Finding Leasing Opportunities

How do I find leasing opportunities? Conversely, how do I make sure my listing gets internet presence.

(Hit the pull down search key on my home page)

LOCATION LOCATION  LOCATION

  • First you have to have a business plan. You cannot lease property without a business plan.
  • Choose an appropriate Most good brokers have a creative streak in them. An appropriate broker is someone who has expertise in your required real estate type.  For instance, most industrial brokers would not be a good choice for a retail space, and vice versa.  Brokers are paid by the building owner in leasing situations, but should represent you. A good broker will ask you for an exclusive representation agreement – this is the only way you can assure that they will work their hardest to find you a successful location.  Don’t be afraid to sign up with a broker.  Also don’t be afraid to dump that broker if they are not doing a good job for you.  Most agreements call for a quick termination by both sides, but don’t expect to fire a broker and go back to a property he showed you without that broker being involved.
  • Find your business cohorts – for instance – if your customers also drop off dry cleaning – dry cleaners are a cohort https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohort_analysis?wprov=sfti1
  • If you have an existing business – where are your clients coming from and what are their demographics? Your credit card bills have zip codes and there are a lot of services that will gather that information and give you a demographic analysis or location analysis, or you can plot it yourself.  Then all you have to do is to match/compare this against new locations.
  • Amenities and Services
  • Landlord – a bad landlord will make your life more difficult
  • Zoning – Don’t assume that your business use will fit in a space. Talk to the Zoning department of the municipality or Ward. Most municipalities now have Business Development Directors whose job it is to help fill vacant spaces.  These people are a great source of information and love to talk.  They can help you find available spaces in their market. The big change in zoning over the last 15 years has been the fact that almost all Municipalities have gone to “Special”    What this means is that unless the zoning exactly matches your use (most don’t), you will need a variance.  This is the local means of not only being able to dictate the use, but approve the tenant.  They will want to know how many employees you have, sales potential, tax potential, impact on adjacent land owners etc.  Bottom line, municipalities are going beyond zoning and trying to get their nose in your tent.  This can add months to the occupancy time line, and can make you look at the Municipality as a partner “without benefits”.
  • Good retail locations will defy e-commerce headwinds
  • Visibility
  • Signage
  • Parking
  • Traffic Flow
  • Business hours – some locations are 8 hrs some are 24/7.
  • Co-tenancy – who are your neighbors?
  • Cost of renovating the premises for your use.

Franchise https://www.franchise.org

Many, Many new ideas and franchise opportunities are out there.  I really find Franchise Fairs and Events fun.  A lot of energy, ideas and opportunities. http://www.franchiseshowinfo.com/media/6937/schedule.pdf

Online – there are all kinds of leasing sites popping up almost daily.  Some are peer-to-peer and are just getting started, and some have already been bought by Costar/Loopnet. Costar is the “evil empire” who is trying to corner the market on real estate information.  I’m not convinced that someone is not going to get into someone’s pocket with these peer-to-peer sites.

Of course, a good appropriate Broker has access to all of these sites and will include them in his search for you.  If you are listing your property, you want to be listed on all of these sites, and your broker should be savvy enough with internet marketing to make sure you are properly represented.