You will most likely want a management company to take care of common area maintenance (CAM) like parking lot maintenance, snow plowing and landscaping, which as mentioned above, you will bill to tenants in proportion to the square footage that they occupy.

She's a very energetic lady and very active.The potential buyer is just looking for properties that have been kept up with in good neighborhoods that are or will cash flow.If I understand you correctly @Ed Emmins about the limited partnership, you are saying if she is willing to partner with someone she would continue to control the properties until a certain point in time and then control would be turned over to her partner.

A lady called me a couple days later and said that she would be more than happy to sell me the property dirt cheap and get it off her hands if I could help her figure out how to do so.In talking with the lady about the circumstances of the property I found out that she is the ex of the owner of the property who passed away back in 2011.

This was a few years back- The lady who ran the establishment was the highest grossing AirBnB in Chicago at the time.

*ive received copies of the leases..1 of them was not signed by the tenant (who happens to be an elderly lady that has been living there for 24 years..any advice on how to navigate this? 

The lady sounded nice and wanting to help so I kind of feel relieved, however, it is not over yet.

This is the hardest part for me right now as I lack the experience.I am told the vacant unit needs “updating” as an old lady lived out her last days there (the owner).

Contact a realtor in the subject area to get a feel for what property values are doing there to see if the lady's numbers are correct.If it is still available you want to go see the property for yourself and look for any major problems (foundation, roof, electrical, plumbing). 

Smart lady!

So if you ladies are interested, let me know.