Before you begin looking for the perfect warehouse space for rent for your startup company, you need to get educated about the commercial property leasing procedure. Being ready will prevent you from making expeditious decisions and costly mistakes you will end up regretting in the future. The following are some insider suggestions to help make an informed decision when leasing a commercial space your business

Start the process of finding commercial space at least 6-12 months before your current lease terminates or before your perfect move-in-date. Finding the correct space and negotiating the deal alonewill require 1-2 months depending upon the size space and current market conditions. Typically the spaces you like will require some sort of tenant improvements that the time required will depend on the scope of work.

completely analyze your company’s present and future needs. Consult with the various department heads for input as well as some key employees.

Get familiar with the commercial real estate terms and definitions. Various landlords say and quote things otherwise. 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 rental process or the present market conditions then consider engaging the support of a tenant rep. Their services don’t cost you anything because building owners compensate all of the leasing fees. The landlord representative will have an expert listing agent helping them so it would be a great idea for you to have one as well.

Personally visit all of the spaces that meet your needs so you can make a short list. Bear in mind that the designs can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord reps a great deal of questions regarding who owns the property, property amenities, required lease term length, how much the landlord is willing to give in tenant construction allowances, etc..

Do not settle for the first commercial properties you think is acceptable for your needs: continue looking until you have at least 2 to three other options. These extra options will work to your benefit since you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you’ll gain more leverage with numerous building owners competing for your tenancy. They also give you something to fall back to whether the discussions for your first choice go sideways.

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

To help you decide what property is most suitable for your business, prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of each property. Some of the things you need to put into consideration include the size of the distance, the asking foundation rental rates, the required lease duration, and the incremental expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc). You can also take note about the advantages and disadvantages 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 that are way over your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the industrial space square feet from the asking base rate and any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

If some of the commercial spaces require tenant finish-outs then it’s critical that you determine what changes you want on each and get bids from contractors. That way if the landlord is offering a tenant improvement allowance you will know how much out of pocket you’ll have 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 go back to each landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Be certain you completely understand the total expenses you’re expected to cover. Do not get emotionally attached to a certain property until the discussions are over. Emotional attachment might result in you signing a contract your business can’t live up to.

After discussions are finalized and you’ve 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. For those who have a tenant agent then they could review the lease with you as well. Industrial lease language could be negotiated. If you don’t like particular lease items or want to propose new language today is the time to do so.

Once the end of rental contract negotiations has finished the building owner will provide you a copy of the lease to review and sign.

There are many more things to consider when renting commercial property however these ideas will help get you going. If you’re a new business renting space for the first time or an current business who has only leased 1 or 2 spaces then consider getting help from a tenant representative. Their services don’t cost you anything and you’ll save a lot of money and time.