What advice should I pay for?

[muppetsouthgate]

I am currently in the process of negotiating a commercial lease on an office. It is my first business and I am trying to keep expenditure down but without putting my business at risk. The lease is 5 years with a 3 year break, fully repairing and insuring on a ground floor office of a 3 storey building.

the estate agents say I need to use solicitors but I am fairly comfortable with lease terms etc and am fully aware of the risks with the FRI clause (dad is a chartered surveyor and will conduct a full survey, also will get full schedule of condition and ensure that the lease term only requires me to maintain current condition rather than improve).

Will I need to do any land searches etc?
Do I need to check the usage is appropriate?
What exactly would I need to use solicitors for? I can't understand how to justify their expense at the moment when I am comfortable with the lease!
I guess I am looking for somebody to tell me what the process should be to get from this point to an agreed lease and the checks that I should make sure are made.

Please help!

Thanks

[Paul_f]

If you father is a Chartered Surveyor that's definitely a good start.

If you feel comfortable with his advice then what can anyone else say?

Don't cry "wolf" though if all goes "pear-shaped".

I would be looking for a break clause after the first year if you are entering into a new venture that has a possibility of failure (as do all businesses)! :cool: