Before you begin searching for the perfect good Sonoma wineries for your startup company, you need to get informed about the commercial real estate leasing process. Being prepared will help prevent you from making hurried decisions and costly mistakes you will probably regret later on. The following are some insider suggestions to help make an informed choice when letting a commercial real estate your company

Initiate the process of hunting for commercial real estate for lease at least 6-12 months before your existing lease terminates or before your perfect move-in-date. Finding the perfect 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 type of changes which the time needed will depend on the scope of work.

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

Get acquainted with allthe commercial space terms and meanings. Various landlords say and quote things otherwise. If you are in doubt about what they mean don’t be afraid to ask them to supply more information.

If you are not familiar with the commercial leasing process or the present market conditions then consider engaging the support of a tenant agent. Their services don’t cost anything because building owners pay all the leasing fees. The landlord representative will have an expert listing agent advising them so it would be a great idea for you to have one also.

Physically see all the properties that meet your requirements so you can make a short list. Keep in mind that the layouts can be reconfigured so don’t get stuck on that. Ask the landlord representatives a great deal of questions about 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 space you think is suitable for your requirements: continue searching until you have at least two to three alternative options. These extra options will work to your advantage because you will know what to expect during the lease negotiations and you’ll gain more leverage with multiple building owners competing for your business. They also give you something to fall back to whether the negotiations to your first choice fall through.

Send out proposals to your top three to five options. These are not legally binding. You never want to have a landlord representative’s verbal word. Everything needs to be in writing.

To help you decide what property is most suitable for your company, prepare a spreadsheet to do an apples to apples comparison of each property. A few of the things you should put into consideration include the size of this space, the asking foundation rental rates, the necessary 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 are budget conscious then you can quickly narrow down the list by calculating the monthly base rents for each property then removing those that are way above your budget. The monthly base rent is calculated by multiplying the industrial space square feet by the asking base rate and any operating expenses then dividing by 12.

If some of the commercial spaces require tenant improvements then it’s important that you figure out what improvements you want on each and get preliminary bids. This way if the landlord is offering a tenant improvement allowance you will learn just how much out of pocket you’ll have to pay above and beyond what the landlord is willing to give.

Carefully analyze and compare the terms of each proposal. Consider whether it is logical to go back to each landlord to negotiate extra concessions. Be sure you fully understand the total expenses you are expected to cover. Do not get emotionally attached to a certain property until the negotiations are over. Emotional attachment might result in you signing a contract your business can’t live up to.

After negotiations are finalized and you have made your selection now it’s time to have the landlord offer you the first draft of this commercial lease contract.

Now it’s time to review the commercial lease contract. It would be wise for you to hire an attorney to review the lease. For those who have a tenant agent then they can review the lease with you also. Commercial lease language can be negotiated. If you don’t like particular lease items or would like to propose new language today is the time to do so.

When the end of lease contract negotiations has finished the building owner will supply you a copy of the lease to sign.

There are many more things to think about when leasing commercial real estate however these ideas will help get you started. If you are a new company leasing commercial property for the first time or an existing company who has just rented one or two spaces then consider getting help from a tenant representative. Their services do not cost you anything and you’ll save a lot of time and money.