Buying a gas station with the property or on a leased site: what changes?

Listings often say with property or leased site, as if the two were small variations of the same sale. They are different purchases. One makes you a landowner with a fuel business on it. The other makes you a tenant with a business that stays only as long as the lease does. Decide which you are looking at before you compare stations.

When the land comes with it

Owning the site gives you more say over how it is used, within whatever limits apply to the property. A qualified appraiser can speak to its value. It also gives you the site’s past, including what was stored underground and how it was looked after. Ask what environmental reports exist, and read our answer on environmental checks. Expect your lender to take a close interest. Your lawyer can tell you what the land purchase adds.

When the site is leased

With a lease, the question is how long you can count on the site. Ask how much term remains, whether renewal is possible and on what basis, and whether the landlord must consent to a new tenant. Where a fuel company is the landlord or the supplier, the lease and the supply deal may be tied together. Lenders care about this, as our lease-term answer explains.

Questions that apply to both

• Who holds the title or the lease, and are there registrations against it
• Whether the tanks, pumps and canopy are included or owned by someone else
• What the supplier or brand agreement says about the site
• What happens if the supply deal ends before the lease or loan does

Put the same questions to each station you view. Differences in the answers often tell you more than any single listing detail.