I am from the Greensboro area, although not living there now. where is this store?

The environmental issue is something that cannot be taken lightly. You don't want to end up 3 years later finding out there was a lot of underground spillage and you now have 100's of 1000's of $'s in liability on your hands. This is a very real consequence with a gas station, especially the older ones.

Unless you are paying cash, you cannot buy this busines without getting the owner's tax returns. You can forget about it. If he won't show them to you, he is hiding something. No question. I know you are excited about this deal, but from what you have stated, something just smells fishy. If there is anything I have learned in business, there is always another deal. If your mind and eyes are open to opportunity, they options are plentiful. Personally, I have to try to focus as I constantly see opportunities. Right now I am looking for 3 entrepreneurs to run start ups as I just don't have the time.

Assuming the property passes the environmental inspections and you can prove income, I still wouldn't offer more than what they paid 10 years ago. Real estate has obviously tanked in value and he would be lucky (very lucky) to sell for his buying price. He seems desperate to unload, which can be a good, or a bad thing for you. Good - low price. Bad - major underlying problem. His asking price is a "shot in the dark" price with no valuation basis, especially since he seems to be losing money.

Depending on location, one thing that seems to be missing in local country gas stations that was a thing of the past, is the local "gas station hangout" for the locals. I remember as a kid (in the 80's) country stores that always had a congregation of locals; usually farmers, contractors, and neighbors sitting around drinking an RC cola and eating a moonpie. This seems to have vanished, but all things retro seem to be fashionable again. You could potentially remake the place into this sort of locale. Just a thought.

I advise clients all the time to separate their assets in order to minimize their personal and business risk. In this case, if you buy the store, you need to separate the assets. Feel free to call me for details, but essentially you need to have the real estate owned separately in an LLC, and the operating business owned in another LLC or S-corp.