The home field advantage in real estate is huge, it will make up for a LOT of other factors. 

(Prior to graduating college and getting a full time job, I was an incredibly social person, so this was a huge change of mindset to sacrifice the way I did).And on the other end, my brother decided to start his own business while I was working and did not work hard as he spent money like crazy and eventually went bankrupt (filed 1 year ago) .

That said, if the property is of serious interest to you, to the point of potentially writing a LOI, it's worth your time and work with a local commercial broker to walk you through the process.

How difficult is the process to land a government tenant after the necessary paperwork is filled out.

I also really enjoy the process of taking something old or rundown, and making it new again, I just love seeing the results even if it's just a fresh coat of paint.

I realize that it is harder to start out of state but from what I've read/known the process is very similar to doing it in-state.

If you're considering a 4-tenant retail development, I'll assume you've already performed a fair amount of the preliminary due diligence and evaluation such as:* identified actual demand for the product type in the market you are considering, along with supply in process within competition area to the proposed site.* understand current market rents for the type of tenant and construction you are considering, and at your specific location.* understand delivery timelines, TI schedules, and general construction process/permitting for you and the end users.* have identified the most likely tenants for the development in question, and understand the building criteria each have for spaces.If you haven't answered "Yes" to each of the above, I would recommend pausing until you have the above nailed down.

6 month lease with the option to lengthen month to month at same priceThe tenants supplied a $1000 deposit and the insurance company gave us a $500 nonrefundable deposit and a $250 non refundable cleaning fee.So far, i'm happy with the process although the insurance company rep wasnt very responsive and took much longer to get the tenants in than it should have - mainly because they work 9-5 and no more.Regards,--Dave

Then you start the whole process over with that property while you wait for that first property to season a bit so you can demonstrate an intent to hold. 

I suspect there are ways to speed up this process of decision-making.