The COVID years brought this question of home office vs rent office space to the forefront in the commercial world. Remote working because a “very real thing,” and since the advent of that terrible time in our history, the use of home offices has become a very viable option for small businesses and/or home-based businesses.
Still, there are pros and cons to anything in business, so in this article we will take a realistic look at the pros and cons of a home office vs office space for lease.
We are RDS Real Estate, serving the Greater Fort Worth Metro area with over three-million square feet of industrial space and commercial property for rent. Call us at 817-439-3224 for more information.
The pros and cons of a home office.
A quick brainstorm of this topic gives us this incompletely list of pros and cons:
- Pro: More independence
- Con: Increased isolation
- Pro: No commute
- Con: Increased home office costs
- Pro: Increased productivity
- Con: Risk of overworking
- Pro: Increased flexibility
- Con: Less face time
- Pro: More money saved
- Con: Social and professional isolation
- Con: Lack of innovation from in-office interaction
And, we might add one more con: having the central office of your business in your home lacks a certain level of professionalism. Customers and clients are generally less than impressed when visiting an office tucked into the living room of a ‘50s rambler.
The pros and cons when you rent office space.
Let’s look at the other option, renting office space to rent.
Pros:
- Lower costs than purchasing office space when you rent office space.
- More flexibility with regards to amount of space devoted to the business.
- Much more professional setting/environment
- The ability to walk away at the end of the day.
Cons:
- Lack of control over the environment when you rent office space.
- Dependence on the landlord
- Possibility of rent hikes
- Lease problems or following landlord’s rules
- Not nearly as convenient as working from home.
- Longer commute/higher transportation costs.
Which is better?
The pros and cons of each option are valid, and we have heard them all from clients in the past. The question of “which is better” is, unfortunately, a question only you can answer. Each situation is different. We could easily look at each of the pros and cons listed above and make a passionate argument in favor of them all.
If money is your only real concern, then, without a doubt, a home office is your best option. Just beware that working from home is not always the Shangri-La some would have you believe. Still, it is pretty sweet not having a commute.
Our best advice: talk to your partners, talk to your family, talk to your lawyers and talk to your financial planner. Weigh all the options, all the pros and cons, and then take the path which seems the best, for you, at that moment. The good news is you can always make the switch if your first choice does not work out for you.
A final word about RDS Real Estate.
RDS Real Estate is locally owned and operated. Call us and tell us what you need i.e. office warehouse for rent, shop for rent, retail space for lease, office space for lease, no matter what it is, we can find it, at a price you can afford. We are locally owned and operated, Texas born and bred, and we will work with you to put you in the location you need to be in for success.