Have you ever been "thrust" into making a deal?

[Andrew S.]

I am doing my due diligence learning what I can about REI and planned on either starting by flipping or maybe getting a multi family. Then, suddenly, acquaintances of ours who own a business have to leave their 3,000 sq ft building later this year as the owner is going in a different direction after the lease is up. They don't want to buy a property as they're newly married and have a new home. I casually asked if I bought a building and the numbers worked, would they agree to a ten year lease, to which they said "yes." Happens that I know their current landlord well, and in five years they have never once been late on a rent (he's consolidating his holdings and expanding his business into their space.) So I've made some calls, am looking at buildings, getting financials together...and it wasn't supposed to happen this way. I've never done exactly this before, but I'm assuming if I try to find financing on a building (of which I have half a dozen to choose in various states of repair) it would be a plus for me to show up to the lender with a tenant willing to sign? How do I show a lender I have a tenant without a lease drawn up for a building I don't even have yet? A memorandum of understanding? Not sure what my next step is other than showing the prospective tenants buildings I'm looking at. I would certainly want to be sure it was a building I would want to own if I didn't have them as tenants in the future. Any thoughts are appreciated.