The lease rates and options for cell towers to many property owners are a mystery. This is partly because there is little or no information on the matter available to these owners. As a result, most property owners face a lot of challenges and end up pinned in a corner during negotiations. For this reason, this article will provide you with the factors that influence mobile signal tower leasing options and rates together with the common misconceptions people have on these factors, therefore, turning the tables in your favor.
Here are some of those factors:
1. Capital Improvement Costs
The costs incurred in putting up that cell tower are a major factor to consider when negotiating a lease deal. For instance, if a cell phone company plans on constructing a new mobile signal tower, they will have to consider many costs. They will have to hire a construction contractor, site acquisition agents, and an architectural and engineering vendor to perform specific tasks. They will also have to consider the design cost. Some of the questions they will have to ask themselves are should they construct a FRP screened signage or a guyed tower? Will it be better to install a faux monopalm or a rooftop cupola? There are so many designs that they will have to consider to pick the one that meets their needs. These are some of the considerations they will have to make that will affect the cost and the lease rate.
2. Desirability
Another factor that will affect the leasing options and rates is the desirability of your property. Basically, what this means is, how bad the mobile service provider wants to construct their tower in your property. You will be able to negotiate for better options and rates if your property meets all the company’s needs, and there are no better or comparable properties in the vicinity. If there are other comparable properties nearby, then chances are that the cell phone company will try to limit your bargaining power because they can easily go for the other properties.
When a mobile service provider wants to build a new tower, what they do is they establish a search ring. The purpose of the search ring is to locate other properties nearby that are capable hosting a cell phone tower. Finding other properties presents more real estate options to radio frequency engineers. The engineers will only recommend a property that has the strongest radio frequency.
We mentioned earlier that there are some misconceptions on the factors that influence lease rates and options. These misconceptions are:
– Population density
– Area that the tower will occupy in square footage
– The amount the neighbor is receiving for rent
