I'm currently under contract on a smaller, 5-unit commercial office/retail property. 4 of the 5 leases expire in April/May of this year, and one of the contingencies of the sale closing is that 3 of those 4 soon-expiring leases renew for at least one year (I have full negotiating power over those leases).All of those tenants have showed no intention to vacate, and are happy with their current situations.I've seen/read in many places that it is best practice to stagger leases as much as possible in order to avoid the possibility of multiple tenants moving out around the same time, leaving numerous units to be turned over.Would it best for me to try and get 2 of the 4 tenants to renew a two-year lease (which they've done in past) and the other two tenants agree to a one-year or three-year lease (both have been year-to-year in past ).

I've also used the calculators to run some quick analysis of a few multifamily rentals pulled off zillow as practice to understand the calculations.

Put it into practice there. 

Thanks for the mention @Jay Helms  Hey Cory,You’re a smart man for taking these steps before you make a huge decision. 

But to become a part-time fundraiser on top of that; the children and/or a social worker need to step in and help with form filling, contacting agencies etc. 

Bank just called me and told me I need to establish more credit and have 20% down to get a loan for investment properties so I’m asking what is my next step now?

The next step is to take action.

The option effectively negates your ownership of the property.You've gotten the steps out of order. 

If you don't mind, I'm going to share with you a step-by-step guide that commercial brokers in NYC like myself would use:1) Check market demands: Before anything, you'd need to find sales and rentals reports for your neighborhood and check the current inventory.

They are only buying, and I would NOT plan on being a listing agent now or in the near future2) If I were to want to switch to commercial real estate, what are the first steps to take?