How to Buy a Net Lease Property, Step by Step

The process, as we actually run it on the buy side — each step linkable to deeper guides, the whole thing available done-for-you through free representation.

Step 1: criteria before search

Price band and equity, financing posture (cash, 60–65% leverage, 1031 constraints), yield floor, risk appetite (corporate versus franchisee credit, term length), geography, and management tolerance (absolute-net only, or NN with reserves priced?). One page, written down. Every later decision checks against it — and unwritten criteria drift with the last shiny flyer.

Step 2: source wider than the portals

Portals show most of the market late. Add: broker networks circulating deals pre-listing, developer pipelines pre-selling new construction, and direct criteria registration with buy-side shops (that’s us). The goal isn’t secret inventory mystique — it’s seeing the same deals earlier and a meaningful slice others never see. Our take on the aggregators sits in the LoopNet vs Crexi comparison.

Step 3: underwrite in layers

Screen (thirty seconds: tenant, term, cap, market — kills 80%). Financial (the real yield: verified rent, honest expenses on NN paper, escalation schedule, re-lease math against corridor comps). Lease (the maintenance article, options, assignment, termination rights). Tenant (corporate ratings or franchisee unit counts and coverage). Market (trade-area anchors, competition map, the state page fundamentals). Deals die honorably at every layer; that’s the system working.

Step 4: offer with structure

LOI with the terms that matter: price, diligence period (21–30 days), financing contingency reality, estoppel requirements, and 1031 cooperation if applicable. Negotiate with the comps you built in step 3 — leverage in net lease comes from demonstrable alternatives, so maintain a live pipeline until contract.

Step 5: diligence like it’s the last chance

Because it is: lease and amendments read fully, estoppel confirming no surprises, title and survey, environmental on any fuel history, roof and structure on non-absolute paper, tenant financials verified. The estoppel is the crown jewel — the tenant certifying, in writing, what you think you’re buying.

Step 6: close and operate lightly

Wire through escrow, assignment of lease, rent commencement notice to the tenant. Then the pleasant anticlimax of net lease ownership: deposit rent, file taxes, watch the option calendar — the lease expiry tool does the watching.