Hey Dazz - is this the type of commercial you started out on?
No, we were absolutely petrified and completely clueless, so we started off buying an industrial gymnasium with a hardcore operator who attracted all of the huge guys around town.....none of these nancy leotards and spin bikes.....just big heavy plates and sweat and grunt.
It was locked up with a 10 year Lease. We settled on the 1st anniversary, so gave ourselves 9 years to figure out what was going on. All the work and negotiations had been done for us and we paid the price in the purchase.
We thought that was safer than buying something raw and then fumbling along not knowing what to do.
It took about 4 months to get into the swing of things, get comfy with the lingo and the process and purchase something else more adventurous.
Last year the Lease expired and we simply sat down with the Tenants, jumped the rent 50% and signed 'em up for another 10+5.
Job done. Don't need to visit the property again 'til 2023....where it'll be a 1 page letter needed to take it out to 2028. I'll let my daughters take over the negotiations next time around.