The Wendy’s or Chase Bank down the street could provide one of the best real estate investment opportunities around, given that credit markets remain in the deep freeze and the situation may not improve for some time.

A transaction in which a franchisee or corporation sells its real estate, then signs a long-term lease enabling it to stay in the property, is called a sale/leaseback. Such deals can involve multiple sites or a single location, and they can prove lucrative for both the seller and the investor.

Sale/leaseback transactions represent only a fraction of the real estate market, but some real estate professionals say they could gain traction this year as business owners look for creative ways to generate cash.

Baby boomer retirees with nice nest eggs might be interested in this kind of investment because there is no property management involved. Most are triple-net deals, meaning the tenant pays for taxes, insurance and maintenance, and there’s constant cash flow — sometimes for many years.

For example, “Walgreens does 30-year leases with a fixed rent,” said Tom Wheelwright, CEO of ProVision PLC in Tempe.

Wheelwright, a wealth manager and certified public accountant, likes the relatively low risk of sale/leaseback deals, especially for 1031 exchange clients who might be ready to retire. A 1031 exchange allows an investor to trade one piece of real property for another and defer the taxes.

“A duplex or fourplex might be good for building equity, but it’s not good for cash flow. A 1031 investor could trade a multifamily property for a sale/leaseback property and have cash flow through retirement,” Wheelwright said.

Without a property to exchange, sale/leaseback deals often are driven by high-net-worth individuals with cash. But some private real estate investment trusts also are getting in on the practice, said Chad Tiedeman, a senior associate at Phoenix Commercial Advisors.

Tiedeman, who is marketing a portfolio of Wendy’s restaurants in Philadelphia, represents 75 national retailers. He and his team often handle deals involving newly constructed properties, such as a recently completed Big O Tires store in Mesa.

In that deal, an individual from Washington state paid $2.4 million for the property. The lease is for 10 years and is guaranteed by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The buyer purchased it directly from the developer, Focus Group LLC of Scottsdale.

The added benefit for buyers is they can depreciate the property on their income tax returns, Wheelwright said. Returns on investment for these types of deals are averaging between 7.5 percent and 8.5 percent, according to Tiedeman, but it’s the cash flow that’s the main draw.

Sale/leasebacks can take many forms. A corporation such as Discount Tire or Tutor Time day care centers might sell some locations to generate capital or to meet other objectives. In late 2007, for example, Applebee’s sold 187 restaurants across the country for a total of $300 million, then leased the properties back from the new owners. The transaction gave Applebee’s instant cash on hand.

Similarly, a franchisee who owns his real estate might decide he needs cash to expand, buy equipment or remodel, and the only way to get that cash these days is with the sale/leaseback model.

Some companies, franchisees or developers might only be willing to sell a ground lease. In such cases, the business retains ownership of the structures on the property, but sells the land underneath it to the investor and then leases it back. This is less expensive for the investor, but still provides some cash for the business.

“A ground lease can be an attractive deal because you don’t necessarily need $1 million to $2 million to acquire one,” said Bob Broyles, senior vice president of Colliers International in Phoenix.

Long-term ground leases might start at $300,000, he said.

Tiedeman and Broyles are part of a small cadre of brokers specializing in single-tenant sale/leasebacks.

“There may be a half-dozen of us in Phoenix,” Broyles said.

Jamie Medress, an agent at Marcus & Millichap, is one of them. His specialty is listing properties, and he still makes cold calls to make that happen.

“We certainly don’t call everybody, but we will with certain businesses that have multiple locations,” he said.

Small-business owners with multiple locations might not be aware they could access cash through a sale/leaseback.