If you are a business owner, it is likely that you will become a tenant at some point. Tenants lease an office from a landlord to run their day-to-day business activities. The tenant might be a team of two accountants who rents five hundred square feet in a small office building. The other is an international shipping company that leases five hundred thousand square feet of oversized space. The business activities of tenants are different, but the process of finding and maintaining space is similar.
Benefits of renting an office
The idea of ownership is ingrained in the subconscious of many business owners. However, leasing has its advantages. Sometimes these benefits outweigh the benefits of ownership. Good reasons to realestate malta are:
Avoid obsolescence: by renting out an office, you can move into a new, modernized property after the termination of the current lease. Every couple of years, you can move to the latest equipment and take advantage of its improvements.
Cost Stability: Leases are usually structured with incremental increases or fixed rates, which provide a reliable picture for financial analysis. This stability allows you to correctly predict future costs. As a tenant, you don’t have to worry about building up a capital reserve in case the roof collapses.
Flexibility: Renting an office may be the best option for your business, as it frees up capital to upgrade equipment, hire employees, and so on.
Location: You may not be able to afford a building in the city center, but you can rent a space in the same area with high demand.
Tax Deductions: Lease payments are tax deductible, as are operating expenses. Talk to your accountant about tax credits for renting space, including depreciation improvements.
Search for a broker
Many potential tenants are hesitant to hire a broker to help them find a property. Some people think it’s too expensive; others hate the thought of narrowing down their choices. Commercial real estate brokers make a living serving you, the client. Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider getting a broker on your side:
Lawyer: Think of your broker as your personal advisor. In the same way that you maintain confidentiality when talking to your doctor or lawyer, your broker will not disclose information to any third party unless you give permission to do so. That being said, you should expect your broker to be honest with you, and you with her. You and your consultant can spend countless hours talking on the phone, driving around looking at properties, or drafting proposals over iced coffee.
Market Knowledge: A good broker knows his market. It can tell you what’s available and what the current rates are. Your broker will also be aware of properties not yet on the market.
Resources: The commercial real estate world is more specialized than the residential arena and, as a result, is sometimes more difficult to deal with. There is no central multiple listing service (MLS) in the commercial real estate industry. Each commercial firm uses different systems to search for real estate, and each broker has its own system. A good broker should have a well-developed system for collecting the information needed to find places. Some of these resources may not be available to you.
Saving you money: A good broker knows the prevailing market rates and can negotiate a better deal for you. I have seen too many small (and even a couple of large) businesses that are new to the leasing process and think they can do it themselves. They find a place they like, contact a real estate agent, and give the landlord whatever he wants. The broker will raise a red flag if anything out of the ordinary comes up (such as an overcharge, exorbitant common area maintenance fees, or lease terms that could negatively impact your business).
They are free: can you believe that in most cases you get the services of real commercial real estate professionals for free? In most rentals, the landlord pays your malta real estate (also called the tenant’s representative) a rental fee.
Time: Broker saves you time and effort. Let him look for and find an office for rent. She must organize the showings and liaise with the listing broker. The broker will also handle most of the rental negotiations for you. All you have to do is raise any questions you have, walk through the potential space, and make final statements.
