Commercial Property Eval. and Lease Structure

[Andrew Holder]

Closing on our first commercial property (Office Space) in Oklahoma City next week and I can't help but think that there could have been a more efficient/better way to really analyze a good deal vs a bad deal in the commercial world. I've got 4 SF houses and that math makes much more sense to me being that I'm in the residential RE business. However, I'm also aware of the incredible opportunity that the commercial sector provides. I've been able to garner some different pro forma spreadsheets from a few places, but none of them really helped walk through the nitty-gritty of what kind of expenses to expect and what percentage of monthly income to assign to certain expenditures. I would love to hear more about what other investors are using to evaluate commercial property and also what they use to determine appropriate lease structures? There are many options for lease structures on residential, but it seems that there are just ENDLESS structures for the commercial world. I'm sure some of my "woes" are just to be expected when diving into the unknown, yet I want to set myself up for success the next go around. Rule of thumbs, percentages to go off of, tricks for determining best leasing types, etc. I'm new to the BP world and this is my first discussion to start, so be gentle on me! ha! Thank you.