There is no denying that real estate is one of the best things to invest your money. Whether you buy and sell properties, or buy and lease them out to others, if you do it right, you can virtually guarantee a healthy return on your investment. Commercial property, in particular, is a good way of growing your money.
The thing is, some investors don’t realize the significance of making their properties more attractive to potential buyers or tenants. As a result, they stand to lose a lot of extra profit. You are likely reading this blog post today because you want to ensure that your commercial property or office space is as attractive to all prospective clients as possible.
With the above in mind, how can you ensure that your commercial property will get snapped up by businesses and organizations looking for premises like yours? Take a look at the following methods to make your commercial property more attractive to clients:
1. Start with a clean slate.
The first thing you need to do is ensure that your commercial premises are ready for a buyer or tenant. Prospective buyers and tenants are more likely to be interested in properties that are ready for them to move into, rather than ones where they would need to carry out remedial work and redecorate.
If you have one or more commercial properties that you lease to tenants, or you buy such premises to sell on for a profit, be sure to dispose of any waste. That means things like old furniture, equipment, and so forth. And should the walls and ceilings look a little worn out and tired, give them a few coats of white paint to make the spaces look fresh and modern.
2. Tidy up any outdoor spaces.
When a prospective client or visitor goes to the property to visit the tenant or buyer, they won’t want to have a bad first impression of their premises. With that in mind, if there is a lot of trash outside, make sure it gets removed.
Similarly, if there is any debris or building rubble, have it disposed of responsibly by a waste management company. It would help if you also carried out any remedial work to the external areas, such as having potholes in the car park repaired or any exterior surfaces repainted.
If there are any raised flower beds outside of the premises, consider having a gardener or landscaping expert make the premises more welcoming by adding some new plants, flowers, and shrubs. You might be reading the above and thinking to yourself that such actions are overkill and a waste of money. But, you’d be surprised how such subtle things can have a considerable impact on a person’s decision to buy or lease a commercial building.
3. Check the gas and electrical supplies and services.
Selling or leasing an unsafe building won’t just make you have a guilty conscience; it can even be against the law as well. That’s why it makes sense to ensure that the building’s gas and electrical supplies and services are safe, fit for purpose, and ready for the next occupier to use.
You should make sure that only qualified gas and electrical technicians inspect your building’s utility supplies and make good any issues where necessary. Plus, you’ll have the added bonus that you can tell any new buyers or tenants that your building’s been signed off as having safe gas and electrical supplies.
4. Make your property earthquake-proof.
It doesn’t matter whether your commercial property is located in San Francisco or the middle of Nashville. Earthquakes can strike at any time, and sometimes in places that have previously had little to no earthquake activity.
There are many things you can do to ensure that your commercial premises are likely to still be standing after an earthquake. For instance, you could enlist the help of a company that offers seismic soft story retrofit services. You could even go to the expense of reinforcing the foundations if it meant attaining a higher return on your investment. It all depends on what you want to do (i.e., sell or rent out the building) and how much money you’re happy to spend making your property earthquake-proof.
5. Install energy-saving features.
Businesses and other organizations today are keen to keep their costs down as much as possible when it comes to utility services. One of the ways that they can do so is by making their working environment more energy-efficient.
There are several things you can do to your commercial premises to make them more energy-efficient – and more attractive to potential buyers and tenants. Examples include:
- Installing LED lighting;
- Installing motion detectors that automatically switch lights on as people enter a room;
- Replacing windows with energy-efficient ones that don’t cause heat loss;
- Collecting rainwater and using it for toilet cisterns.
Those are just four of dozens of examples to make your commercial premises more energy-efficient.
6. Have asbestos removed or properly contained.
Commercial buildings constructed several decades ago are likely to have materials in them that contain asbestos. As you can appreciate, asbestos is not something you want to deal with yourself given the high risk to human health. With that in mind, it makes sense to have an asbestos survey carried out on your premises.
Once you have all the facts, you can then make an informed decision about whether to have items with asbestos in it disposed of or properly contained. The idea behind carrying out such work is that you can advise any future buyers or tenants that asbestos isn’t something they have to worry about before moving into the building.
Always use a professional asbestos survey and removal company. Don’t ever attempt to carry out any disposal or containment work yourself. Otherwise, you could end up putting yourself and even others around you in serious danger.
7. Make your commercial premises accessible.
If someone in a wheelchair wanted to visit a person working inside of your building, could they easily enter it and navigate their way to the reception area? And, once there, could they also make their way to the relevant area or floor without issue?
Should the answer be “no” then it makes sense to make your property more accessible to people with disabilities. For example, having concrete ramps with handrails in the car park area leading up to the building’s entrance will make life easier for people using wheelchairs and people that find it hard to walk.
If you’re planning to keep your multi-floor commercial premises and rent it out to tenants, you may also wish to invest in one or more elevators. Doing so will then make your building even more accessible to both visitors and workers alike. Plus, it will increase the value of your premises too.
8. Check all fire escapes and sprinkler systems.
No-one likes to think about it, but fires can quickly consume the contents of a commercial building and even pose a huge risk to people stuck inside. With that in mind, it’s vital that you check all fire escapes aren’t blocked and that all fire sprinkler systems are working as they should.
Fire escapes must be clearly marked, and all smoke alarms and sprinkler systems should work immediately when they get triggered. It’s also worth checking fire extinguishers are fully operational and replace the ones that aren’t working.
Final thoughts.
As you’ll have seen above, there are many ways to make your commercial premises more enticing to prospective buyers and tenants. By investing some time, effort, and money into your property, you’ll increase your return on investment.
