The capital gains generally tends to be higher in more desirable areas, especially where land is limited.So as an investment, a low yielding piece of real estate dis not always completely irrational as an investment and personally, I am a strong believer that in todays market with so much information at our finger tips, prices and percentage returns and yields tend to be a good reflection of risk.Just my opinion base don my investment style.

What I would like to do is get a spreadsheet where I could factor in his money and and also show him what kind of percentage I can offer him on his investment.

Are you doing fixed or variable rate?

I have been in touch with both the companies directly, as well as tower companies who build the structures themselves and then get wireless companies to lease space for a percentage of the revenue.

You will never regret being debt free.One more variable - what kind of vehicle do you need?

@ricketa Return is just the amount/percentage that came back to you after your investment.    

Go to some of your local REIAs/Meetups and meet some seasoned investors, maybe you can partner with someone, or even better, develop a mentoring relationship.As far as determining equity, you can get that info from a real estate agent, OR when you are pulling your list for marketing, you can filter by percentage of equity. 

Just don't test too many variables at once. 

What I mean is simply that there is fee based and percentage based and every single one of them is vague when trying to negotiate. 

Normally, the company negotiates for the tenant based on insurance information and variables submitted directly to them.