Southcreek News

Finding Kansas City Office Space for Beginners

Decisions about office space are some of the most unfamiliar and complex decisions facing small businesses have to make when starting an office. If you get too much space in a bad location, you will be stuck paying too much. If you get too little space you will find yourself having to move very soon. Figuring out how much space you need and the best location will help reduce the risks of moving to a new office space. Here are some questions to consider when relocating:

How much space do you need? Before you start your search, figure out how much space you will really need. That way you will not waste your valuable time looking at offices that are either too big or too small. Instead, take a little extra time to make an informed estimate about how much office space your business needs, then ask a real estate agent to only show you offices that within your size range.
Choosing an office location. Choosing the wrong location for your business could have a worse monetary impact on your business than only the cost of rent. Think about all implied aspects of selecting a location for your office in order to minimize costs while maximizing value.
Renting or Purchasing office space. Once you have figured out the proper size and best location for your office, consider whether it would be better for your business to lease or purchase space. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, so you will need to consider which issues are most important to your business, weighing the pros and cons of each option before you make the decision.

Do not jump straight into the search for office space…do a little planning and research first!

If you are looking for commercial realty in Kansas City, give a DDI Commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100 for information on our available spaces!

6 Tips for Renting Commercial Real Estate in Kansas City: Part III

Here are a few final tips to keep in mind while searching for a new office space for your small business:

5. Understand your market. It is so important for you as a tenant to be educated and to look at a lot of spaces. There are a lot of terms and nuances for small business owners to understand, such as renewals, termination rights, escalator clauses, and more—and these things can be favorable for your business in the current economy if you know how to negotiate them. It might be worth considering finding a good broker or attorney to help you with this process.
6. Investigate your potential landlord. You will want to check into the creditworthiness of the landlord—are they in any kind of trouble? Restructuring loans they can’t pay? In this economy, you need to be careful and make sure you know a little about the financial health of the property owner you are renting from.

This is a really good time for small businesses to be looking for new office spaces, and opportunities like this might not be around again for a while. The market is in transition and landlords are anxious to fill their properties, so now is a good time find space. Do a little research and put yourself in a position to find yourself an attractive deal!

If you would like to learn about office lease rates in Kansas City, give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100!

6 Tips for Renting Commercial Real Estate in Kansas City: Part II

If you think it might be time for your business to relocate, now is the time to do it, especially if you are a small business. The current economy has forced landlords to be more open to renting to smaller tenants, increasing your office space options. Here are a few more tips for how to capitalize on this opportunity:

3. Try to get concessions. Do not accept the rent rate at face value. Landlords are so desperate to generate any revenue from a property, that they will be more open to negotiation, so you might be able to get lower-than-advertised rent rates. Landlords will ideally want to lower rent in the form of improvement dollars, which means they will subsidize renovations to the space, or give you a rent-free period, so that it does not seem like rent prices are actually going down. You might also be able to negotiate a cap on rent increases in anticipation of inflation in the future. Another thing you could negotiate for is perks like parking spaces, garbage removal, maintenance and repairs, or snow-clearing if necessary.
4. Take the security deposit seriously. Landlords find these very important because they are concerning about the risk of tenants failing in the recession. If you are moving into a new space, your security deposit will most likely be about 10% of your total lease, and you might also have to provide a letter of credit or a personal guarantee. The only possible exception to this rule is subleases, which might only be able to afford to ask for one or two months’ rent as the deposit.

Do a little research so you are aware of all of these aspects of relocating your business, especially in this economy!

If you are looking for Kansas City office space for rent, give a DDI Commercial real estate broker a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!

6 Tips for Renting Commercial Real Estate in Kansas City: Part I

One of the few upsides to this economic rough patch is that the real estate market for small offices is full of good opportunities. Here are a few tips for small business on how to capitalize on this chance to get a good deal on a small office rental:

Think Small – Landlords who previously were not interested in leasing to smaller tenants now want to diversify and are interested in dividing larger spaces into smaller ones for smaller tenants. This has increased the number of office spaces small businesses can consider in their searches.
Get the right duration. Whether you are looking for short term or long term, you have a decent chance of getting the lease length you want. Previously, landlords could set a lease length at around 5 years, and not have to negotiate, but now tenants have more of an upper hand. Smaller businesses should stick to one or two year leases, because you do not know how long you will be around, but thriving companies might consider taking the opportunity to get a long term lease.

Knowing a little bit about how the current state of the economy affects the real estate market can help you make informed decisions as you search for commercial realty in Kansas City.

If you think you want to move your business into a commercial space for lease in Kansas City, give us a call at 913-685-4100 and find out about our variety of available spaces for small businesses!

Tips for After You Relocate to a New Kansas City Office Space for Rent

Moving to a new state can be almost as much work for a small business owner as when you first started your business. Just as when you first started up, you will need to register and comply with state and local tax laws and apply for any necessary permits and licenses. Here are a few items to put on your checklist to get done once you have moved:

Register with your local government for any business permits or licenses you might need. There are online tools to help you figure out what permits and licenses you might need based on your new zip code and your business type.
Make sure you register for a “doing business as” naming permit.
Contact the local revenue agency to apply for a new tax ID number and make sure that you are aware of all city and county business tax regulations.
Be sure to take care of your employer responsibilities, such as disability insurance, unemployment insurance, and worker’s compensation insurance, which you can take care of on your state’s website.

These are all legal issues that you need to take care of when relocating, but which you can address after you have already moved into the new location.

Looking for a small office lease in Kansas City? Give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about some of our commercial space for lease in Kansas City!

Paperwork Tips for LLCs Moving to a New Office Space in Kansas

When your business needs to relocate, this process can involve a lot of paperwork, especially if you are moving to a new state. If you are an LLC relocating, you have several options for how to handle your registration paperwork:

• Keep your registration as an LLC in your previous state, and also register as a foreign or outside LLC in the new state. However, this can be an expensive option because you might have to pay fees in both states.
• Dissolve or liquidate your LCC in the previous state and form a new one in your new location. This will not result in any tax consequences.
• Set up an LLC in your new location, then have members contribute membership interests from the previous LLC.
• Set up an LCC in the new state and merge your original LLC with it. Provided that the original owners of the LLC still have at least 50% of their stake in the new one, it can be relatively easy to handle the tax issues.

It could not hurt to check with the IRS and research a little further before moving any business to a new state, just to make sure you are aware of any changes in your tax requirements.

If you are interested in office rental space in Kansas City, give a commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!

Paperwork Tips for Before You Move to a New Kansas City Office Space

There are a lot of things that need to be taken care of when re-locating your business to a new state: selecting a new location, understanding local market, writing business plans, and more. However, with proper planning, you can minimize the stress of this process. Here are some tips on how to deal with paperwork that might make at least some aspects of the moving process go more smoothly:

If you are a sole proprietor, the main thing you will need to do is file a “doing business as” name registration in your new state, which you can easily find directions for online.
If you are relocating as a corporation, you have a few different options for handling registration paperwork:
Keep your registration as a corporation in your previous state, and also register as a foreign or outside corporation in the new state. However, this can be an expensive option because you might have to pay fees in both states.
Dissolve your corporation status in your former state and establish a corporation in your new state. However, this option might have an effect on employee benefits or have expensive tax consequences.
Establish your corporation in the new state, and then merge your old corporation with it. This option will eliminate the need to pay fees in both states, and can allow for tax-free reorganization.

Understanding your options and what is required of you—and maybe even talking to a lawyer—when it comes to this kind of paper work can help your business transition more easily to a new state.

If you are looking into executive office rental in Overland Park, give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out more about our available office rental space in Overland Park.