Advice on negotiating with LandLord

[Karl K.]

Dear BP Community,

Thank you for taking the time in reading my post. I appreciate any and all advice and feedback.

I am interested in leasing a 50yr old stand alone retail/office building for a business I will be opening. The problem is that this building is in very bad shape. When I initially took a tour with the agent i noticed water damage on the ceiling as well as mold in various places. The electrical panel, water heater, and HVAC looked very old and outdated. I dont have much exp in real estate or construction. But when I mentioned these issues to him, he said all the LL was responsible for was structure and the roof and that the roof had already been replaced. And the previous tenant didnt do any maintenance which caused the leaking. I asked if i can hire a professional building inspector to come and do an inspection. He agreed and the inspection was done yesterday.

I have not received the full report yet, but I got a chance to walk with the inspector during the inspection. He said that those items were going to be needing replacement. He also mentioned the building also has a rat problem. Going into this I already had in mind of doing a complete gut job. But the inspector was telling me the LL should be responsible for these items, not the tenant.

I would like to know what kind of negotiating tactics can I use to ask the LL to replace the equipment. Maybe I pay first if they cant and use rent as credit? How can I structure this? Also what is a fair way to estimate the costs to replace and remedy the issues above. Would love to hear from anyone that has an idea...