Proper preparation will help you in every aspect of your business. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why we believe that having a business plan is so important. And just so we're clear ... it's not necessarily the business plan itself that's important, it's having gone through the planning process that will provide you with the ability to quickly respond in an appropriate way when the situation requires you to act!
In this POST, Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield from The Lease Coach provide a couple of great tips that will help you in negotiating or renegotiating a Commercial Lease. Thank you Dale and Jeff.
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| Dale Willerton |
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| Jeff Grandfield |
Negotiating
Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES
Commercial Leasing
Tips for Commercial Tenants
By: Jeff Grandfield
– The Lease Coach
For many business-owners, negotiating a good lease or lease
renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an
entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and
brokers are specialized sales people. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing
their location at the highest possible rental rate.
As explained in our new book, Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR DUMMIES (co-written
with my colleague, Dale Willerton), tenants may go through the leasing process
only two or three times in their entire lifetime – yet they have to negotiate
against seasoned professionals who negotiate leases every day for a living.
Negotiating appropriate leasing terms is vital for an entrepreneur as the
amount of rent he pays will directly affect the business’ financial bottom
line.
Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or
negotiating a lease renewal for your business, these are some money-saving tips
for tenants:
Determine Your
Bargaining Strength: Several factors will determine your
bargaining strength with respect to negotiating a new lease or a renewal. These
include the overall vacancy rate of the building and recent tenant turnover.
Your unit’s size in relation to the entire property is also important. It is
not only whether you occupy 1,000 or 5,000 square feet, but also what
percentage of the building you occupy that counts too. In theory, chain stores
and franchises should get a better lease deal than independent tenants, but
this is not always true. Other factors to consider are your own business
history as well as your industry – think that hair salons are plentiful while
pet stores are not – therefore, a pet store should command more favorable lease
terms.
Ask the Right
Questions: Who really owns the
property – a local family or a distant pension fund? Who were the last two
tenants to move in – and out? Which tenants are not renewing their leases? How
long has the anchor store leased in this property? Who is leasing
month-to-month? Is the property currently for sale or expected to go on the
market soon? Asking questions like these will help level the negotiating
field. Most leasing agents volunteer only one-sided information.
For a copy of our free CD, Leasing
Do’s & Don’ts for Commercial Tenants, please e-mail your request to JeffGrandfield@TheLeaseCoach.com.
Jeff
Grandfield and Dale Willerton - The Lease Coach are Commercial Lease
Consultants who work exclusively for tenants. Jeff and Dale are professional
speakers and co-authors of Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals FOR
DUMMIES (Wiley, 2013). Got a leasing question? Need help with your new lease or
renewal? Call 1-800-738-9202, e-mail DaleWillerton@TheLeaseCoach.com or JeffGrandfield@TheLeaseCoach.com
or visit www.TheLeaseCoach.com.
What's been your experience?
Feel free to add your comments and thank you in advance
for sharing this post with those in your circle of contacts!
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