Any search for rental real estate properties holds a certain amount of hassles, stress and annoyances, no matter if the desired result is residential or commercial real estate. For commercial ventures, you must separate retail from not, not to mention choosing either an office space for rent that passes code to be open to clients, or find a different commercial office space for rent. Choosing the right office space for a business is crucial to success, so to make the right choice easier to find, here are three critical pieces of information for a successful search for office space for lease.
- Usable Space: You need to know in advance which bathrooms are intended for your office, and any restrictions on the entrances and exits your employees and you might use. Also, ask directly about the rental square footage versus the usable square footage. Because it only includes the property that is exclusively for you and your business, the usable square footage will be lower than the count including communal bathrooms and hallways. Find out if rental square footage was used to set your payment amount, and if it was, you have a great negotiating edge.
- Rent on Commercial Property: Those without experience with a commercial lease often fall into the same pitfall of regarding the residential and commercial leases as being the same. However, one vital difference makes this view quite dangerous when reviewing terms for an office space for lease. In a rental residential lease, it is expected that the rent will be fixed at the price specified for the entire term of the lease, but commercial rentals are exactly the opposite, with rent fluctuating based on terms specified, and if the signee does not think to examine them, they may miss the chance to negotiate those terms.
- Property Repair: Pay very close attention to this part of your commercial lease. Who is declared to be responsible for a malfunctioning air conditioner or burst sewer pipes? One major red flag to look for is that the tenant will return the property in the same condition as when they moved in. This means that normal wear and tear, authorized changes to the building and damages that are beyond your control, like a hurricane, must be repaired at the end of the lease. If the property owner is not willing to renegotiate at this point, find a different property.
Choosing the right office space for lease to meet the needs of your business should never be rushed if at all possible. So, do as much research as possible, ask every single question you can, and only then should a decision regarding where to rent office space be within sight.