How do you find office space?

[midnight armadillo]

My fantasy of making my 2nd job my fulltime job may be coming true...enough so that I am looking for office space to rent. This would make for a shorter commute for me in a good spot for attracting other employees.

Question is...where do you go to find office space? I think once I am feeling up to it (I am laid low by asthma right now) I will bike around the prime locations and see what I find.

[XemaSab]

1. Yeah

I'm going to have to ask you to come in on Saturday? Yeah.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. That would be great.

[Initech]

7. PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean?

:rofl:

[XemaSab]

9. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0WAYmVcqys

[leeroysphitz]

14. That's awesome. n/t

[Lethe]

8. Peter, yeah. We need to talk about your TPS reports.

Did you get that memo?

[paulsby]

10. if you play the video game F.E.A.R.

while you are cruising around the office complexes, you will see TPS reports lying on some of the desks.

i thought that was a great touch.

[david13]

2. I don't know where in Mass you find it, but around here, you find it

everywhere. For many years there has been a 20 to 30 % or more vacancy rate.
Take your pick.
dc

[midnight armadillo]

5. that's a good point

I will keep that in mind!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. It's everywhere. Lots of vacancies.

[UndertheOcean]

6. Set a room in your home as your office , you will save rent that way !

[GOPisEvil]

11. There are realtors that specialize in commercial real estate.

Since this type of lease may be unfamiliar to you, I would suggest getting someone on your side.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. +1. n/t

[gmoney]

13. location, location, location

Just look around an area that's going to be convenient for you, your employees, and customers. Or maybe customer convenience is your top concern. Look in that area for "Space Available" signs... most buildings have them these days. Figure out how much space you're likely to need (one big room, several smaller rooms, a fancy reception area, conference room, etc.) and keep that in mind.

Walk through the buildings, check out the bathrooms (if they're not clean, your landlord will give you trouble) and if you like it, pop your head into one of the smaller offices and explain that you're considering renting in the building and you'd like to speak to the office manager. Ask the manager what their experience has been with the landlord, what security is like (especially at night), and if you get a positive report, contact the building management.

If you can take the place without a lot of improvements, you'll save a lot of money, as any "build out" expenses get buried in your monthly lease amount. Also, you may be able to negotiate a revised "default" clause -- tell them your intention is not to move, but if the economy turns or other foreseen events, you want to limit your liability to 3 months rent, rather than the entire remaining term of the lease. (My building is filled with space that is vacant, but the "tenants" are stuck paying for because they signed multi-year leases.)

If you think your business would need more space if things are successful, see if you can get a "right of first refusal" on adjacent spaces.

Also, remember the value of your time... if you can have a 5 minute commute, it might be worth an extra couple hundred bucks in rent compared to getting a cheaper place that's 30 or 40 minutes away.