Letting fees for commercial property

Hi,

I have looked through Property Investment for this but can only find residential property advice. Does anybody have any experience owning/letting out commercial property, specifically small office space? What are the usual letting fees?

I'd like to have a good idea beforehand, I'm uncomfortable agreeing to fees without a good idea. One months rent is the norm in the residential area: would it be higher in commercial, maybe because it's harder to find tenants?

Thanks

a friend paid 10% of annual rent + vat. to get a tennant into his shop .

It depends on the agent and the area in which you are letting the property.

As far as I'm aware, fees range from 10% to 15% of the annual rent achieved. Some agents could possibly be prepared to take a cut in fees if it's a high profile area if they are eager to get their boards up.

Do your homework and if you have quite a large commercial property to let, get at least 2 of the larger 5 commercial agents to do an appraisal and a proposal. If it were me, I would be looking in their proposals specifically for methods of marketing (do they have an active requirement database), advertising and track record in your area. Most importantly word of mouth is the best method of recommendation in this field. Find at least one person who would recommend an agent to you that have disposed of or let in your area in the past 12 months.

HTH

Thanks for the advice both, I'll be happy if I get a tenant in for around 10% + VAT.

We would normally charge 10% of the first years rent + VAT for commercial lettings.