Tenant Tips When Touring & Looking at Commercial Office Space for Rent

looking at or touring office spaceAfter your commercial real estate agent provides a complete market evaluation of commercial spaces that best fit your needs it will be time to tour or take a look at them to determine further which ones are best for your company. Below are a few tips to keep in mind before scheduling your commercial office space tour.

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Limit your office space tour to 5-6 properties – After looking at several spaces you can sometimes lose focus and forget what you saw that day. The commercial properties start to blend together. If you want to see more than 5-6 properties then schedule another day to do so.

Listen to the landlord agents presentation – It’s their job to do so and you may learn other features about the office spaces that your tenant representative forgot to mention. You will learn more about the property by listening to their pitch then asking questions.

Prepare a list of questions to ask the landlord agent – Prior to looking at your commercial office space options work with your broker to compile a list of questions to ask the landlord representatives. You will want to know about the property characteristics, amenities, services, rules, operations, etc. Does the property have onsite deli, fiber, after hours hvac, security, etc?

Curb your enthusiasm about a space – Even if you find the perfect location don’t show the landlord rep that you love the space. If your team is running around all excited about the space you could potentially give up your negotiating position. Even if you are thinking it do not tell them that the space is the front runner..

Compare each commercial property by taking photos and notes – After looking at a few offices you will forget details about each one. Make sure to take lots of office pictures and notes so you will remember the details about each one for comparison later.

Drive around the parking lot and garage if there is one – Get to know where you and your employees will park? Is the parking covered or uncovered? How far from your space is it located? Will there be plenty of parking for your visitors?

Visit the office building at the beginning and end of a work day – Traffic will differ in the mornings and evenings so make sure to visit at both times to get a feel for traffic patterns. Depending on the location traffic could be better or worse during different times of the day.

Scan the building directory – Who are the other tenants in the building? Do they compliment what you do or compete with you? Consider popping in a few other tenant spaces and asking them about their experience in the building

Make sure the landlord agents know that you are viewing multiple commercial properties – They will try to ask questions to determine if they have a competitive advantage. Do not tell them which other properties you are viewing. Make it clear that you are looking at multiple office locations.

Look at the restrooms and other common areas – Make sure they are clean and in good shape. Clean bathrooms say a lot about a commercial building owner. Also make sure to visit the other amenities such as fitness centers and building conference rooms if they have them.

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