Many times a business owner who is interested in leasing office space will forget to consider common area intenance, or CAM, fees when they are comparing prices and figuring out if the lease is affordable. CAM costs are fees which the landlord charges in order to offset their expenses related to maintaining the common areas of the office building. There are a few different reasons why these CAM costs can be overlooked.
Office Tenants Don’t Read the Lease
Fees, such as CAM costs, should be properly stated in the leasing agreement. However, some business owners are in such a hurry to get into their new office space and are overwhelmed by the legal agreements for leases that they simply don’t read the lease completely and fully. This can make overlooking the CAM fees pretty common. When you lease office space, you always must consider that CAM costs will be an issue for the tenant. Most landlords will make these fees a part of the leasing arrangement to ensure that they won’t be stuck with paying for common area maintenance.
New Office Space Tenants May Not Be Familiar with CAM Fees
If you are a new office space tenant, having never leased an office prior to this point, you may not even know that CAM costs are an issue. Many new office space tenants simply think that commercial office space rent is all that will need to be paid throughout the course of the lease agreement. This is not the case. Therefore, you should always be aware that CAM costs are common and must be factored into the total amount of the lease.
Business Tenants Might Not Have a Tenant Representative to Help
Many business owners go into leasing commercial real estate without a tenant representative by their side. This can be a costly mistake as they may enter into an agreement without fully understanding what they are doing. A tenant representative will always point out the CAM costs and make sure that the business owner tenant is able to afford such costs. In addition, a tenant representative will know how to negotiate with the landlord regarding CAM costs and may be able to get a lesser fee when it comes to CAM costs charged to the tenant.
CAM costs are easy to overlook when leasing commercial real estate, especially if you are new to commercial office space leasing. These costs can be expensive in the end and it is important to know how much you will need to pay for common area maintenance and see if you can negotiate these fees so that they are affordable. Before you enter into a leasing agreement, make sure that you thoroughly review the contract and be certain to focus in on any CAM fees which are included in the agreement. A tenant representative is the best person to have by your side when leasing office space and reviewing the agreement. This individual will ensure that you are properly informed as to any and all fees, such as CAM costs, which may be part
of your future lease.
