Buying a gas station in Kokomo, Indiana means buying a fuel business, a store and often tanks and land. Palmwick Lending, a small-business funding service in Kokomo, Indiana, walks through what to separate, which records to request, the environmental checks, and how lending partners usually review a station purchase loan.
Separate What You Are Buying
A station listing quotes one price, but the price covers several things a buyer should value separately: the fuel business (gallons and margin per gallon), the inside store (sales and margin), equipment (tanks, dispensers, canopy, coolers), inventory on hand at closing, and sometimes the land and building. A lending partner looks at each piece, and so should you. A station whose price rests on fuel revenue alone can be overpriced, so ask for fuel margin and inside-store margin as separate figures.
How to Buy a Gas Station Business: Records Palmwick Suggests Requesting
- Monthly fuel gallons by grade for at least two to three years.
- Inside-store sales by month, with the store's margin, separated from fuel.
- Tax returns and bank statements matching those reports.
- The fuel supply agreement: term, brand obligations, any rebates that must be repaid on a sale.
- Equipment ages, tank installation dates and maintenance records.
- The lease or deed, and any lottery, tobacco or other agreements tied to the seller.
If the seller's reports and bank deposits do not match, a partner will notice. Resolve differences before submitting a request.
Environmental Checks Come First
Underground tanks are the hardest part of a station purchase to value from the outside. A buyer may commission an environmental site assessment before closing, and a partner financing the purchase may require one. Ask the seller for tank registration, testing and inspection records.
Small Business Loans for a Gas Station Purchase
A station purchase can be financed with a business term loan for the business and equipment, sometimes alongside a commercial real estate loan if land is included. Inventory financing or a line of credit may cover the opening store stock and fuel. Partners review the station's history, the buyer's experience running a store or managing employees, the buyer's down payment and the environmental reports.
Gas station financing requirements vary by partner, and none publish a fixed threshold. A station purchase request involves environmental and supply-agreement checks, so expect the partner to ask for those records.
Test the Payment Before You Offer
Use the loan-to-buy-a-business calculator: enter the amount you will borrow (price less down payment and any seller note), a rate from a written quote, and a term. Then compare the payment with the station's cash flow after your own pay. Hypothetical figures for illustration only: if a station clears $95,000 a year before debt and owner pay, and you need $50,000 to live on, the loan payment has to fit within the remaining $45,000, with room for a tank repair or a slow year.
Five Questions for a Howard County, IN Station Seller
- Why are you selling, and how long have you owned the station?
- Which equipment has been replaced, and when?
- Are there any open violations, disputes or environmental reports?
- Will you stay on for a transition period, and would you carry part of the price?
- Which contracts transfer with the sale: fuel supply, lottery, ATM, vendors?
Written answers to these questions also give a lending partner the context it needs.
Pumps and Canopies Across Howard County, IN: the Census Tally
County Business Patterns counted 44 gasoline stations with employees in Howard County, IN in 2023, employing 294 people with $6.8 million in payroll; 40.9% had fewer than five employees. Twenty-one had a ZIP 46901 address (ZBP 2023). Another 17 convenience stores without fuel had employees. No count of no-payroll gas stations was published for the county.
Store stock bought for resale raises sales tax paperwork questions; see the Indiana Form ST-105 guide. If the station will be remodeled or its use changed, check the zoning and permits checklist. More on the trade is on the gas stations page, and county figures are on the Kokomo, IN page.
By Palmwick Lending · Updated