My 401k won't retire me forever, but will cover my expenses for the next 9 months.  

And that starts with consumer complaints.. and based on the less than knowledgeable folks that post on BP that really have NO business getting into the middle of what is very serious business for a seller I can see this happening with more frequency. for whatever reason and I guess because of the internet people want to get rich in RE with no money and no credit.

However; being a small independent real estate office it's important for me to get our listings out to where buyers and other agents will take notice, so I'm trying to plan the best way to do that without it being all consuming.

I would be forfeiting high rents $5K NNN per month for the retail space forever, but basically getting controlling interest of the building for little to no money down.

I don't know if this is my forever, but I feel like it's a good fit and place to start.

Simply buying to hold for ever and a day is a dangerous game to play because markets move up and down and you can be richer, on paper, one day and poorer, on paper, the next.

You don't want Thanksgiving turkey to forever taste different because of this @Lois Stern!

Also you still need to budget for capex because you property isn't just updated once and is good forever.  

You are in IL...one of the most liberal States as much about consumer protection as any place on earth.

Looking at going the turnkey route and have been consuming everything in the way of reviews/podcast/horror/success stories.