Before you start looking for the perfect warehouse space for rent for your business, you need to get informed about the commercial real estate leasing procedure. Being ready should help prevent you from making hurried decisions and costly mistakes thatyou will regret in the future. The following are some insider suggestions to help make an informed decision when renting a commercial real estate your company

Start the process of locating commercial space at least 6-12 months before your current lease expires or before your perfect move-in-date. Locating the right space and negotiating the deal will require 1-2 months depending upon the size area and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will require some type of changes which the time needed will depend on the scope of work.

Thoroughly research your company’s present and future needs. Consult with the various department heads for input as well as some key employees.

Get acquainted with the commercial real estate terms and definitions. Different landlords state and quote things otherwise. If you are in doubt about what they mean don’t be afraid to ask them to supply more information.

If you are not familiar with the commercial real estate leasing process or the present market conditions then consider engaging the help of a tenant rep. Their services don’t cost anything since building owners pay all of the rental fees. The landlord agent will have an knowledgable listing agent helping them so it would be a good idea for you to have one also.

Physically see all of the spaces that meet your requirements so thatyou can make a brief list. Keep in mind that the designs can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord agents a great deal of questions regarding the ownership, property amenities, required lease term length, how much the landlord is willing to give in tenant improvement allowances, etc..

Don’t settle for the first commercial properties you believe is suitable for your requirements: continue searching until you have at least 2 to three other options. These additional options will work to your benefit because you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you will gain more leverage with multiple building owners competing for your tenancy. They also give you something to fall back to if the discussions to your first choice fall through.

Send out proposals to your top three to five options. These aren’t legally binding. You never want to take a landlord agent’s verbal note. Everything should be in writing.

To help you decide what property is most suitable for your company, prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of every property. A few of the things you need to consider include the dimensions of the space, the inquiring base rental rates, the necessary lease term, 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 simply calculating the monthly base rents for each property then removing those which are way above your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the commercial space square feet from the asking base rate plus any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

If any of the commercial spaces require tenant finish-outs then it’s important that you determine what improvements you want on each and get bids from contractors. That way if the landlord is offering a tenant improvement allowance you will learn just how much out of pocket you will need to pay above and beyond what the landlord is willing to give.

Carefully examine and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it is logical to return to every landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Be sure you fully understand the total expenses you are expected to cover. Don’t get emotionally attached to a certain property until the discussions are over. Emotional attachment might result in you signing a contract thatyour business can’t live up to.

After discussions are finalized and you’ve made your selection now it is time to have the landlord provide you the first draft of the commercial lease contract.

Now it is time to review the commercial lease contract. It would be wise for you to hire an attorney to review the lease. For those who have a tenant representative then they can review the lease with you as well. Industrial lease language can be negotiated. If you don’t like certain lease items or want to propose new language now is the time to do so.

Once the end of lease contract negotiations has finished the landlord will supply you a copy of the lease to review.

There are many more things to think about when leasing commercial real estate however these suggestions will help get you started. If you are a new company leasing commercial property for the first time or an current company who has only leased 1 or 2 spaces then consider getting help from a tenant agent. Their services don’t cost you anything and you will save a great deal of money and time.

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