There are several ways to protect your business when it comes to the improvement area in the lease. In some leases, the landlord won’t put together plans for the space and won’t cost them out until after the lease is signed. This isn’t the way we like to work, as ... Read More
Tag: commercial property
26
Jul2013
We love our tenants, but we see them make a great deal of unavoidable mistakes. The number one mistake we see tenants make? They don’t start the negotiations until it’s too late. If you’ve been following my earlier posts you know this is something we’ve run into many times over ... Read More
July 26, 2013Lynn Drake
12
Jul2013
How much should one expect to pay for a security deposit? Well, like most things in real estate, everything is negotiable. As tenant representatives, we always request that our client not have to pay a security deposit. In the case of some of the largest organizations we represent, we are ... Read More
July 12, 2013Lynn Drake
06
Jun2013
I live just outside of Rochester Hills, MI. Our downtown is a quaint one, recalling dreams of Americana with shops and restaurants galore. About a year ago, it was decided that the main street – the heartbeat of downtown Rochester Hills – should be replaced. Getting downtown became a nightmare. ... Read More
June 6, 2013Lynn Drake
30
May2013
With the exception of a few lucky cities whose markets are raging back to life, we don’t expect vacancy rates for most US cities to ever go below 10%. Why? For starters, many older buildings need to be torn down. Vacant buildings quickly become homes to homeless people unless someone ... Read More
May 30, 2013Lynn Drake
11
Apr2013
Last year, I sat on a panel led by Knoll with many designers and architects, and we discussed the ratio of people to a desk. Currently in most major companies, the ratio is 2-3 to a desk. In a sales organization the ratio can be as high as 20 employees ... Read More
April 11, 2013Lynn Drake
25
Mar2013
What I’m about to share with you might come as a surprise. Are you aware that the large insurance companies got together a few years ago and decided as a group not to offer notice of cancellation policies to landlords? Well, that’s not 100% true – you can get it, ... Read More
March 25, 2013Lynn Drake
11
Mar2013
Let me tell you a story. We were working with a nonprofit on a lease renewal in Ann Arbor. The original landlord of the building was excellent – the trouble only began when he passed away and his son took over. The lease had what we in the business call ... Read More
March 11, 2013Lynn Drake
27
Feb2013
Does the song sound familiar? Well, it’s a tune every tenant should be singing – twice a year. That’s right. Every tenant should check their lease expiration date twice, and make sure to start their search at least a year in advance. Wondering why? Doesn’t a year sound a bit ... Read More
February 27, 2013Lynn Drake
19
Feb2013
This past year, it seemed we ran into more landlords who worked against our clients than we did landlords who worked with them. In Virginia, every time we found a subtenant for a sublease, the landlord in question would lure them over to another listing in the building. Meanwhile, in ... Read More
February 19, 2013Lynn Drake