The ad buyers, designers, etc. didn't seem to get the axe. 

Tenant reply by email and they request a conference call to discuss and negotiate the lease terms that will be suitable for them if they like the location i) You will connect the national tenant with the Fund Manager for everyone to get on a conference call or a zoom video to negotiate the term details such as how many months free rent, tenant improvement allowance, if they can go dark, any exclusives etc etc (You should not worry about that part because the Fund Manager will handle all those details) j) after that a Letter of Intent to lease will be signed by the parties reflecting the National Tenant’s intent to lease and the proposed commitment details to lease the space for 10 or 15 years with a NNN lease (NNN means: Tenant pays the lease plus taxes, insurance and maintenance) and a corporate guarantee (lease is guaranteed by the national tenant for the duration of the 10 or 15 years lease and it is backed by their entire company and their financing bank like Wells Fargo) and it will also reflect any other terms such as escalation of rent over time, renewal option for the lease if any etck) The National tenant usually sends a designer or representative to take a walk through the property and then they are ready to sign the lease agreement l) It is then that you will assign the deal over to the Fund Manager who will pay all cash and your friend will get an assignment fee (usually between $40k and $150k)Here is how the numbers will work: Property vacant under contract say $600k and now with a national tenant lined up to pay say only $5k a month NNN (meaning a base tent of $60k a year and the tenant pays taxes, insurance and maintenance and the lease again has a corporate guarantee) the property will then be valued easily at over $1,000,000 (6% cap) The upside instant increase in value is $400,000 and usually the assignment fee that your friend gets will be 10% of that upside which is $40k all done within 60 days the 45 day due diligence and 15 additional days to close (assignment fee could be 25% of the upside increase in value if Tenant commits to 15 years and in this example it would be $100k (25% of $400k upside increase) Please note that: - No real estate license is needed - No additional cash is needed on your part - No rehab process is needed (all is negotiated as a discount to Tenant to do improvements the way they want and up to their standards because Subway has different needs than Starbucks or Fat Burger Etc based on their style and standards) - No due diligence or inspections are needed on your part, it is all done by the Tenant’s Representative- There is No Down side risk because if no tenant responds during the 45 days due diligence, you can simply cancel the contract and get your $5,000 refunded (or whatever amount you put in as earnest money deposit) - This can be done wherever you live in the US - Almost all is done by internet and phone except for a couple of visits to the property The fund manager gives the training, the Proof of Fund, the process, the script the support, the tenant list, the negotiations, and the cash to close because the property eventually gets assigned to the the real estate fund This will not happen every 60 days but you have no downside, a huge upside and if done just 3 times in an entire year you will easily have over $120k in assignment fees’ income, plus experience (which btw achieves a goal of $10k per month which is most people’s income goal) Here is the best part, you can remove the fund manager and just do the deal yourself and use the $100k you have as a downpayment or a tenant improvement credit for the national tenant coming in and buy the property at $600k with an instant increase in value to $1Million Dollars You can put a small downpayment that you can cash out after the tenant is in the location and you can repeat the process each time increasing your passive income till you get to a net $10,000 per month passively (this would be 4 or 5 single tenant buildings that you will hold for passive income with full debt on each) and none of your own money since you will refinance each deal (banks love the corporate guarantees and interest rates today are very low) Getting $10k/mo income and increasing your net worth into the millions is only hard if you use conventional ways to buy commercial properties or try to do rehab or wholesale in residential real estate which are very tedious, slow, competitive and exhausting methods Fastest growing tenants right now during COVID-19 are Quick Service Restaurants and btw the last deal I did with someone like this was in July the single tenant vacant property was under contract at $900,000 and now with a national tenant in it with the NNN 10 year lease and corporate guarantee and escalations etc it appraised at over $1,500,000The assignment fee paid to the person with whom we did a joint venture because he lined up the deal was $60k for less than 20 hours of work on their part by phone Again it does not happen on every property but it happens often enough with less hassles and more upside than any other strategy I have experienced and I have been in the business as an investor, a fund manager and an educator for over 30 years

However, you stopped just short of actually designing/defining a plan.  

I was the money, designer, contractor.

My husband and I recently received an escrow refund from our primary residence and after paying off some debt, we have a small amount left ($1700...I know, not a lot) that I want to designate as our first step towards purchasing a rental property.

Since I don't list/sell (I do property management and formerly designed RE technology systems) there are times I regret having a license.

If they don't require the drawings to be Certified by a Licensed Architect, you can find someone with drafting/design knowledge to draw the plans for you for your submittal; however, when the Building Department reviews the drawings they will still want to ensure the proposal meets local Building Codes & Ordinances, or if they are the type of department that doesn't do thorough reviews, they could be leaving the liability to You in order to ensure the construction is safe & complies with codes.As a Licensed Architect myself, I recommend you consider the benefits of hiring a licensed professional, even if the building department doesn't require Stamped drawings; however, I realize that depending on how minimal the scope of work is, it may not provide you much additional benefit compared to finding a decent drafter at a lower cost...You may want to check out Upwork.com as well, theres a lot of posts on there for various architectural & drafting gigs all around the world.

We spent a lot of time trudging through the mud to learn work/life balance, how to handle and coordinate contractors, design decisions, etc.

Before my husbands death I owned a computer consulting  business that sold and supported Computer Aided Design Systems for Architects and engineers.   

I use contractors with the designation as a Certified 203k Contractor - 203kContractors.com Looks like there's one in your area.