well here is the thing, If the business you are purchasing is under 2M go for SBA loan, i'll tell you why, SBA loan is backed by govt. as far as too much paper work, i dont think so, i've done it thru both commericial and SBA loan, if you have all the required paperwork for the business, such as PnL statement, tax return, gallons sheet, for last 3 yrs, and you have a good credit history of atleat +- 650, you will get the SBA loan. beside the closing cost of 1%, you will have to pay approximatery, around another 30k for the govt, coz of the warranty. Pre-Payment:- if you are a business man, and you think like a business man, the last thing you want to do is pay early. lets say your bussiness is 1M. put 10% down ( if u get that ) 100 you are financing- 900K your interest rate- Prime (8%) + lets say 2 % interst ( now ofcourse u put more downpayent lets say 25% = 250 k, you could negotiate for lesser IR) your paymetn will be approx 8000 - 9000 = 108000k a yr. now if you had, 100k extra, would you pay the loan off, or would you purchase another store, worth same 1M , by putting 100k down, and increase your cash flow. you do the math, what makes more sense. the biggest thing about mortgage is leverage, you can control a large asset will little of your own money. chase asked me for 35% down city asked me for 30 % down why, because of environmental issues, even when i was trying to purschase it with land ( that too in 200k less than the appraised price) and i will guarentee u , if you have all the paperwork from your business ( which you would want to have it anways ) you have a good CS, and personal equity, you will end up paying lesser interste with SBA loan. Try any other commercial loan, and u'll find out, most wont even touch your gas station, they will ask for atleast 25 % down. dunkin donuts , lets not even get to that, if you buy a store, doing 1M in sales, you're asking price will be 650k. they go by cents per dollar. and also please keep in mind , how long they have to before they have to remodel. how do i know, like one of the user here in sajha says, what do you know, i've only manged 9 DD stores for 5 yrs, and i've done gas station dealing for 3 stores, and i am doing it for another 3 stores now. goodnight, i am off to bed.