have any of y'all heard of this before?

[nicole-kellie]

i am currently looking around at different office space for rent. my current lease is up for renewal in about 2 months and i'm just lookin' to see what other opportunities are out there before i make any decisions.

so today i went to look at a space that's in a newly renovated building. 2 spaces are available. one is finished but i'm not interested in it. the other is pretty perfect for what i would need. it's not quite finished. it needs the suspended ceiling put in, carpet & a wall to divide the lobby and the treatment room. now here's where my question comes in.

the guy (who is actually a really nice guy-from what i saw and also heard from 2 other renters in his building) said that rent is $525 but if i want them to finish it, the rent is an extra $50 a month. ?? WTH ?? have you heard of this before? I have to pay HIM an extra $50 a month for HIS office to be finished? after he told me about this i thought about it for a while. i keep trying to make sense of it but i don't get it. i put in a call to him to ask some more questions...one being this one...but was wondering if any of you have come across this before.

what do ya think?

 

[julietpro60]

I haven't heard of a landlord charging a tenant to finish a space. However, I have heard of tenants being responsible for the costs of renovating/changing existing spaces. (Putting up walls to create separate rooms, replacing stained carpet, etc.) Usually, these are "high demand" spaces, so the landlord knows it will rent quickly and he doesn't have to offer any incentives. Maybe this is the case with this one? I'd ask the other renters if they were offered a similar deal. Another consideration: maybe he always intended to charge $575 when it was finished, and the $525 is a "discount" price if you finish it yourself? (It would have been better marketing for him to state it this way )If $575 is a competitive rent in your area, it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me.

 

[brighteyes76a]

I am assuming you are paying for buildout?

When I rented my current office back in '98 it only had 2 walls, I had to pay for build-out... which meant walls, carpet, paint, doors, wall jacks and plugs, etc. etc.

Build-out was $3,000.

That was for a lease space in a building... so I am guessing maybe they are charging for the same sort of thing, just on a smaller scale and going to make it to where you pay monthly instead of having to come up with all the costs at once.

Note: I had to make a correction, as the earlier "build-out number I posted was for something different in a earlier year. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Shallow Abyss]

Some of my tenant improvements are factored into my monthly lease amount, and some were paid for cash. Its fairly typical in my area. But everything is negotiable. What length of lease are you looking at? You may have more playing room/bargaining power if you sign a longer lease.
Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[GET THEM OUT OF AZ]

I have also heard of this, but on an up front basis, for customizing a particular site. If he is doing this on a month to month basis, I'd suggest getting a concrete cost and making sure your agreement states that once that amount is reached your rent is reduced by that $50. I don't know about your area, but in TX, my realtor tells me that leases can be written ANY way you can get someone to agree to. hmmmm

 

[Nightwind: Mwa ha ha!]

thanks for all of your replies. yep ya'll are pretty much right on. i spoke with him today and he explained it to me and it all made perfect sense. i guess i was just used to where i'm at now....they cover everything.

he explained it sort of like this...when you go to rent a space (ie a mall, store etc) you are renting the space itself. they give you the space, cement floor, ceiling etc. the "extras" are to be taken care of by you. so i have the option of them finishing the space for me (putting in carpet, suspended ceiling, a wall) or i could finish it on my own. when they finish it, they add $50 on to the rent to cover the cost. when you do it, you pay for it up front.

not sure what i'm going to do yet. not sure how much it will cost for me to finish it but if i decide to rent this space, you know i'll be chatting with some friends to see if they'll do it for me and i'll pay them with massage! what a deal !