The landlord's desire is to rent his property so that it will produce a proper income on his investment; the tenant wishes the use of a certain amount of space at the lowest possible cost to him. In renting property, the owner's interests are affected by four things; the character of the tenant, the use to which he will put the property, the amount of the rent and the term of the lease.

The more valuable a building, the more important it is to safeguard the character of the tenancy. There is a great deal of property where it makes little difference to the landlord who his tenant may be as long as he uses the property in a lawful manner. On the other hand, in some apartment houses, the references of prospective tenants are carefully investigated before the tenant is accepted. In a commercial building suitable for the display of goods and visited by men and women buyers, it would usually be unwise to rent space for use as a sweatshop. Owners of buildings in a good retail business section may refuse to rent stores for any business considered objectionable. Briefly stated, it is unwise to rent part of a building for a purpose which will adversely affect the best interests of the other tenants in the building.

In making leases the amount of the rent and the length of the term are often considered together. The landlord is entitled to the maximum current rental. If space is renting at one dollar per square foot, or if apartments in similar houses in the neighborhood are renting at fifty dollars per month per room, that is what the owner should receive, all conditions being equal. But for how long a term should he make the lease? Is it advisable to get the tenant to sign a long lease or a short one? No general rule can be laid down. It may be suggested however that in periods of depression, when rents are low, the owner may do well to rent for the current price in order to avoid loss through vacancies, but that he should make the lease for a short term only. The period of depression may end, and rents advance in a very short time so that when the lease expires a new lease may be consummated at the proper and adequate rental. A short time ago a ten-year lease was made for part of a building in Brooklyn at about forty-two cents per square foot. Soon after making the lease the demand for space increased so that in the neighborhood of the building referred to, it was worth eighty cents per square foot. The lease was therefor not a good one for the landlord. In another case a lease was made for five years with a privilege of a renewal of five years more. Shortly after the lease was made the tenant requested that he be given the privilege of an additional five years, which was granted him. Now, before the first term of five years is up, the space could be rented for double its present rent, but it is tied up for ten years more at the low rental. This offers an example of an unwise lease.

Mr. Aaron Robinowitz in an address on "The Profitable Renting of Business Property" says: -

"The secret of renting business property lies in reducing space to terms of a tangible commodity. Most people feel that this process is something quite vague and not at all a thing that is concrete or definite. Actually, the sale of space does not differ from the sale of other merchandise, and it responds to much the same treatment. The merchant who has fifty thousand dollars worth of silk on his shelves, lays out a campaign to sell it. He has his salesmen call on those buyers who can logically use his product. He wastes no time in trying to sell his silks to woolen buyers, but calls on a particular trade persist-ently until a purchaser is found for his merchandise.

"Since space is a commodity similar to other merchandise, the same selling principles should be applied. In selling this space and particularly in renting business property, it is necessary first to determine the logical class of tenants for a building, and then to canvass the merchants and manufacturers in this class until the building is rented. When we have property to rent in any district, it is presented to those who are logical tenants for this district."

Also: -

"It is plain, therefore, that what we have for sale requires thorough analysis and is no different from any other commodity to be marketed, save that a greater responsibility rests upon the space salesman than upon the merchandise salesman. For if we fail to sell a commercial product today its value may not be diminished tomorrow. But a day gone by in the sale of space is a day gone forever - an income lost that can never be retrieved.

The element of time enters so largely into the sale of space that it becomes, in fact, the very essence of our commodity."