Here Is How To Lease Warehouse Property

Before you start looking for a good warehouse space for rent for your small company, you should to get educated about the commercial space leasing procedure. Being ready will prevent you from making rapid decisions and costly mistakes thatyou will come to regret later on. Below are some insider tips to help make an informed choice when letting a commercial property your business

Start the process of hunting commercial space at least 6-12 months before your existing lease expires or until your ideal move-in-date. Finding the right space and negotiating the deal will take 1-2 months depending upon the size area and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will need some sort of improvements which the time required will depend on the scope of work.

Thoroughly examine your business’s present and future needs. Consult with the various department heads for input in addition to some key employees.

Get familiar with the commercial property terms and definitions. Various landlords say and quote things differently. If you are unsure about what they mean don’t be afraid to ask them to provide more information.

If you are not familiar with the commercial real estate leasing process or the present market conditions then consider engaging the support of a tenant representative. Their services don’t cost you anything because landlords pay all the leasing commissions. The landlord agent will have an experienced listing agent representing them so it would be a great idea for you to have one too.

Personally visit all the spaces that meet your needs so thatyou can make a short list. Bear in mind that the layouts can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord representatives a lot of questions regarding the ownership, property amenities, required lease duration, how much the landlord is prepared to give in tenant improvement allowances, etc..

Do not settle for the first commercial space you think is suitable for your needs: continue looking until you have at least 2 to 3 alternative choices. These extra options will work to your benefit because you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you’ll gain more leverage with numerous landlords competing for your company. They also give you something to fall back to whether the negotiations for your first choice go sideways.

Send out proposals to your top three to five choices. These are not legally binding. You don’t ever want to have a landlord representative’s verbal note. Everything should be in writing.

To help you decide what property is most suitable for your business, prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of every property. A few of the things you should put into consideration include the dimensions of this space, the asking base rental rates, the required lease duration, and the incremental costs (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc). You can also take note about the advantages and disadvantages of each property. If you are budget conscious then you can quickly narrow down the list by calculating the monthly base rents for each property then removing those that are way over your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the industrial space square feet from the asking base rate and any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

If some of the commercial properties need tenant finish-outs then it’s important that you determine what changes you want on each and get bids from contractors. This way if the landlord is offering a tenant improvement allowance you will know just how much out of pocket you’ll have to pay over and beyond what the landlord is prepared to give.

Carefully analyze and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it is logical to go back to every landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Make sure you completely understand the total expenses you are expected to cover. Do not get emotionally attached to a certain property until the negotiations are over. Emotional attachment might lead to you signing a contract thatyour business cannot live up to.

After negotiations are finalized and you have made your selection now it is time to have the landlord offer you the first draft of this commercial lease contract.

Now it is time to reassess the commercial lease contract. It would be wise for you to hire an attorney to review the lease. If you have a tenant agent then they could review the lease with you as well. Commercial lease language could be negotiated. If you don’t like certain lease items or would like to propose new language today is the time to do so.

When the end of lease contract negotiations has ended the landlord will supply you a draft of the lease to review and sign.

There are many more things to consider when renting commercial real estate however these suggestions will help get you going. If you are a new business renting commercial space for the first time or an existing business who has just leased 1 or 2 spaces then consider getting help from a tenant agent. Their services do not cost you anything and you’ll save a lot of money and time.