights. | Stop. Do not release a deposit until this is documented. |
| 2 | Financial substantiation | 24 months of POS, bank statements, sales-tax filings and tax returns substantiate SDE of at least $174,200. | Reprice to whatever is documented, or withdraw. |
| 3 | Owner labour | Normalized earnings remain attractive after a realistic charge for replacement labour, or you have decided to work in the business yourself. | Owner-operator only. Do not proceed as a passive investment. |
| 4 | Lease and supply terms | Landlord consent obtained; both options confirmed in writing; commission schedule and deposit refund terms locked. | Stop. The business has no value without the site and the fuel supply. |
| 5 | Regulatory | Every licence can continue or be reissued to you without a gap, and all inspection items are closed. | Delay closing until resolved. Do not close on a promise. |
| 6 | Environmental | The facility file shows no open discharge, and the landlord indemnity expressly survives assignment in your favour. | Stop until counsel is satisfied. |
| 7 | Price | Agreed price sits inside $272,000–$375,000, or is supported by documentation that raises the valuation. | Walk. There will be another deal; this capital is not replaceable. |
Sources & verification notes
Primary means a government or court record. Secondary means an aggregator republishing official data — get the primary record before relying on it. Seller claim is unverified.
| Source | Type | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Sale listing — Turnkey Fuel & Convenience, Interchange Location | seller claim | Marketplace listing. Broker/seller supplied and not independently verified by the marketplace. |
| Internet Archive — 7 archived captures of the listing, Nov 2025 to Jul 2026 | secondary | Used to reconstruct the price and earnings revision history. |
| 1120S-2023.pdf, 1120S-2024.pdf, 1120S-2025.pdf | document | Filed federal tax returns supplied by the buyer. |
| lease-executed-with-amendment.pdf | document | Executed lease and first amendment supplied by the buyer. |
| payroll-register-2025.pdf, form-941-Q4.pdf | document | Payroll records supplied by the buyer. |
| State Division of Corporations — entity records | primary | Entity formation, status and officer records for the entities at this address. |
| County Property Appraiser — parcel record | primary | Owner of record, parcel data, last sale and building area. |
| State food safety division — inspection reports | primary | Inspection dates, results and violation counts. |
| U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2023 5-year estimates, ZCTA 33613 | primary | |
| Google Places — competitor profiles, ratings and hours | secondary | Retrieved for the competitive set within 10 miles. |
| DealLens comparable-multiple reference table and financial engine | computed | Market ranges compiled from small-business marketplace medians, broker survey data and SBA lending norms, applied by the deterministic financial engine. Reference ranges, not transaction records. |
What this report could not establish
- This is an illustrative sample built from anonymised composite data. It does not describe a real business.
- No bank statements, POS reports or sales-tax filings were available, so revenue could not be independently verified.
- No title report, environmental file, supply contract, lien search or closing document was reviewed.
- Competitor ratings and hours reflect a single point in time and change frequently.
- Traffic counts are published figures for road segments near the site, not measured at the site itself.
- The working-capital estimate uses a two-month reserve convention because no balance sheet was supplied; a real balance sheet would sharpen it considerably.
Analysis model: OpenAI Sol · High reasoning · Research model: Gemini 3 Pro · Google Search grounding · Prepared August 20, 2026