It seems simple but the fact is that mostly commercial stuff doesn’t stay vacant because the rents are too high. It’s usually vacant because there is no viable business that wants the space. It’s a whole different market from residential renting.
If I have apartments, I just put some ads up and I’ll have the phone ringing off the hook and more applicants than I can deal with. But with commercial space, you generally need to hire brokers who go out and network and actively try to convince businesses to lease the space. If you do get calls based on just having a sign in the window, most of those calls are going to tend to be from people who can’t qualify any way.
You might be right, but there is simply no way anyone is going to convince me that a property which sits vacant for a year or more isn’t overpriced.