Before him, there were very few conventions in refining oil profitably, but he grabbed the reigns of Standard Oil, and the rest is history.  

You can control the value by seizing the opportunity and oiling the machine to max efficiency.

First, i would not furnish the places, it will probably get trashed, let them get there own furnishings and make sure that the lease says they must remove them from the property when they leave. i would have them pay for utilities, to an extent - have them pay for electric, supply the heat but give them an allowance for certain amount of months ( especially if you have older furnaces and they run on oil heat ) if they go over then you charge them for it. i converted mine to gas with new furnaces, i include heat in mine, but i control the thermostat ( online, thermostat is locked at the house ). i also provide water / sewer and free internet.

But if a guy delivering oil calls you about a house he noticed on his stops, you close, and you kick him a few bucks, I think you'll be okay. 

First you must determine if you want to purchase the service station operating business and lease the real estate, purchase the real estate and be a landlord to the station operator, or purchase both the operating business and the real estate.Many of the best locations are either owned by oil companies and leased to operators, or have restrictive contracts with severe penalties for changing gas suppliers.  

At this moment I have bad credit, 50k in a 401k and an oil field job in west TX.

Im 24 with a family, I currently work in the oil industry as an AutoCad Drafter but due to low oil prices I have taken a significant pay cut, during this last year I have been doing as much research into the Real estate Industry as possible.

I can also get solid, 7%+ returns with a couple of oil and gas companies and bet on rising energy prices, but I'm separating stocks, REITs, and notes from real assets that I'm purchasing.

I currently work in the oil industry which has some serious ups and downs, so the goal is to replace my dependence on a company paycheck with income from my own business. 

I try my best to balance everything, and for the most part it works like a fine oiled machine, but there are times when I start to drop some of the balls I am juggling.