You aren’t trying to buy a house or a condo or a luxury apartment. In fact, you couldn’t care less about houses and condos and luxury apartments. What you are trying to do is lease office space where you can set up your business and toil away forty hours a week. Compared to purchasing a 4-acre property, this sounds like a simple task, but it’s not. There is some work required to leasing, or at least to leasing intelligently. 

It all starts with hiring the proper representatives. You need a real estate broker and a lawyer. The real estate broker will deal with the landlord’s representative and handle all of the commercial aspects, which while an important part of the deal aren’t the only aspects you should concern yourself with. There are legal matters, as well. And that is why you need a lawyer. He will cover the bases your broker does not. 

Once you and the landlord have the proper representatives, you need to determine the terms of your lease.  You must consider the rent, the length of the lease, personal guarantee, renewal options and much, much more. You should know how much the security deposit will be, whether you’ll be forced to relocate in the future, and if you’ll be able to add more space. Essentially, you need to make sure every detail of the agreement works for you and the landlord.  If any don’t, you should negotiate (this is where the broker and attorney come in handy), but don’t nitpick over everything. Choose your battles, determining what will benefit you most in the long run and what is just a waste of argument.

Finally, cover the little details you wouldn’t think of until the heat broke in the dead of winter. Know what will happen if repairs are needed or damage occurs. Know who is responsible for paying utilities and property taxes. Can you sublet? If there is an irresolvable dispute between you and the landlord, will you be able to back out of the deal without losing an inordinate amount of money? Discuss everything. Be intelligent and informed. If you walk into this with your head on straight, you can get a deal that will serve as an amazing start to your business. Do it, and then get down to work.

I know you don't really absolutely need a lawyer, but when buying business assets as large as property, I always like to be over covered. :)

Joe

Austin Production Builder | Flintrock at Hurst Creek Lakeway Real Estate