As a landlord of a commercial property, your ideal strategy should be to have long-term tenants who don’t need too much effort on your part. However, you need to start with the basics to attract and retain these high-quality “blue chip” tenants.

Start with maintenance and renovations

Any good tenant will want to be reassured that the property is fresh and well maintained. When your commercial property is between tenants, it’s time to bring in the trades to refresh the paint, check the wiring and plumbing, check for leaks and generally make the property an attractive proposition for renters. If you want to go the extra mile, and you’re leasing office premises, you could add indoor plants or do some simple landscaping.

Ensure your property is up to code

In South Australia, there are many regulations governing the use of commercial buildings, and environmental, health and safety. It is important to consider 

• Fire compliance, including fire exit doors and latches, powered emergency directional lighting

• Accessibility, including ramps, automatic doors and accessible amenities

• Sustainability, particularly important for new commercial property builds

  

Be aware of legislative changes 

Commercial leases can be complex and must adhere to a raft of regulations. Many regulations changed under the Retail and Commercial Leases (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2019 (SA) (Amending Act) that came into effect in July 2020. Don’t be caught out by constructing a lease that follows the older regulations.

Ensure you have a comprehensive digital marketing campaign

Simply putting a ‘Commercial premises for lease’ sign up isn’t going to help you attract the widest range of tenants. We make sure your property is marketed not only within Mount Gambier but within the state and in other states. Minimum standard property marketing with Herbert Commercial will include:

• Aerial photography to show the location of the tenancy in comparison to the city and  nearby facilities

• High-quality photography to present the property cleanly and professionally

• High-quality floor plan with clearly communicated measurements

• Large properties shown in multiple representations of how tenancies may be divided

  

Do not offer free rent

Other forms of incentive should be devised to encourage interest. Free-rent periods set a precedent at the start of a lease that often ‘catch’ tenants out when rent is due months into the lease and sets the standard preventing a ‘cheap mindset’ with negotiations. 

It is also important that the landlord is receiving a level of rent from month one of the tenancy. As an alternative, tenants are provided early access to establish fit-out and fixtures in advance of starting trade, which should align with the official lease start date.

Improve environmental sustainability 

Tenants will appreciate any upgrades that ensure the premises are more energy-efficient and sustainable. For them, it means lower outgoing costs. Think about replacing traditional lighting with LEDs, adding more natural light, installing solar panels and insulation, and installing flow limiters on taps. Note that there are minimum environmental standards to which landlords must adhere when renting their commercial premises, particularly in relation to new developments.
 

Provide parking

For comfort and safety reasons, most tenants and their employees will prefer dedicated parking. The value of a property that has its own open space allocation to provide car parking cannot be overstated!

Communicate with potential tenants and keep them informed

It is vitally important to check in with your tenants regularly. Do a soft follow-up to talk to them about how their tenancy is working out and their plans for the future discreetly by conducting a survey. This might include areas of the building that are showing signs of degradation. Tenants can become used to degradation as it does not affect their businesses operation, and do not see the need to report this. At Herbert Commercial, we understand the owner’s expectations that investments into small repairs avoid large costs in the long run and, more importantly, protect the overall value of the property’s sale potential.

Engage an experienced property manager

Keeping up to date with legislative changes, marketing and tenant communication can be a full-time job when you do it thoroughly. So call us to take this burden off your shoulders. We’re here from when we advertise your property and screen potential tenants to advising potential tenants on fitout, floor plans and more. Our team has the expertise to reimagine spaces to help your tenants scale their operations, ensuring you have long-term happy tenants bringing you a reliable income stream for many years.

Can we help with your Mount Gambier commercial property?

Call Herbert Commercial on 08 87 250 500 for a complimentary annual investment portfolio assessment. From this assessment, feedback may warrant the need to seek Herbert Commercial’s advice and expertise with formulating a plan to action restructuring or renegotiating the best lease scenario moving forward. We’re here to help.



As the only dedicated commercial property agency in Mount Gambier, we have a network with and are sought after by national commercial agencies as a trusted extension to their services. Our wealth of commercial knowledge of the Mount Gambier market extends to the broader commercial market, meaning we can ensure you achieve your commercial property goals.