4 Things You Need to Know About Your Practice Real Estate (and how it can help you get more New Patients)
Welcome to Practice Treatment Plan’s Bi-weekly New Patient Marketing Tips! Delivered to you every two weeks.
Today’s Topic: 4 Things You Need to Know About Your Practice Real Estate (and how it can help you get more New Patients)
Today we are thrilled to welcome a guest on New Patient Marketing Tips! We have invited our friends at Crown Tenant Advisors to share some of their unique dental / medical real estate knowledge in an Q and A format. Enjoy!
Q: We know that the location of a practice can positively or negatively affect their ability to get new patients into the office. Can you tell us some of the criteria you look for when helping a medical or dental office find a great location?
Q: We have had several clients who were able to engage your company to renegotiate their lease and free up more money to put towards their marketing budget. When is a good time for a practice that is leasing their space to contact you to discuss a possible renegotiation?
A: 12-18 months from lease expiration is the ideal time to begin discussions on restructuring a lease. It is very important to hire a commercial real estate broker who specializes in healthcare to leverage the market and generate cost savings and cost avoidance. Time is the biggest leverage in the negotiation process so we need as much time to understand the practice’s needs and determine the best course of action for restructuring of the lease. At Crown Tenant Advisors, we perform a complimentary lease review to identify the critical points that will need to be addressed in a lease restructure.
Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see doctors making when searching for real estate?
A: We all make mistakes. But there are 2 big mistakes that we see providers make that could cost themselves a lot of money. First, the belief that if they hire a real estate broker it will cost them more money, so they try to do it themselves by directly working with the Landlord. This is a myth. Your broker’s job is to get the best possible terms for the project by leveraging the market knowledge they possess. Landlords and owners have factored commissions in lease rates and purchase prices. Your broker will take a portion of that commission. When a Tenant’s broker is not utilized often the Landlord’s broker will take a larger portion of that commission.
The second mistake we see is when providers call listing real estate brokers off of signs. They will unknowingly give away critical pieces of information that can harm the negotiation process. It is best for your broker to handle these conversations so that sensitive information is not divulged.
Q: Several of our clients have used your company to find an already built-out space (second generation space) that was perfect for opening a second or third location. How should doctors go about looking for one of these locations?
A: Previously built-out spaces can be a great option for practices in terms of saving some capital expenditures. Keep in mind that often, built-out spaces still need a lot of work to bring them up to date and out of the 1990s. A qualified commercial real estate broker who specializes in healthcare should be able to help identify these locations due to their specific market knowledge relative to the healthcare market. At Crown Tenant Advisors we keep a data base of identified second generation spaces in good locations.
Q: If any of our readers have questions, what is the best way to contact Crown Tenant Advisors?
A: We are happy to provide a complimentary lease review to any of your readers to identify if there are ways to generate some cost savings or cost avoidance. Please contact Amanda Riepe at Crown Tenant Advisors at 770-649-8036 or email at amanda@crowntenantadvisors.com to get further details.
Practice Success,
Benjamin Suggs
New Patient Marketing Strategist
Practice Treatment Plan, Inc.