I tell those getting into commercial leasing that they really need to understand the business of the tenant, to some degree, the bigger they are, such as Wal-Mart the less you really need to know as to the details, but a small operation, mom and pop under a franchise needs more attention, it goes to the sophistication of management.The major retailer moving in next door, is this a complementary business or more competitive, having an Allied Paint store and having Lowes move in next door, so that issue needs to be clarified.

Yellow letters pretty much limit you to getting people to call, else the "aw shucks" positioning is countered by too sophisticated a system. 

You can do 1 of 2 things to handle the situation.1)  get a work comp policy with $0 payroll. 

Institutional loans will be viewed in that light as to compliance more than a seller financed or private money note, the bar is higher as to your dealing at a more sophisticated level.

.)= Total IncomeAnnual Expenses:+ RE Taxes (usually use 3% increase over last tax bill, but make sure your area won't reassess immediately upon the sale at the new price, which could drastically increase the taxes)+ Insurance (my rate is about $200/door....yours will be different, talk to your agent)+ Management Fee (3-5% depending on size and company used)+ Administrative costs ($150/door)+ Payroll ($900/door, but the smaller the complex, the higher this cost usually goes)+ Marketing ($125/door, again it depends on the property size and market)+ Utilities (usually do a 3-4% increase over the past 12 month total)+ Repairs/Turns/Contract Services/any maintenance (depends on the age, I buy late 60's to early 70's vintage stuff and usually spend $750-800/unit....this goes down as the property is newer or renovated)+ Reserves (this will depend on your financing, but I place it above the NOI line here because if the bank requires it, it is an upfront expense monthly....usually $250-350/door)= Total ExpensesNOI = Total Income - Total ExpensesThis generally works well for properties 20+, but might not work so well for smaller complexes.

Using these funds and getting approval is a very sophisticated process and is not easy.

I might add Join your Local REIA.Don't try anything sophisticated at first.

I still use Excel with a different workbook for planning property acquisitions but for any heavy hitting expense and income track Quickbooks is where it's at.We don't have any sophisticated tenants (in fact 3 are HUD and don't have computers) so we either receive checks, cash, or direct deposit from the local PHA therefore we haven't had a need to use credit card or online payments yet.Hope that helps.

I like to consider my self a sophisticated consumer of credit, but the only card I am aware of that offers a 0% promotional rate with no balance transfer fee (and only as a sign up promotion in the first 60 days) is the chase slate card, a consumer card.In 2004-2006, there were many others, but I am not aware of any others today.If there are any others out there, it would be good to know.

Second, since they are trying to sell, they are probably skimping on spending money--repairs are one place people tend to shortcut, payroll is another.