Triple Net Investing for Beginners: 8 Steps to Your First Deal

Passive income in real estate is not about doing nothing.It’s about choosing which problems you’re willing to own.That distinction matters.Most investors don’t get stuck because triple net is complicated.They get stuck because they don’t have a process—and without a process, every deal looks different.Welcome to Commercial Connections, where I help property owners and investors make smarter commercial real estate decisions with confidence. I’m René Nelson, CCIM, a broker and advisor focused on helping investors transition into triple net properties with clarity around risk, financing, and execution.In this episode, I walk through a practical, step-by-step process for getting started in triple net investing. The signal isn’t complexity—it’s lack of structure. Investors chasing passive income often underestimate lease term risk, financing constraints, and exit timing. Without clarity on capital, timeline, and risk tolerance, they default to cap rate and tenant name, which leads to poor alignment and execution issues later.That creates a real ownership decision around how much risk you’re buying, how long you plan to hold, and whether your financing and lease term support a stable exit.What we cover⦿ How to define passive income based on your actual involvement tolerance⦿ Why capital levels directly impact lease term, market quality, and risk⦿ What lenders expect in triple net deals and how that affects buying power⦿ How to set minimum lease term requirements based on your goals⦿ The four risks every investor is underwriting (tenant, term, real estate, liquidity)⦿ How to screen deals in 10 minutes using offering memorandums⦿ Why your exit plan should drive your acquisition decisions⦿ How to build a buy box that eliminates bad deals quicklyGet a clearer framework for starting in triple net at eugene-commercial.com#triplenet #nnninvesting #commercialrealestate #passiveincome #investmentproperty #realestateinvesting #caprate #creadvice #netlease #1031exchange