More and more properties are standing vacant as people are now working from home.
Personally, I think many people will not be returning to traditional office space because every system has been upgraded to allow for easy home working.
But it doesn’t mean there are no tenants looking for premises.
The only catch could be that the tenants are very particular in terms of what they are looking for.
They are certainly looking for something of good quality but they could be price-sensitive as well due to the times we are living in.
If your rentals are too high, then your property could sit for quite a while before you find the right tenant.
The new electricity tariffs which came into effect on July 1 will certainly push up the cost of running an office, hence many will choose to work from home.
Some users in Mangaung who are serviced by Centlec could pay as much as 23 percent more for their electricity.
So, those tenants that are looking want good, sensible rentals and a clean building.
It is amazing how many of the commercial tenants interested in office space are looking to rent with an option to buy.
A surprisingly high number of new tenants have an eye on buying the property that they want to hire.
In many cases they are looking to upgrade the rental property at their own cost if they have potential to buy the property at the end of their lease.
The only problem is setting a fair lease-end-pricing – perhaps current day value plus inflation could help.
Just be reasonable about it.
- Mike Spencer is the founder and owner of Platinum Global. He is also a professional associated property valuer and consultant with work across the country as well as Eastern Europe and Australia.