It goes without saying that everyone wants to get the best possible deal when they lease office space. There is a definite process that is followed when searching and negotiating for office space. Here are the five most important keys to getting the best deal on your next office lease.
- While it may seem self-serving coming from a us, the most important key to getting the best deal on your next office lease is to engage the services an office tenant rep expert, like the ones we have at OfficeFinder, on your side. Find a tenant representative who is experienced and knowledgeable in the market in which you are searching for office space and has a track record of done deals. It won’t cost you anything and it won’t increase your rent. Their cost is already built into the Landlord’s marketing budget.
Questions to ask a tenant rep - Have a clear understanding as to what you are looking to find. Define your goals and prioritize them before you start looking for office space. Discussing your office requirements with your top employees is crucial to ensure that you are all on the same page. The last thing you want to see happen when relocating is to alienate your key employees and risk losing them.
Office Planning Checklist Office Space Calculator Office Space Allocations - Allow enough time to get through the process. Depending upon the amount of space you are looking for, you should allow between 6 and 18 months from the time you start the process to the time you take occupancy of your new office space. The last thing you want to have happen is to run into a time crunch that affects your negotiation capabilities.
Office leasing process and timeline. - Do a thorough survey of available properties that not only meet your goals, but also properties that are close to meeting your goals. Once you have identified the alternatives, you can then make a short list of properties that you want to visit. There are a number of resources you can use in researching available properties. Many brokers have their own proprietary databases that are more accurate and up-to-date than the online listing sites such as LoopNet and all of their subsidiaries (Costar, CityFeet and Showcase). This can be much more difficult than you might think, not to mention time-consuming. Studies have shown that only about 50% of inquiries from online listing sites actually get a response. In addition, many of the online listing sites don’t actually connect you with the listing agent, but rather an agent that pays them a fee for leads.
Office Space Listing Website Tips - Finally, research the deals that have been made in the locales of the office properties you have shortlisted and find out which buildings in the market is making the best deals. One of the worst ways to do this is to ask other tenants in the area, unless you really know them well, about the deals that they made. It’s amazing the information they will leave out wanting it to appear that they made the deal of the year. The best way to get this information is to talk with brokers who have done deals in the areas in which you are interested. Unfortunately, if you are not working with a tenant rep, this will be nearly impossible. After all, a broker’s added value is the information they have and they don’t usually give it away for free.
The other alternative to getting this information is to put out several requests for proposals (RFPs) on several of the properties you are interested in. This will give you a general idea of starting points for landlords. From there you’ll need to simultaneously negotiate the proposals to see how far you can go.
Prioritizing these five keys will ensure that you do get the best possible deal on your office lease. You can do it on your own if you are willing to put time into the process. It will take a lot of your time to get through the process and get the best possible deal. If you are willing to settle on an office lease that you can live with, you can take shortcuts, but you will be leaving money on the table. This leads us back to the first key of engaging the services of a qualified office tenant rep so you can concentrate on your business while they do the time-consuming work. It will ensure that you not only find the right space but also get the best possible deal on your next office lease.