Before you start looking for a good Austin warehouse space for rent for your startup, you should to get educated about the commercial warehouse leasing process. Being ready should keep you from making hurried decisions and costly mistakes you will regret later on. The following are some insider tips to help make an informed decision when renting a commercial real estate your business
Initiate the process of hunting commercial space at least 6-12 months before your existing lease expires or before your perfect move-in-date. Finding the right space and negotiating the deal alonewill take 1-2 months depending on the size space and current market conditions. In most cases the spaces you like will need some type of improvements which the time needed will depend on the scope of work.
completely analyze your business’s current and future needs. Consult with the various department heads for input as well as some key employees.
Get acquainted with allthe commercial real estate terms and meanings. Various landlords state and quote things differently. If you’re unsure about what they mean do not be afraid to ask them to supply more information.
If you’re not familiar with the commercial real estate leasing process or the current market conditions then consider engaging the assistance of a tenant agent. Their services do not cost you anything because building owners compensate all of the rental commissions. The landlord rep will have an professional listing agent helping them so it would be a great idea for you to have one too.
Personally tour all of the spaces that meet your requirements so you can make a short list. Bear in mind that the layouts can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord reps a lot of questions regarding who owns the property, property amenities, required lease duration, how much the landlord is willing to give in tenant improvement allowances, etc..
Don’t settle for the first commercial properties you believe is acceptable for your requirements: continue looking until you have at least two to three alternative choices. These extra options will work to your advantage since you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you will gain more leverage with numerous building owners competing for your company. They also give you something to fall back to whether the negotiations to your first choice fall through.
Send out proposals to your top three to five choices. These aren’t legally binding. You don’t ever want to have 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. A few of the things you need to consider include the size of this distance, the inquiring base rental rates, the required lease term, and the incremental expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc). It is also possible to take note about the advantages and disadvantages 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 industrial space square feet by the asking base rate and any operating expenditures then dividing by 12.
If any of the commercial spaces need changes then it’s important that you determine what changes you want on each and get construction bids. This way if the landlord is offering a finish out allowance you will know just how much out of pocket you will need to pay over and beyond what the landlord is willing to give.
Carefully analyze and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it makes sense to return to each landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Make certain you fully understand the total expenses you’re expected to cover. Don’t get emotionally attached to a specific property until the negotiations are over. Emotional attachment might lead to you signing a contract your business can’t live up to.
After negotiations are finalized and you’ve made your selection now it is time to have the landlord offer you the first draft of this commercial rental contract.
Now it is time to reassess the commercial rental 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 do not like particular lease items or would like to propose new language now is the time to do so.
Once the end of rental contract negotiations has ended the landlord will provide you a copy of the lease to review and sign.
There are many more things to think about when leasing commercial real estate however these ideas will help get you started. If you’re a new business leasing commercial property for the first time or an existing business who has only rented 1 or two spaces then consider getting help from a tenant rep. Their services do not cost you anything and you will save a great deal of money and time.