And…. no matter what you answer or what you say to them, they will have a tendency to argue.

Especially with fast-food...while many argue KFC and McDonalds will never go out, what if they do?

I would argue that a lot of the time the "pennies on the dollar" scenario just ends up being dollars on the dollar.

I'm also listening to McElroy's ABCs of REI.  

Many, many, many discussions on this and many who argue its too conservative. 

You should pick up the ABC'S  of Real Estate Investing ASAP.

- What legal steps are prudent regarding a financial partnership with my girlfriend (We are planning to undertake this whole effort together)Who I feel I need to meet with: (This is not a solicitation, this is what I have taken away from "The ABC's of real estate Investment")- Lenders, I need to establish a lending partner who can advise me on my short term options and my long term strategic goals.- Real estate agents, I need to start getting in touch with the current state of the market, and start translating the theoretical book learning into practice. 

If you promised him the lease and he's started the process of moving and you now back out I'd imagine it could be argued you're responsible since you backed out.Think of this reversed, if tenant backed out after comment landlord made. it'd likely be reasonable landlord could be entitled to some costs....

These are the only 2 I've read cover to cover:Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene (Loved It)ABC's of Real Estate investing by Ken McElroy (Interesting read right after the above because he has a different view)And I'm in the middle of a few others:The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon TurnerThe Complete Guide to Real Estate Finance for Investment Properties by Steve BergesMulti-Family Millions by David LindahlThe Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller

I think me and Curtis will always argue over numbers.