Should You Lease or Buy Your Child Care Facility?

Deciding if you want to lease or buy a building for your childcare business can be a tough decision. Today I want to share with you my experience in leasing a building and how I feel about buying a commercial building.

I found my current location in November 2002 (On a Saturday) and there was a for lease sign on the front of the building. On Monday morning I called the number that was listed on the sign and scheduled an appointment to see the inside of the building.

Within a week, I was able to view the inside of the building to see how much work would be required in the building. I must let you know that my current location was previously a childcare facility and there was very little work that needed to be done to the building, with the exception of adding some paint to the walls.

After seeing the inside of the building I knew that I was ready to move my daycare out of my home into a commercial location. The lease payment was only $1500/month for a 1625 square foot building with a small playground and plenty of parking.

I decided to lease the building and the deal began! The lease was mailed to me, I prayed about it, I held the lease for several weeks. Then I wrote a check for the first /last month's rent and mailed the check to the leasing agent along with a signed 3-year lease. I moved into my first childcare center in March 2003!!

You may be wondering if you should get a lawyer involved with the lease process? I suggest that you always get a second opinion on your lease to be sure that there are no hidden agendas and that it is a win-win lease for both parties.

In fact, my landlord was quite fair and clear on the responsibilities of both parties. Moreover, I must say that as of the date that I write this blog post, I am still leasing my building and my rent has not increased.

However, I must say that there is a commercial building that is located next door to my facility and it has been vacant for about four years. Now can you imagine, owning a vacant building with no tenant? Exactly, you are stuck with a building and a mortgage payment and that's why I prefer to lease.

However, one of the great things about buying a building, is the simple fact that you own the property and your monthly payments may be more affordable. Moreover, you do not have to renew a lease every 1-5 years.

Furthermore, if you discover that you are in a bad locations for building enrollment, you could be stuck with a building and paying a monthly mortgage payment.

What are your thoughts about this blog post? Which one do you prefer? Lease or Buy? I look forward to reading your comments.

Shiketa
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