Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Parenthetical) - shares	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
Issued shares of restricted and unrestricted common stock, pursuant to NNN’s performance incentive plan	274,512	270,735

Represents the number of shares of the Company's common stock issued during the period in connection with share-based compensation.

No definition available.

Name:	nnn_IssuedSharesOfRestrictedAndUnrestrictedCommonStockShares
Namespace Prefix:	nnn_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration