I'm looking to open a business, what are some good ways to search for a place to lease?

Question

I want to start a business that provides service, not products. A small space will do for now, but I cant seem to find a good, consistent way of searching for open spots for lease.

Answer 1

if you drive around a populated area you will see a lot of signs. I went to Chicago yesterday and saw many "For lease, for rent" commercial space. I guess since the bad economy alot of small business are closing and thats why there is alot. But good luck!

Answer 2

Second that Craigslist!

Answer 3

Call a Realtor who specializes in commercial real estate. There are also property management companies who will have a list of available properties for lease, get to know all of those by looking in the yellow pages and calling. Those guys have most of it sewn up and probably know about the rest.

You should be able to search Realtor listings by going to http://www.realtor.com/ and choosing your area and preferences to search.

Answer 4

why not use your home garage for now?

Answer 5

drive around in downtown areas...most populated.

try newspapers..and other things.

look at the areas that are MOST visited. even if it meens drivng 20-40 minutes away to it...it would be worth it ;)

Answer 6

Commercial real estate is tricky.  They tend to be more secretive about their information for some reason.  I have never really understood why they wouldn't have a big MLS like residential...or like a realtor.com for commercial.

Try somewhere like loopnet.com as a start, but the best thing you can do is just find a local commercial realtor.  You'll want someone on your side when it comes down to signing a lease or a purchase agreement anyway.

Answer 7

Checkout Craigslist.com; there are office listings in the real estate section.