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After months of searching, you've finally found the perfectlocation for your business. You're eager to sign on the dottedline. Not so fast! Before you commit to a location, make sure younegotiate a lease you can live with.
Rent is the largest expense for most businesses in commerciallocations, so it's important to get what you want from a lease,cautions Jack O'Donohue, executive vice president of commercialreal estate firm Stratford Associates in Fairfax, Virginia. Whilerents have gone up in many parts of the country, it's stillpossible to strike a bargain if you know how to negotiate.
To get a good deal, you or your real estate broker should alwaystry to modify the terms of a lease, says B. Alan Whitson, anational real estate consultant in Newport Beach, California."The standard lease is always written in the landlord'sfavor," he explains. "[It's up to you] to negotiatebetter terms.'
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