Regret, I think. (Long vent)

hthrjnsn · May 2013

* Also posted in the SAHM board.

I seriously think I might regret my decision to take over my parents business... It's just been a rough week with training my sister and dealing with ****y customers half the time. My sister ctually has been adapting to the job really well and is really excited that she will pretty much have the flexibility to set her own schedule/hours as she'd like/need to. The fact that she is really enjoying everything makes me feel less stressed over this entire situation.

I think half of my feelings right now are that I'm moody and have a low tolerance for BS, but I also can't help but think I may regret it once the baby comes. I know my parents will help me whenever my sister isn't available during my maternity leave and that isn't my main concerns.

The place we run our business out of is a building that we rent - it is the perfect size and the rent each month is a steal. My parents moved the business here 2 years ago, so it hasn't been here for too long. Recently I contacted the landlord to see if he would knock my rent off it I would pay out of pocket to replace the A/C unit (it was broke before my parents started renting and he knew about it according to the company we talked with about fixing it). He completely blew me off and said that he wouldn't take that. Our rent is a good amount of money less than repairs would cost us, so he wouldn't be ripped off by any means.

My lease is up in about 6 months with this place and I honestly don't want to renew my lease if he is going to be a jacka** about this - my parents have never had an issue with him. I will have a 2 month old once my lease is up and I seriously think I'm screwing myself if I stay in this building or if I move the business... I can hire people to help us move and my sister has already acknowledged that I will be leaving her in charge of mostly everything except for decisions that aren't part of her job - I can make those decisions over the phone and she can supervise that my requests are met.

I knew when I took over the business something like this could potentially happen and that I shouldn't act shocked... But here I am - shocked as all get out! It's a great investment and I love the opportunity I've been given but I think I didn't expect to have such a rough beginning. I guess that's what I get for expecting a smooth start to this.

I'm really just looking for some advice on what I should do or how I should go about this situation... What would you do if you were in my shoes? Baby in September and a lease up in November. Would you start looking for a new place to rent/possibly buy for the business and look into hiring people to help move? Should I pay out of pocket to fix the A/C and stick it out until next year when I don't have a newborn? The A/C will be a couple of thousand to fix...

TIA for any advice ladies

litzo27 · May 2013

Ok that was way too long and not clear enough for me to follow all the points but here are the key points I gathered:

"the rent each month is a steal"

"sister has been adapting to the job really well".

In terms of the first point - it sounds like you have a really good thing. The space is suitable for your needs and it has a great rent. I don't think the owner is a jerk for turning down your proposition. Business is business - and he thinks this is not worthwhile. Did you suggest that he split the cost of fixing the AC? How long do you expect to work out of that place. If the cost of the AC is 2000 and you intend to stay for two years then it comes out to under $100 a month. If the place is as you said "a steal" then it still sounds pretty good. If you do fix the AC will he guarantee that the won't raise the rent for a certain period in the future?

As to the second point - sounds like your family is making this as smooth a transition as one could wish for.

To be honest it sounds a bit like you are tired and maybe would like to be a SAHM for a bit and are looking for reasons to hate the current situation. Sorry if I'm blunt.

snicksnack · May 2013

A friend ran into a similar situation where he was paying for repairs and never reimbursed. Personally I would check the lease to see what It says and consult an attorney. I don?t play games and I am sure a letter from an attorney will gets things moving. My friend ended up dropping his lease, the landlord was never able to rent the space and a year later came back begging them to move back, which they did and the landlord is much nicer now.

ETA: My concern about just fixing things even though rent is a steal you don't own the place what if the guy messes something up etc... you don't need the landloard coming after you.

Iblamethebeer · May 2013

I'm sorry you're having a rough week. My experience has been that my tolerance for work crap goes down while pregnant, but after each pregnancy I have been glad that I did not follow the pregnancy instinct and quit in a fit of annoyance. I am, however, sort of concerned/surprised that a few thousand worth of repairs to be negotiated with a landlord seems like a big issue to you. I would think your lease covers this and you just need to hold him to his obligations (granted, his obligations might not require him to replace the A/C until it actually breaks). I would also think issues like this will come up regularly for you as a business owner, so if this is really overwhelming to you maybe you should ask your parents to step back in for a while? Split ownership with your sister and ask for her help on some of these issues? Get DH involved, if he's better at confrontation?

mexicolombiana · May 2013

Ok you're a bit all over the place. Either "the rent is a steal" or it's a crappy place to rent. You should never as the tenant EVER pay out of pocket to fix a large repair like AC when you DO NOT own the building. EVER.

Your landlord must fix this if it is in the lease. If it is a condition that makes the place unsafe it must be fixed. IF the condition was not fixed and known at the time your parents rented it probably DOES NOT have to be fixed.

If AC is crucial to your business then you must move out and not renew. 6 months is not a long time to move.

Commercial leases are usually 5-10 years and are usually personally guaranteed. You should consider yourself lucky you were only in the lease for 2 years.

It's very unclear what kind of business you are running and whether your business is generating enough revenue to really be a good investment for your life. Unfortunately businesses take a lot of time and energy to run efficiently and in my experience many people who run a business fail because they either do not have any actual business expertise, (no MBA) or no training to run a business, or they make big mistakes in investing and/or incur too much debt.

But to answer your simple question based on your circumstances you should NOT renew the lease if you need AC to run the business. And under NO circumstances should you pay for a large repair for the AC.

hthrjnsn · May 2013

mexicolombiana:
It's very unclear what kind of business you are running and whether your business is generating enough revenue to really be a good investment for your life. Unfortunately businesses take a lot of time and energy to run efficiently and in my experience many people who run a business fail because they either do not have any actual business expertise, (no MBA) or no training to run a business, or they make big mistakes in investing and/or incur too much debt.
But to answer your simple question based on your circumstances you should NOT renew the lease if you need AC to run the business. And under NO circumstances should you pay for a large repair for the AC.

It is a retail store and has been generating more than enough revenue... I would've never took it on if I knew it was barely scraping by.

hthrjnsn · May 2013

litzo27:
Ok that was way too long and not clear enough for me to follow all the points but here are the key points I gathered:
"the rent each month is a steal"
"sister has been adapting to the job really well".
In terms of the first point - it sounds like you have a really good thing. The space is suitable for your needs and it has a great rent. I don't think the owner is a jerk for turning down your proposition. Business is business - and he thinks this is not worthwhile. Did you suggest that he split the cost of fixing the AC? How long do you expect to work out of that place. If the cost of the AC is 2000 and you intend to stay for two years then it comes out to under $100 a month. If the place is as you said "a steal" then it still sounds pretty good. If you do fix the AC will he guarantee that the won't raise the rent for a certain period in the future?
As to the second point - sounds like your family is making this as smooth a transition as one could wish for.
To be honest it sounds a bit like you are tired and maybe would like to be a SAHM for a bit and are looking for reasons to hate the current situation. Sorry if I'm blunt.

It's honestly been a week from hell IMO and I think I'm really just frustrated over the whole situation. I love when people are blunt, so no need to apologize. Sometimes people need blunt responses!

I do hate that I'm letting this current situation affect me so badly. I love this business and love that my parents signed it over to me. I think I might be a little too upset with the landlord (mainly because I'm moody because normally I wouldn't let it affect me this way). Of course business is business and I would probably do the same thing if I didn't think it was worthwhile.

hthrjnsn · May 2013

snicksnack:
A friend ran into a similar situation where he was paying for repairs and never reimbursed. Personally I would check the lease to see what It says and consult an attorney. I don?t play games and I am sure a letter from an attorney will gets things moving. My friend ended up dropping his lease, the landlord was never able to rent the space and a year later came back begging them to move back, which they did and the landlord is much nicer now.

ETA: My concern about just fixing things even though rent is a steal you don't own the place what if the guy messes something up etc... you don't need the landloard coming after you.

My parents have their lawyer looking over the lease and I will be hearing back soon hopefully.

One of the main reasons I am considering moving is because if something was messed up and he came after me. I'd love to own a building that I don't have to go through someone to be approved for remodeling or something like that.

hthrjnsn · May 2013

hocus:
hthrjnsn:
mexicolombiana:
It's very unclear what kind of business you are running and whether your business is generating enough revenue to really be a good investment for your life. Unfortunately businesses take a lot of time and energy to run efficiently and in my experience many people who run a business fail because they either do not have any actual business expertise, (no MBA) or no training to run a business, or they make big mistakes in investing and/or incur too much debt.
But to answer your simple question based on your circumstances you should NOT renew the lease if you need AC to run the business. And under NO circumstances should you pay for a large repair for the AC.
It is a retail store and has been generating more than enough revenue... I would've never took it on if I knew it was barely scraping by.
Since this is retail store I'd be far more reluctant to move. You never know if your customers will follow you.

My parents moved the business quite a few times. They have had 4 different locations - mainly because they were outgrowing their store size.

Mustardseed2007 · May 2013

On the LL issue only - I am an attorney and I work with rental property a lot. This is a commercial lease, so you may actually have taken the place with no obligation on the part of the LL to repair something like an A/C even if it is close ot the end of the Lease and even if it is a fixture (which A/C units usually are fixtures).

This scenario is most likely if it's a stand alone building. If it's a space in a center, even if it has it's own unit, it is probably the LL's obligation.

However, all of those points are negotiable and the LL and Tenant can agree to anything so you are doing the right thing by having the lawyer look at it...although it's probably easy to tell, just read the section on maitenance and repairs.

If this was a residential lease then, yeah, A/C is pretty much never a Tenant responsibility, but the OP is not in a residential world.

hthrjnsn · May 2013

Mustardseed2007:
On the LL issue only - I am an attorney and I work with rental property a lot. This is a commercial lease, so you may actually have taken the place with no obligation on the part of the LL to repair something like an A/C even if it is close ot the end of the Lease and even if it is a fixture (which A/C units usually are fixtures).
This scenario is most likely if it's a stand alone building. If it's a space in a center, even if it has it's own unit, it is probably the LL's obligation.
However, all of those points are negotiable and the LL and Tenant can agree to anything so you are doing the right thing by having the lawyer look at it...although it's probably easy to tell, just read the section on maitenance and repairs.
If this was a residential lease then, yeah, A/C is pretty much never a Tenant responsibility, but the OP is not in a residential world.

It's a space in a shopping center! I am glad we are doing the right thing. I am willing to stay here if we can negotiate something. I was honestly in the heat of the moment when I posted this. I've cooled down completely and realize I may expect just a little too much. Thanks

Fullcircle06 · May 2013

You've gotten some good advice here. Hopefully your parents and the attorney will go over the details of the lease and you can go from there. Sorry you're feeling overwhelmed. Hopefully getting some answers will help. It's great that your sister is transitioning well. I'm sure that's a load off.

If rent is a good deal and you're able to work out an agreeable situation, I'd probably stay.

JWSchwarz · May 2013

Relocating a business is a PITA, and could really sink your income. The cost of that sounds like more than the AC. And who would agree not to get rental income for an entire month? Ideal would be to split the cost 50 50 but spread it over a few months. Get some bids and take this proposal to the landlord. If he's smart, he'll take it or risk losing your income and having to deal with releasing. And find out your areas business rental space vacancy rate... If vacancies are at like 10 percent you don't have much to stand on.. But if its a higher vacancy rate you'll have more negotiating power.

IBackBevo · May 2013

I think you need to start by looking at the lease. The lease should tell you if it is something that is covered. If not, I would say that it is something that you are probably responsible for. If the lease contract does not state that the LL is responsible, then I don't blame him for saying no. He has no obligation to do so.

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