Renting Commercial Warehouse Real Estate For Newbies

Before you begin looking for an excellent warehouse space for rent for your startup company, you will need to get educated about the commercial warehouse leasing procedure. Being ready should prevent you from making hurried decisions and costly mistakes thatyou will come to regret in the future. The following are some insider tips to help make an informed choice when renting a commercial warehouse space your company

Initiate the process of searching for commercial real estate for lease at least 6-12 months before your current lease expires or until your perfect move-in-date. Locating the right space and negotiating the deal alonewill require 1-2 months depending on the size area and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will require some type of improvements which the time required 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 familiar with the commercial space terms and meanings. Different landlords state and quote things differently. If you’re in doubt about what they mean don’t be afraid to ask them to get more information.

If you’re not knowledgeable about the commercial leasing process or the present market conditions then consider engaging the assistance of a tenant rep. Their services don’t cost you anything since landlords pay all of the rental commissions. The landlord agent will have an experienced listing agent advising them so it would be a good idea for you to have one too.

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

Do not settle for the first commercial space you believe is suitable for your requirements: continue looking until you have at least two to three alternative options. These additional options will work to your benefit because you will know what to expect throughout the lease negotiations and you will gain more leverage with numerous landlords competing for your business. They also give you something to fall back to whether the discussions to your first choice go silent.

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 word. Everything needs to be in writing.

To help you decide what property is best suited for your business, prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of each property. Some of the things you should consider include the size of the distance, the inquiring foundation rental rates, the required lease duration, and the incremental costs (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc). You can also take note about the pros and cons of each property. If you’re budget conscious then you can quickly narrow down the list by calculating the monthly base rents for each property then removing those which are way over your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the commercial space square feet by the asking base rate and any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

If some of the commercial properties require finish out then it is important that you figure out what improvements you want on each and get construction bids. That way if the building owner is offering a construction allowance you will know just how much out of pocket you will need to pay over and beyond what the building owner is prepared to give.

Carefully analyze and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it is logical to go back to each landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Make certain you fully understand the total expenses you’re expected to cover. Do not get emotionally attached to a specific property until the discussions are over. Emotional attachment might lead to 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 offer you the first draft of the commercial rental contract.

Now it is time to reassess the commercial rental contract. It would be advisable for you to hire an attorney to review the lease. For those who have a tenant representative then they could review the lease with you also. Industrial lease language could be negotiated. If you don’t like particular lease items or want to propose new language today is the time to do so.

When the end of rental contract negotiations has finished the building owner will provide you a copy of the lease to sign.

There are several more things to consider when leasing commercial space however these suggestions will help get you started. If you’re a new business leasing commercial space for the first time or an current business who has only rented 1 or two spaces then consider getting help from a tenant agent. Their services do not cost you anything and you will save a lot of money and time.