Tenant Representation Process

What to Expect During the Tenant Representation Process

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If you are considering a tenant representative to guide you in finding the right commercial real estate for leasing, you may wonder what to expect from the process. Experienced tenant representation is a way to find not only the ideal location to lease but also to understand and negotiate the lease to set your business up for success. Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect when you have the right tenant representative on your side.

What Is Tenant Representation?

Tenant representation is a form of commercial real estate brokerage. This means you have an agent who focuses on your needs and interests. The role is similar to that of a buyer’s broker for someone in the market to purchase a property. However, in this case, you are leasing. A tenant representative will guide a tenant through a commercial real estate leasing transaction—from start to finish. They take the stress out of the property finding and leasing process.

What Does a Tenant Representative Do?

Your tenant representative will handle several tasks related to your commercial real estate search and leasing experience, including:

  • Helping you decide whether it’s best to relocate or renew a lease
  • Finding the ideal commercial real estate space to meet your needs
  • Explaining the conditions and details of a lease agreement
  • Successful negotiating of the lease

Because as a tenant, you are not necessarily an expert in commercial real estate, your tenant rep will use their extensive knowledge and expertise to help you avoid mistakes and achieve the best outcomes possible for your business.

How Does the Tenant Representation Process Work?

When you hire a tenant rep, the first thing they should do is conduct a thorough needs assessment to get to know your business goals and commercial real estate needs. Then, they will be there with you every step of the way—from site selection and lease negotiations to lease expirations and renewals.

Having a tenant rep is like having your own personal commercial real estate expert. Your rep will make your business interests their top priority. While a landlord may be too busy to answer your questions, a tenant representative will answer all of your questions and help you get the information you need to make the best leasing decisions for your business. Tenant representation ensures you understand all the terms and conditions of a lease agreement, so you can move forward with confidence.

Secure Trusted Tenant Representation at McBride & Ceballos

At McBride & Ceballos Commercial Real Estate, we provide attentive, professional tenant representation so you can have the most successful commercial leasing experience. We understand that poorly negotiating a lease can be devastating to your business. Let us facilitate a smooth, hassle-free process that sets your business up for profitability.

Contact McBride & Ceballos Commercial Real Estate today to learn more about our tenant representation process or to get started.

Benefits of Tenant Representation

5 Benefits of Tenant Representation

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It’s common for landlords to have representation during a commercial real estate negotiation. Therefore,  more tenants are discovering how beneficial tenant representation can be. If you are a tenant looking for office, retail, or warehouse space in the Gwinnett County area, finding a trusted professional tenant representative that can help you achieve a hassle-free and successful real estate negotiation process.

Here are the top 5 benefits of tenant representation before you move forward:

#1: Improved Landlord Communication

The truth is, it’s not always easy to communicate with busy landlords. They may not always return your calls. Sometimes they will leave you wondering how to get the information you need to make a decision on a potential property.

An experienced tenant representative will have established a relationship with landlords in your area. Also, they will leverage those relationships to get the information you need when you need it. No more waiting around for phone calls or leaving messages that may not get a prompt response.

#2: Find the Right Space for Your Unique Needs

Choosing a suitable space for your business is crucial to your profitability and business growth. Your tenant representative will help you identify the features you must have to set your business up for success. Then, they will connect you with the commercial properties to meet your needs. They’ll help you narrow down the must-have features such as location, parking, and amenities and work with you to find the perfect property that checks all the boxes.

#3: More Effective Lease Negotiation

One of the most challenging aspects of pursuing a commercial property is the lease negotiation. In most cases, tenants will not have the knowledge to determine if the landlord is offering reasonable rates and conditions. Because tenant representatives are experts in commercial lease negotiations and real estate, they’ll be able to guide you through the process.  They will also ensure you protect your interests.

The best tenant representation will add value to the process, helping you know the factors impacting the market and explaining all the details to you as you go. Then, they will negotiate the deal terms on your behalf.

#4: Clear Understanding of All Terms and Conditions

Commercial real estate can be complicated. From legal details and industry-specific terminology to real estate market factors, it’s impossible to understand it all unless you have experience in commercial real estate. To give you the best opportunity to find the right commercial space and ideal lease terms, choose a tenant representative to guide you. A tenant rep will take the time to explain all terms and conditions to you, so you have a clear understanding of the lease agreement and can feel confident moving forward.

#5: Save Time So You Can Focus on Your Business

Without tenant representation, you’ll spend countless hours trying to understand and negotiate the lease agreement on your own, which means your core business may suffer. Securing trusted representation will allow you to keep your business productivity high as you navigate the process.

Contact McBride & Ceballos Commercial Real Estate today to discover the benefits of tenant representation for your business.

Find the Right Commercial Building

6 Can’t-Miss Tips to Find the Right Commercial Building for Rent

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Renting the right commercial building is a very personal decision. You want everything about the property you select to be just right. After all, the needs of your company vary from the requirements of another. Moving into the first building you see may not be the best choice. Instead of settling for second-best, follow these tips to ensure you find the right commercial building for your business.

Create a Wish List

Close your eyes and envision the perfect commercial property. What do you see? Before you start searching for buildings, write down your non-negotiable and nice-to-have requirements. For instance, you may prefer high ceilings but absolutely need natural light. Creating a wish list for your ideal workspace will make it easier to sort through current listings. It will also ensure you don’t rent a space you outgrow before the lease expires.

Consider the Location

The location of the property should be on the top of your priority list. Too many business owners assume they can operate their company from any location, but this isn’t always the case. Those who regularly meet with clients, for example, need a space that’s easily accessible. However, if you run an industrial facility, you may want to look on the outskirts of town to save money.

Business Image Matters

How do you want your clients, customers, or employees to view your company? The right commercial building should reflect your business image. Trendy, high-tech companies may feel at home in a warehouse or loft with exposed beams, for instance. But those who handle more white-collar clients may prefer a traditional office space.

Parking Is Paramount

Before signing a lease, make sure you ask about the parking situation. Is there a free car lot, or will you have to pay an additional fee? And will your clients or customers be able to park easily? Parking may not be an issue if the building is near public transportation. But if you plan on commuting to work each day, you don’t want to spend extra time searching for a parking spot.

Know Your Budget

How much can you really afford to allocate towards rent? You may find the perfect building that has every amenity you could ever possibly want. But if it’s out of your budget, you should look elsewhere. Know the true cost of renting the building before you sign a contract. In addition to the base rent, there may be additional fees, including taxes or zoning costs. Set a firm budget, and stick with it.

Find the Right Commercial Building with the Right Real Estate Firm

Searching for a commercial rental property on your own is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You need someone who knows how to negotiate a fair commercial lease and who will advocate for you. When the time comes to rent a new space, hiring a commercial real estate firm is perhaps the best decision you can make.

McBride & Ceballos Commercial Real Estate wants to help you sign the lease on your next office, retail space, or warehouse building. No matter your business’s needs, our team will work diligently to ensure you move into the ideal space. We take pride in representing our clients from start to finish. Check out our reviews, and contact us today to find the right commercial building for rent.

Ask Yourself This Before You Look for Commercial Space – Part 2

Ask Yourself This Before You Look for Commercial Space – Part 2

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In part 1 of this article, we considered the location and general questions you want to answer before looking at your first commercial property. In this part, we look at the questions to ask about the actual space configuration requirements needed to run your business. You want to strike the right balance. You’ll need enough space so that your employees are happy, your operations function efficiently, you are portraying the appropriate image, and maybe so you even have room for some growth, all without breaking the bank.

Every company has different commercial real estate needs that are specific to their industry. For instance, a medical office might need exam rooms and a lab, a restaurant usually needs walk-in coolers and a grease trap, and a distribution company probably needs docks or drive ramps.

Essential Questions to Ask Before you Look for Commercial Space

These basic questions should give you a good starting place. You will be on the right track when you begin to research what’s available for lease on the commercial real estate market.

  • What kind of commercial property do you need? Industrial, office, retail, specialty?
  • How many square feet will you need?
  • Do you want an open floorplan, private offices, or a combination?
  • Do you anticipate needing room to grow?
  • What kind of improvements will you be asking the landlord for beyond paint and flooring?
  • Do you need any of the following: offices, storage rooms, kitchen or breakroom, conference room, showroom, reception area and or lobby, server room, training room, restrooms, workstations, or a warehouse?
  • Do you have any special electrical, heating, cooling, IT, security, safety, or regulatory requirements?

Of course, there are a lot more questions to ask that are particular to your situation.  In part three, we’ll look at typical qualifying questions a landlord might ask you.  If you need help, in the meantime, check out our reviews, and then ask us to help you today.

Ask Yourself This Before You Look for Commercial Space – Part 1

Ask Yourself This Before You Look for Commercial Space – Part 1

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Before you look at your first property or make an appointment to tour or make your first lease proposal, you have to start at the beginning. You have to define your requirements. There are a number of important questions to ask to accurately define your requirements. As brokers, there are a number of questions we ask our clients to move from a rough idea of their needs to a clearly defined objective. We will use this information to screen out unsuitable properties once we start to make calls on available sites.

To define your requirements, you first have to answer a lot of questions. In part one of this article, we’ll consider location and general questions.

Take look at what you’ll need to ask yourself before you look for commercial space.

  • What geographic areas are of most interest to you?
  • Is visibility important?
  • How many square feet will you need?
  • How many employees will be at this location?
  • What is your annual budget for rent, CAM, taxes, and insurance?
  • What length of the lease is preferable?
  • Is future expansion important?
  • When does your company intend to move in?
  • When does your current lease expire?
  • What are your parking and transportation needs?
  • Will your employees need access to public transportation?
  • Do clients visit you often?
  • What kind of image would you like to establish?

Asking these questions and others in advance will save you time and avoid starting in the wrong direction. Committing your requirements to paper will also help you as you visit properties to make sure nothing is overlooked. In part two of this article, we’ll look at questions to ask regarding space configurations and in part three we’ll look at typical qualifying questions a landlord might ask you. Of course, there are many more questions we ask our clients before we look at commercial space.

If you’re in the Atlanta area we certainly can assist your business find your next location. So, check out our reviews and then ask us to help you today.

Which is worse a vacancy or a bad tenant - 2

Vacancy Or Bad Tenant – Which is Worse

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A vacancy that drags on can take years to recover from. But when the only prospects showing interest have little experience, poor financing, or unproven business concepts, it’s tempting to take what you can get.

Considering Keeping the Vacancy

Do you consider the tenant or do you keep the vacancy? It is often said that a vacancy is better than a bad tenant. And a bad commercial tenant really can set you farther back than a vacancy ever would. Especially if you’ve spent significant money on new flooring, paint, and other build-out items. Now if they don’t pay or they are causing trouble with other tenants in the building, then you have the cost of evicting them. And when a disgruntled tenant leaves, they don’t often leave the space in a marketable condition. It certainly would have been better, in this case, to have kept the vacancy.

Taking a Chance on a Tenant

Of course, you eventually have to take a chance on someone, but could you have known this tenant prospect was someone you should have taken a pass on? While you can’t predict the future, you can improve your odds a prospect is going to be able to fulfill the full lease term and be an asset to the property. How you do that is called due diligence.

Due Diligence

Due diligence is a word generally associated with buying commercial real estate not leasing. But it applies here too. Folks often call it screening when referring to tenants, but I like the term due diligence better. It simply means making sure you’re getting what you pay for. Tenants will put their best foot forward when they are interested in a space. And often the bad ones flat out misrepresent themselves. Application verification, financial statements, business plans, are some of the essential ways of performing due diligence. But at the end of the day, you have to verify that what is on the paper is true. That’s due diligence.

Of course, there is much more to this topic, and we can definitely help you with it. Check out our reviews and then ask us to help you today.

Should You Buy Or Lease Commercial Real Estate For Your Business?

Should You Buy Or Lease Commercial Real Estate For Your Business?

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Many of our tenant clients confess to us that they have wondered if they should buy or lease commercial real estate. It’s a common question you hear brokers often ask. “Why lease when you can own”, they ask? This is not a bad question. It’s just an oversimplification. It’s not apples to apples. Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons to see if this is even something that is worth considering for your business.

Owning Commercial Real Estate

Some of the obvious benefits of owning commercial real estate would be that you’d be able to put that rent money toward paying off your mortgage instead of your landlord’s. You’d enjoy the tax advantages of being an owner. You wouldn’t have to get permission from a property manager to make modifications. And if you purchase a multi-unit building, you’d potentially receive rental income from your tenants.

Leasing Commercial Real Estate

However, with rights come responsibilities. As an owner, it’s not as easy to just pick up and move if you outgrow your space. Your upfront costs are far greater than leasing. You are responsible for things renters don’t have to consider. Renters do not think about mortgages, landscaping, security, utilities, deposits, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and possibly vacancies.

Of course, there is a whole lot more to this topic. In the final analysis, owning commercial real estate is a whole other business line. About 20% of US companies own the building they work in. The other 80% would argue they’d prefer to focus on their main business, and leasing makes it easier for them to do that.

Find out if Buying or Leasing is Best for Your Business

Since conventional wisdom holds that it takes about seven years for owning to outperform leasing, that’s probably the place to start your consideration. To discuss further whether owning makes sense for your business or if you’d like to look at space to lease, we certainly can help you with that. Check out our reviews and then ask us to help you today.

What Type of Location Is Best for Your Business?

What Type of Location Is Best for Your Business?

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The key to picking a profitable location is determining the factors that will increase customer volume for your business. So, ask yourself questions such as:

  • Are customers going to come on foot?
  • Will customers drive and, if so, where will they park?
  • If you locate near other similar businesses, will more customers come?
  • Will the reputation of the neighborhood or even of a particular building help draw customers?

Keep in mind that different types of businesses attract customers in different ways. Consider whether it would benefit your business to be around similar businesses that are already drawing the type of customers that you want.

The Perfect Location that is Best for Your Business

Ultimately, the perfect location for any business is a very individual matter. Spend some time figuring out the habits of the customers you want to attract, and then choose a location that fits.

My company, McBride and Ceballos, specializes in custom-designed leasing solutions for Atlanta based companies occupying office space. We’ve been particularly successful with law firms, tech companies, and professional trade organizations that are concerned about the accuracy of annual CAM charges, or unhappy with their building condition, or disappointed in their property management company. We’ve been able to create solutions that help our clients save time, focus, and money. We’d love to talk to you about your office space concerns. Let’s connect.

Four Questions to Ask About Your Business Location

Four Questions to Ask About Your Business Location

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Every business owner must figure out how location will (or won’t) contribute to the success of the business — and choose a spot accordingly. Though there are many issues to consider when you’re looking for space to house your business, make sure you ask yourself these four important questions about your business location:

  1. Is location important for the success of your business?
  2. What type of location is best for your business?
  3. How much rent can you afford?
  4. Is your proposed location appropriate for what you plan to do there?

My company, McBride and Ceballos, specializes in custom-designed leasing solutions for Atlanta based companies occupying office space. We’ve been particularly successful with law firms, tech companies and professional trade organizations that are concerned about the accuracy of annual CAM charges, or unhappy with their building condition, or disappointed in their property management company. We’ve been able to create solutions that help our clients save time, focus and money. We’d love to talk to you about your office space concerns.  Contact us today to discuss your options.

Is Location Important for the Success of Your Business?

Is Location Important for the Success of Your Business?

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For some businesses, the classic advice “location, location, location” is right on the mark — location can mean the difference between feast or famine. But for other enterprises, location may be much less important than finding affordable rental space. In fact, location is almost irrelevant for some businesses: service businesses that do all their work at their customers’ locations (such as roofers and plumbers) and businesses that have little contact with the public (such as mail-order companies, Internet-based businesses, and wholesalers). If these types of companies can pass on rent savings to their customers and their profit margin, picking a low-cost spot in an out-of-the-way area might be an advantage.

My company, McBride and Ceballos, specializes in custom-designed leasing solutions for Atlanta based companies occupying office space. We’ve been particularly successful with law firms, tech companies and professional trade organizations that are concerned about the accuracy of annual CAM charges, maybe their unhappy with their building condition, or just disappointed in their property management company. We’ve been able to create solutions that help our clients save time, focus and money. We’d love to talk to you about your office space concerns.

Give me a call at 404-275-0079. www.mcbrideandceballos.com or send me an email robert@mcbrideandceballos.com.