Thursday, May 21, 2015

Planning Tips to Negotiate a Better Lease


  • Plan your lease payment due date
  • Plan to inspect HVAC equipment
  • Plan for a smoother business transition

It all comes down to negotiating with your landlord!

In the last few weeks I've been speaking with a client who was looking at buying a business and taking over it's current leased location. While they hadn't yet gone into a detailed review of the various agreements that were in place, the tips provided by The Lease Coach in this BLOG have been very helpful! 

We've always encouraged our business clients to engage the services of experienced professionals to assist them with aspects of business where the professionals can add tremendous value. And our network of professional contacts continues to grow!

Here are some more great tips and suggestions from our friends at The Lease Coach. Thank you Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield for sharing the following helpful insights with our "Business Success" audience!


Dale Willerton
Jeff Grandfield














Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals For Dummies
Commercial Leasing Tips for Commercial Tenants
By: Jeff Grandfield – The Lease Coach 
For many business-owners, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized sales people. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. 
 
As explained in our new book, Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals For Dummies (co-written with my colleague, Dale Willerton), tenants may go through the leasing process only two or three times in their entire lifetime – yet they have to negotiate against seasoned professionals who negotiate leases every day for a living. Negotiating appropriate leasing terms is vital for an entrepreneur as the amount of rent he pays will directly affect the business’ financial bottom line.

Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, these are some money-saving tips for tenants:

Change the Day the Rent is Due: For many small or medium-sized tenants, the monthly rent represents a larger portion of their overhead. Paying the rent on the first of the month can often be a hardship. This is because other expenses such as payroll, loan payments, equipment leases, etc. also come due that same day. During lease negotiations, or even during the lease term, you can often request and get permission to pay your rent on the 10th day of the month or even later. Ask … just what have you got to lose?

Check Out the HVAC System: If you occupy strip mall space or a building has a designated Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) unit, then your lease probably says that you are responsible for the repairs to and/or replacement of that HVAC unit. While most property managers have preventative maintenance inspections done, you can stipulate that the HVAC unit be thoroughly inspected and repaired before accepting responsibility for it. Without such inspection, you may be stuck with a large HVAC replacement cost that you were not anticipating.

Anticipate Your Lease Assignment: Landlords anticipate that you will eventually sell your business and that you will want to assign your lease agreement – you should too! Some lease agreements say that the landlord can unilaterally terminate your agreement rather than grant an assignment. On the other hand, a landlord can automatically raise the rent for the new tenant (the buyer). Check this clause very carefully before you knowingly agree to it – then negotiate for changes.

For a copy of our free CD, Leasing Do’s & Don’ts for Commercial Tenants, please e-mail your request to DaleWillerton@TheLeaseCoach.com.

Jeff Grandfield and Dale Willerton - The Lease Coach are Commercial Lease Consultants who work exclusively for tenants. Jeff and Dale are professional speakers and co-authors of Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals For Dummies (Wiley, 2013). Got a leasing question? Need help with your new lease or renewal? Call 1-800-738-9202, e-mail DaleWillerton@TheLeaseCoach.com  or JeffGrandfield@TheLeaseCoach.com or visit www.TheLeaseCoach.com.


What's been your experience with the space you've rented or leased? We'd be delighted to have you add your comments and helpful suggestions for our audience. Thank you in advance for sharing this post with those in your circle of contacts!



* In Closing:  How is your BUSINESS PLAN being used to guide you and your business into a better future?

Pro-Vision Solutions Inc. has a number of helpful ways to develop your BUSINESS PLAN! 

Simply CLICK for more information and details from our NEW Website!