How do I write an offer for a commercial property?

[Jen Davis]

Hi all, newbie here.  I am interested in purchasing a building for my current business to move into.  I am having difficulty finding a  local commercial real estate agent.  I want to move on the property quickly.  Is it possible or recommended to write an offer myself?  What are the clauses I want to put in in case there is an environmental or other big issue that comes up while I am doing my due diligence ?  How do I go about finding a reasonable cost/square foot of commercial building?  I know there are a ton of other things I probably should be doing and questions I need to ask.  Any help/direction is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Joel Owens]

Hard to say without knowing your current risk exposure. Typically in commercial a non-binding LOI (letter of intent) is initially sent to seller/listing broker.

What price point is this? Different commercial brokers work at different levels. My minimum for instance on a transaction per property price basis is typically in the millions or more. If this is say a 500k building for commercial that is like a 30k junker property for a commercial broker. You would need to find one that specializes in the sub 1 million category. If that is hard to find you can use a commercial attorney. Cost could be in the 10,000 plus range for the transaction depending on what is needed or greater for the commercial attorney.