4 Tips for Leasing CRE During the Summer Months

Some businesses are incredibly seasonal. Some businesses, for example, like ice cream shops or retail shops in resort areas, are widely dependent on the revenue they generate in the summer months. Securing a good lease for these months can help play a great role in the success of the small window your business may have during the year.

If you’re looking to negotiate a lease for commercial real estate during the summer months, here are a few tips to help:

1. Understand Your Window

With a seasonal business, it is incredibly important to know when your business will do the most revenue. This is key for the lease because you want to ensure that you will have enough time with the property to be prepared to knock it out of the ballpark during that high revenue window.

This is also helpful in knowing how long the lease should be as well. Knowing not only when your best time is but also your when your business starts to slow is key. This will help you to know when the lease should start and when it should end.

2. Negotiate Operating Costs into Lease

Depending on your location, the summer months can be unpredictable in terms of weather and temperatures. Seeing extremely high temperatures throughout the summer can really influence your bottom line by having the air conditioning working overtime to keep your operations running cool.

When negotiating the lease, it is important to try and get a fixed cost for this so it is easier to plan expenses for your window rather than deal with variable costs possibly eating into profits even further. Landlords may be willing to do this for a higher overall rent or negotiate certain included expenses.

3. Be Flexible

Having flexibility for a summer lease is key because a landlord will not always be willing to give you the exact time that you are looking for. Having flexibility will allow you to adjust your timeline a bit. This is an extension of knowing your window, as that will help define how flexible you can be.

Working with the landlord so that both parties are satisfied is incredibly important so that you can help to develop an ongoing relationship with the landlord and maybe secure future leases with the same landlord as well.

4. Location, Location, Location

Of course, this is important when it comes to any type of real estate, but it is essentially key for a seasonal business. During your window, you want to have as much exposure as possible to bring in as many customers as you can. Helping to understand the demographics and data of the location is key before getting into a lease.

Things to look for here would be if it is an area that your target market frequents, if there is a lot of foot traffic or is it mostly vehicle traffic. It is also important to understand if there any rules or regulations of that particular area —not just from the landlord but the city as well.

If you’re thinking about signing a lease during the summer, be sure to connect with a local commercial real estate professional who can help you navigate the waters to success!