Whta made you decide an commerical property? With 40k to invest, most lenders will only loan 75% LTV. That means the loan amount will be 160k. With a loan of 160k plus your 40k, you are looking at a 200k property, not taking into account closing costs. With the cost of commerical real estate, you won't get much for 200k. My advice is find a poorly managed strip mall within about 1-30 miles from your home. Then do a little research on the current ownership, and approach them directly about selling the property to you with owner financing. More than likely if the property is owned by a 'mom and pop", they are not making much monthly income, that is if the property has some vacanies, needs upgrades, etc. Offer them a amount, that based upon the monthly payments of prinicipal and interest, will match or exceed what they are maiking now. With 100% owner financing, that will leave a large portion of your 40k for upgrades to attract new or better tenants at higher monthly rents. Then after the property is fully leased and producing a income stream, refinance it with a lender. If the numbers are good, you should be able to get money out of the property at closing to use on your second deal. Then your third, etc. Good luck!!