10 mistakes to avoid when you rent an office

The 10 mistakes to avoid when renting business premises

The commercial real estate market is particularly alive with regard to rent: in the vast majority of cases, companies prefer to rent the premises where they do business, rather than buying them.
In fact, every entrepreneurial activity is characterized by a certain degree of risk, especially in a period like the current economic uncertainty, therefore the rental solution is actually the most prudent one.

Those who have searched commercial premises for rent at least once in their lifetime know that the best offers must be seized immediately. When you find a place you like, the rush to conclude could cause you to run into beginner mistakes, which you would then regret bitterly.

Here are the ten things you should not do when you’re negotiating for an office for rent:

1) not read the contract from top to bottom

you have to read it carefully not once, but several times. To avoid the pressure to read it in front of the proponent, you can ask them to send you a draft.

2) to rent from a family member or friend without a contract

renting the property from an acquaintance at a super affordable price may seem like a great idea. Not so, because you never know what can happen (besides being illegal and not allowing you to deduce the rent from taxation)

3) not negotiate the price or anything else you don’t like

if you believe that the price is excessive or that a contract clause is abusive, all you have to do is ask. Speaking doesn’t cost and makes things clear, avoiding unpleasant misunderstandings.

4) accept verbal agreements that the owner doesn’t want to include in the contract

if the owner promises you something verbally, but does not want to include it in the contract, you have no guarantee that the agreement will be respected. Everything is always better if you put it on paper.

5) not to sign all the pages of the contract

all experts recommend signing all the pages of the contract on both copies, so that it is not possible to modify the contents.

6) not to check the condition of the property before signing the contract

the deposit due to the owner can be used to cover any damage caused by the tenant to the rented premises. To prevent them from accusing you of having damaged something that was already broken, the best thing is to check the actual conditions of the office at the time of the conclusion of the contract.

7) not to write down all of the property defects

it is always advisable to make a list of all the defects of the office / warehouse / workshop, to be included as an annex to the contract.

8) pay in advance

do not pay anything in advance until you see the premises and sign the contract. In the event that you have to pay a deposit to hold the property, it is important that you specify on which basis you paid the money and what will happen if, for example, you give up renting it.

9) accept halter clauses

there are owners who are very afraid to rent to the wrong person / company so they cross the thin red line between a safe rent and unfair terms. Never accept such a contract and try to reach an agreement.

10) agree to pay expenses that are not up to you

before renting a commercial space it is best to check very well what are the expenses that belong to the landlord and which to the tenant. The contract must specify which repair costs are due and to whom.

Commercial leasing in Atlantic Business Center

At Finstar we like to do things properly and we follow the rule of “clear agreements long friendship”: each lease negotiation is accompanied by clear clauses and according to law, any contract is signed in all its parts by landlord and tenant, each contract is duly registered and each expense documented in detail. We only like surprises if they are beautiful and only as a birthday present.