Chevron Gas Station and C-Store, Houston

At $275,000 this is the smallest listing on our books, and the price alone tells you what kind of deal it is. In Texas a station in that range is almost always a business-only sale:

• You are buying the fuel contract, the inside sales, the equipment and the goodwill.
• You are taking an assignment of the lease rather than the dirt.
• Stations with the real estate attached start at four or five times this number and need a different buyer entirely.

That is not a weakness. It is the reason a first-time buyer can get into fuel retail at all.

Three things I would check before writing an offer

• The lease. A station with three years left is a very different asset than the same station with fifteen years and options behind it. SBA will generally want lease term at least as long as the loan, which on a 7(a) acquisition means ten years including options. If the lease is short, this becomes a negotiation with the landlord before it is a negotiation with the seller.
• The fuel supply agreement. Branded stations run under a supply agreement with the jobber or the brand, and it has to be assigned to you. Approval takes weeks, sometimes longer, and it is not automatic. Start it the day the offer is accepted, not the week before closing.
• What the inside sales actually consist of. Lottery, beer and wine, tobacco and food service all carry different margins and different permits, and the permits do not all transfer the same way. TABC in particular runs on its own timeline and will not be hurried.

Who it fits

• An owner-operator, often a first-time buyer, who will be behind the counter or has family who will be.
• Someone who understands that fuel retail at this size is a labor business dressed up as a real estate business. It rewards people who are there.

Who it does not fit

• An absentee investor. At this level there is no room in the numbers for a manager plus a return on top.

Financing

• This size of deal sits well inside SBA 7(a) territory and is one of the most common small acquisitions funded in Texas.
• The lender will want the environmental review on the tanks and site, plus the fuel supply agreement.
• From October 1, 2026 the equity injection is at least 10 percent of total project cost.

Not a commitment to lend. Subject to lender underwriting. Terms vary by borrower.

Next step

Volumes, margins, inside sales and lease terms are released after a signed NDA is verified. Ask and they come by email.