Although commercial real estate has faced many challenges due to the rise in remote work environments, many sectors are still doing well. Multi-family, retail, and industrial spaces are still seeing growth and good demand from tenants.
That means you have your choice of renters when you own a space. But you'll need to do your due diligence and create great leases if you want to protect yourself. Use the lease management tips below to streamline your leasing process and get great tenants in your spaces.
Create Lease Templates
You don't want to create a unique lease for every tenant you work with. Since most of the leases are likely the same for all applicants, creating templates you can reuse across your properties makes more sense.
Yes, you may slightly modify the agreement if a potential tenant has unique circumstances. But you can streamline the leasing process by coming to an agreement with a template to base the future lease.
Focus on Lease Renewals
It isn't enough to keep signing new leases whenever one expires. It takes time and money to market a property and sign new tenants. If you fail to do this, you risk vacancies that cost money.
It's better to focus on lease renewals. Spend time communicating with tenants to encourage them to renew. It's also smart to offer incentives and amenities that make your property more attractive to stay in.
Learn the Rules
There are many regulations landlords must adhere to when running rental properties. Rental property owners can't write leases however they want and impose a ton of restrictions on tenants. Doing this may get you in trouble with the local authorities.
Make sure you examine the regulations before signing leases. Have a legal expert review your lease agreements to verify that everything is legal.
Use Software
It's time-consuming to manage leases manually. You rely on meeting in person, signing papers, sending faxes, and other paper-related tasks. Why do that when improving lease efficiency is much easier with software?
You can do everything from tenant management to lease management software with online software today. Look at the modern best practices in leasing to see what the pros do to use technology.
Perform Inspections and Maintenance
You don't have to take your tenant's word that they are upholding your lease and do zero property inspections. Some tenants won't do their part and will let your commercial property degrade over time.
It's vital that you perform inspections to ensure your tenants are doing their parts. Take time to do this during regular maintenance to verify your tenants are fulfilling their requirements.
Streamline Your Lease Management Process
Managing your leases is one of the most important things you can do as a commercial property manager. You need great leases to ensure landlords and tenants understand their responsibilities and are held accountable when things go wrong. Use the guide above to streamline lease management and run efficient properties.
Do you want to work with a commercial property management partner that has property management tools and can help manage your real estate? At PMI San Jose, our team has years of experience in helping with all aspects of commercial property management. Get in touch to speak with our experts.
