This is incredibly common in Philadelphia's market if you don't invest in the correct neighborhoods.  

This is the first time I'm attempting this strategy, so I'm kind of flying blind. 

Kindly help me with some suggestions what type of loan better for retail buildings.

If this is becoming common in certain areas, do you think it might deter a significant percentage of potential guests?

First, I would recommend calling around to apartments and other PM companies in your area to find out what is common. 

I would say a common error that people make is underestimating the cost to fix or repair something.

Otherwise many many many agents spend a lot of time and effort finding property and writing contracts only to find that the funds can't be transferred, or they don't have immediate access to the funds, or they need some kind of approval from 3-4-5th parties, or there are exchange restrictions, or 9000 other excuses.You probably need to find them a commercial broker who can handle whatever kind of investment they want to make. 

Got a new tenant and he had all kinds of problems setting up his payments.

I had a RE license as an Investor/Contractor and never saw that it saved much money (My experience anyway) People think you save 2.5 - 3% on every deal because you don't pay a Buyer's agent.....but most sellers are not dumb and will not automatically 'give' you that money, they will either expect that they keep it or maybe work out some kind of a split.So if you are just going to be an investor, there is no way that it is worth the cost (IMO)

It also comes down to what kind of market you are in-- what do guests who come to town want?