Before you begin searching for the perfect Austin warehouse space for rent for your company, you will need to get educated about the commercial property leasing procedure. Being prepared should help prevent you from making rapid decisions and costly mistakes you will regret later on. Below are some insider suggestions to help make an informed decision when letting a commercial warehouse space your business

Start the process of hunting for commercial space at least 6-12 months before your current lease terminates or until your perfect move-in-date. Finding the perfect space and negotiating the deal will take 1-2 months depending upon the size area and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will need some type of tenant improvements that the time needed will depend on the scope of work.

completely examine your business’s current and future needs. Consult with the different department heads for input as well as some key employees.

Get familiar with allthe commercial space terms and meanings. Various landlords say and quote things otherwise. If you’re in doubt about what they mean do not be afraid to ask them to provide more information.

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

Personally tour all the properties that meet your requirements so you can make a short list. Keep in mind that the designs can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord reps a lot of questions regarding the ownership, property amenities, required lease duration, how much the landlord is willing to give in tenant construction allowances, etc..

Don’t settle for the first commercial properties you think is acceptable for your requirements: continue searching until you have at least two to three alternative options. These additional options will work to your advantage since you will know what to expect throughout the lease negotiations and you will gain more leverage with numerous landlords competing for your business. 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 agent’s verbal word. Everything should 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 every property. Some of the things you need to consider include the size of this distance, the asking base rental rates, the required lease term, and the incremental costs (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 simply 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 commercial space square feet from the asking base rate and any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

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

Carefully examine and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it makes sense to return to every landlord to negotiate additional concessions. Be sure you completely 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 cannot 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 this commercial lease contract.

Now it is time to review the commercial lease contract. It would be advisable 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 today is the time to do so.

Once the end of lease contract negotiations has ended the landlord will give you a draft of the lease to review and sign.

There are many more things to think about when renting commercial real estate however these tips will help get you going. If you’re a new business renting commercial space for the first time or an current business who has just rented one or two spaces then consider getting help from a tenant agent. Their services don’t cost you anything and you will save a great deal of money and time.