Leasing Commercial Properties

Now is a good time to expand your business into a larger building, if you need more space or are looking for a better location. In today’s market there is room to negotiate contracts with owners who have been sitting with empty buildings for a while, and are looking for new tenants.

When traveling around town looking for properties, do not settle on just one property. Find two of three different locations that would suit your business and draw up a plan for each location. The plan should include what you feel the property is worth, how long a lease you intend to accept and how short a lease you would not accept. Know the area well before even talking to the owner or leasing agent. Know what other leases are going for in the area and what other types of businesses are going to be around yours in each location.

Once you have chosen the one property that seems to suit your needs the best, do not get emotionally attached and show that you are anxious to lease this particular piece of property. You will want to know exactly what the lease will cost you per month and what the maintenance charges are going to cost. Your only emotion to this property should be asking yourself if this really is the right property for your customers.

Compare all the properties you have see that you like and write up a positive and negative sheet on each property. Know the square footage of each property and what the cost per square foot of each one is per month. Include the maintenance fees, and the terms of the lease on your comparison sheet. These facts will come in handy when you decide to make an offer on one of the properties.

Negotiate your lease terms. Make sure you understand all the terms and decide if these terms are ones you can afford. Ask for a copy of the lease so you can go over the lease completely before signing anything. You will want to take the lease home and give it some thought and perhaps discuss it with any legal advisor you may have to help you understand the lease. Commercial leases are very different from residential leases and some are extremely complicated. Every commercial lease if different and you can not compare it to the one you already have on another piece of property. Do not sign a lease until you have all the expenses in writing.