Renegotiating a lease?
"Rent increase" is a term not used much in the last couple of years in SW Florida or in many other places throughout the USA. If your lease is expiring, you may be surprised as to how flexible and cooperative your landlord may be to keep you as a tenant. Even if your lease is not due, you may be able to obtain concessions from your landlord. With property values down and vacancies on the increase due to failures of businesses, now is an excellent time to review your own plan for the next few years. If your business is struggling, the landlord may allow an abatement of part of your rent for several months or a year to keep you in business and as a tenant. Now might also be the opportunity to move to a larger or more desirable location for little or no increase in rent. The first place to check is with your current landlord. They may have a property available and it puts them on notice that you may move if you find a better deal.One thing to keep in mind though is that if a deal is too good to be true it might just be. Rents are down but not free, so remember that if the landlord does not have the cash flow to meet expenses, maintenance issues may become a problem or you may even have to deal with foreclosure.
