Before you begin looking for a great warehouse space for rent for your business,you need to get educated about the commercial real estate leasing procedure. Being prepared should help prevent you from making hasty decisions and costly mistakes thatyou will end up regretting later on. Below are some insider suggestions to help make an informed decision when letting a commercial space your company

Initiate the process of searching for commercial warehouse space at least 6-12 months before your current lease terminates or until your ideal move-in-date. Finding the perfect space and negotiating the deal will require 1-2 months depending on the size space and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will need some type of changes that the time required will depend on the scope of work.

Thoroughly analyze your company’s current and future needs. Consult with the different department heads for input in addition to some key employees.

Get familiar with allthe commercial property terms and definitions. Various landlords say and quote things differently. If you’re unsure about what they mean don’t be afraid to ask them to provide more info.

If you’re not familiar with the commercial real estate leasing process or the current market conditions then consider engaging the support of a tenant agent. Their services don’t cost you anything since landlords compensate all the rental commissions. The landlord agent will have an experienced listing agent representing them so it would be a great idea for you to have one also.

Personally tour all the spaces that meet your requirements so thatyou can make a short list. Bear in mind that the designs can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord agents a lot of questions about the ownership,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 properties you believe is suitable for your requirements: continue searching until you have at least two to 3 alternative options. These extra options will work to your advantage since you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you’ll gain more leverage with multiple landlords competing for your tenancy. They also give you something to fall back to if the negotiations for your first choice go sideways.

Send out proposals to your top three to five options. These aren’t legally binding. You don’t ever want to take a landlord representative’s verbal note. Everything should be in writing.

To help you decide what property is best suited for your company,prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of each property. Some of the things you should put into consideration include the size of the distance,the inquiring foundation rental rates,the necessary lease duration,and the incremental expenses (taxes,insurance,maintenance,etc). It is also possible to 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 eliminating those which are way above your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the industrial space square feet from the asking base rate and any operating expenditures then dividing by 12.

If any of the commercial spaces need tenant improvements then it is important that you figure out what changes you want on each and get preliminary bids. That way if the landlord is offering a tenant improvement allowance you will know how much out of pocket you’ll need to pay above and beyond what the landlord is prepared to give.

Carefully analyze and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it makes sense to return to each landlord to negotiate additional concessions. Be certain you completely understand the total expenses you’re expected to cover. Do not get emotionally attached to a specific property until the negotiations are over. Emotional attachment might lead to you signing a contract thatyour business can’t live up to.

After negotiations are finalized and you have 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 review the commercial rental contract. It would be advisable for you to hire an attorney to review the lease. If you have a tenant representative then they could review the lease with you also. Commercial lease language could be negotiated. If you don’t like particular lease items or want to propose new language now is the time to do so.

Once the end of rental contract negotiations has ended the building owner will give you a draft of the lease to sign.

There are several more things to consider when leasing commercial real estate however these ideas will help get you going. If you’re a new company leasing commercial property for the first time or an current company who has only leased one or two spaces then consider getting help from a tenant agent. Their services don’t cost you anything and you’ll save a lot of time and money.