To the last point, I would say there are three categories (in order of increasing preference as a target tenant):- people who rent because they have no choice- people who consciously chose to rent- people who unconsciously choose to rent because they think they have no choice.The people in the first category may be living paycheck to paycheck, and any unforeseen expense can get them in trouble, and really work that vacancy allowance that you built into your budget (right?)

A Hybrid contract of sale... a way to close more transactions by joint venture A commercial contract of sale, 3 pages with special buyer requirements related to environmental conditions, existing suppliers, surveys, buried oil tanks and other conditions that must be known to make a profitable and safe transaction An option agreementAn informational pocket pack with 52 options to financing and control a building without conventional financingBlank checks, pens, carbon paper, A list of referencesDisclosures for lead paint and other state or federal requirementsCell phone with camera to take pictures of the nice things and negative aspects of the property and to take a picture of the contract to email confirmation to seller and to your title company or lenderA gift, something for the seller to remember you by, I give Indian Head Nickels away, pens, note pads.Blank addendum forms - these are used to attach to your purchase agreements (you don't want a lot of chicken scratching on your contracts; use them to write some of the following; 1.

Industrial properties usually have environmental issues and there are different levels of due diligence required.

Its not like CA where you need huge environmental impact reports etc and it can take years to get a project entitled.

You or any potential buyer do not want the risk of being responsible for environmental clean-up and most insurance companies will not insure and home with an old buried tank.

Knowing such things as ceiling heights, utility availability, environmental concerns, traffic counts, etc, etc, etc is critical.  

The tracks looked like they hadn't seen any traffic in years.So anyway, while doing my due diligence, I found out that there were plans for a "Rails to Trails" for that line.All I can picture is environmental do-gooders on bicycles and copper thieves having access to the back of the property

Land development is a high stakes game because it has so many moving parts and contingencies (discretionary processes like planning commissions and city councils, environmental challenges or community opposition, financing, etc.), which is why there is so much potential to make huge margins if everything goes the way you want it.  

Others will think I'm crazy for consciously taking a lower (potential) return because I'm "too lazy" to do a value-add project or find an area that people don't want to live in now but is revitalizing so in 5 years it will be awesome.

Even with the power to ignore federal environmental laws a new plant would not be running before the next election.