First commercial lease negotiation
I bought a 2 unit commercial building and have had it listed for about 6 months. The vacant half is configured as a large high-end hair salon, the other half is occupied by me.
I'm really excited to have my first interested party. But I'm feeling a bit nervous about the terms they're asking for, and I wanted to see what kind of input you all might have.
- I initially offered 3 months free rent to help get a business off the ground.
- They came back at me with 6 months free, no rent increase until 2022, AND I need to replace the windows, submeter water, replace some decking, do landscaping.
- I am just about to come back at them with no free rent, but I'll pay for their build out up to the value of 5 months of rent, plus windows/meters/ramp.
Now I'm realizing that that whole package is a ton of money, and I won't make any money for over a year. My agent is treating it as normal, is it normal?
I can understand that yeah the windows are needed because it's a fancy salon with an image to uphold, but at the same time if I just waited 1 year, I might find a tenant who would handle their own build out, and I might break even.
I'm also nervous about:
1. This isn't even an established company, there's some risk on the tenants themselves.
2. It's a bit wishy-washy who's responsible for their HVAC equipment, they want maintenance to be included in CAM which means I pay half of it. I want them to be responsible for filters/cleaning. I want to be between 20% and 90% responsible for replacement units if needed, but I'm not sure how to say that and what value is appropriate. On the other hand I'm ok with us firming up that all HVAC work is part of CAM, so I pay 50% of it always.
3. They're requesting I take on some initial landscaping outside of CA
Some additional background: It's a stand-alone building in the suburbs of Boston about a quarter mile from the highway and a large shopping center. I've had one tour every 45 days since listing. A sewing school and comic book shop decided it wasn't for them, most of the interest has come from hairdressers who are trying to start their own salon but mine is sized for a larger operation. I've been trying to catch a dentist or someone who wants to convert to office space, but I'm fine with a salon. I don't realistically know if I'm better off with the first offer or waiting it out.
What do you all think? Normal or too good of a deal?