@Brian Orr Give me a little credit for starting my day at 3 am.

It's come time for me to sort out my insurance and I thought I could set it up on monthly payments and this might be a good way to help me start building a credit rating, but it seems that in general, insurance companies won't report to credit agencies unless it's negative. 

They were to get their own loan in a year, after raising their credit score from 540 with payments via EFT from his paycheck.

THUS, as long as you maintain a decent income/debt ratio, and keep your income properties at a break even level or better (after debt service) you can borrow on up to 10 investment properties on your personal credit before you need to get creative with financing. 

You really need a Termination Agreement signed by both parties because contract dates are actually not absolute unless it includes special verbiage like "time is of the essence". 

That being said I currently have $10,000 and a poor credit score, I’m looking for advice on my next step.

I’ve got about $25k cash, $60k in credit lines, good contracting and industry experience (did multi-family portfolio management for a while) and no job (so no mortgage opportunities).For you MN folks, what’s the bottom of the “crappy but not tear-down” bad?

I have special provisions regarding the nature of the business in the current lease, but am looking for more ideas for protection/usefullness to tenants..

These products seem interesting but because of my lack of experience with them, I prefer something more tangible that I can actually touch.Also, generally speaking, I like the strategy that you give Dave R credit for which is selectively leveraging equity and paying debt.   

If by my own actions, I end up breaking my own lease to make them happy, I would definitely let them know that it does not set a precedent in any way, that I appreciate their tenancy, and hope they feel special, so they will keep paying me rent.