What if you could exit a highly appreciated business, keep more of your profits, and still position your wealth for future growth and impact? In this episode, we sit down with Hy and Sudhir—longtime partners who built and scaled a successful gas station and car wash operation in San Diego—to unpack their journey from early entrepreneurial risk-taking to a major exit. Like many investors, they had experienced the sting of capital gains taxes on prior sales, which made their latest exit decision even more critical.
Facing a significant tax burden on the sale of their car wash, they chose a different path—leveraging the Deferred Sales Trust (DST) to defer taxes, unlock liquidity, and gain flexibility over their next moves. We break down their story, the lessons learned along the way, and how this strategy helped them preserve more of what they built. If you’re a business owner or investor thinking about selling, this conversation offers a powerful look at how to exit smarter and keep your capital working for you.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I want to invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward scale to billions and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want
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Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Hello everybody. Welcome to the buildings podcast, also streaming on capital gains tax solutions podcast. Every episode, we’re joined by some of the top millionaires, billionaires and entrepreneurs, and they share their story and insights with us so we can all level up and make a bigger impact. And I’m excited about our next guest. In fact, they’re clients of mine, and this is a client success story for capital gains tax solutions and their journey to the deferred sales trust on the sale of their highly appreciated, aided business and real estate in San Diego. We’re going to be talking about today is a big car wash exit, and we’re facing a big tax and like you who might be listening, you might be curious about, hey, how? How can I, you know, can I use the deferred sales trust? Well, it worked for me. You know, what are some of the concerns someone might have had? Well, that’s we’re going to be covering today, and I have my clients. Hy and Sudhir here. He, how you doing today? I’m doing good. Brett, excellent. Sudhir, how you doing today? Excellent. So, let’s dive right into your guys’ story. This is always cool, right? Because I grew up in the real estate industry, doing development with my parents in the Bay Area, Northern California. Talk about your guys’ kind of journey to real estate, and then your journey to working, working together on on some developments and some and some investments. Whoever would like to go first. Can just jump in.
Sudhir
I’ll go first. Maybe I came to America in 1939 went to school, and then in West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue. Once I graduated, we moved to San Diego in 1987 and at that time, a year later, I bought a arco gas station in here in San Diego, and we ran it for 24 years. I did a raise and rebuilt in 2007 which was quite stressful at the time. You know, doing the first build is always stressful. And then two years later, I had a buyer, so who offered a good price? So I exited, and that time,
Brett
Did you pay tax at that point? Or did you do? What did you do?
Sudhir
I did pay tax. I had some good write offs that way in the from some previous sales, so I did pay tax. But I was lucky that I had a good accountant at the time, but I did end up paying some capital gains tax. I wish I knew about DST at that time, but so at that time, I thought I was done. And then, like within a week, I met Hy and we were going somewhere to see another location. On the way back, he said, hey, I have something in escrow. Do you mind taking a look at it? So, I said, yes. And so, he took me to what we now have is a mobile gas station, car was hand convenience store. This was in December of 2012 and so at that point, on the way back, I looked at it. I liked, I didn’t know the numbers, anything. I liked the piece of land. It was a huge piece of land, right off the freeway. And I have seen if I can be a partner. And he came back next day say, yes, let’s do this. So we’ve been together ever since, since now, it’s going to be13 years coming, and
Brett
I love, I love the journey from India over to America and then to into real estate, taking that massive risk on that first deal, and getting through it all, and then getting a profit and
having some success. What was the hardest part about that suit year? You know, take us to the moment where you’re like, hey, this is actually going to work out on this real estate investment thing, right? This business thing that I’m doing. What was it like during that journey?
Sudhir
Well, initially, it was a friend who showed me my gas station. This was back in 1988 and he wasa running business. So as soon as I walked in there, it was like, almost, go from there, get go from the day one. Because it was a running business. It was a good location.
Brett
So, if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview. And please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody
Watch the episode here:
About Hy Sao and Sudhir Patel
Hy Sao is a San Diego-based entrepreneur and real estate investor with a background in corporate finance. After beginning his career as a financial analyst, he transitioned into business ownership, acquiring and operating gas stations before expanding into value-add real estate and development projects. Known for his analytical mindset and disciplined approach to risk, Hy combines strong financial modeling skills with sharp investment instincts. He played a key role in identifying and executing a high-performing car wash development that achieved rapid profitability and a premium exit. Today, he focuses on digital assets, diversified investments, and strategic capital allocation, while maintaining a long-term vision centered on adaptability and continuous learning.
Sudhir Patel is a seasoned entrepreneur and real estate investor with decades of experience building and operating businesses in the United States. After immigrating and graduating from Purdue University, he established himself in San Diego by acquiring and managing a gas station for over two decades, successfully navigating redevelopment and economic downturns.
He later partnered with Hy to pursue larger investment opportunities, including a highly successful car wash development and exit. Sudhir brings operational expertise, resilience, and a relationship-driven leadership style to every venture. Known for his steady decision-making and long-term perspective, he values strategic partnerships and focuses on preserving wealth, generating income, and creating stability for future generations.
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