I decided to drive around a strip mall area that is in the middle of nowhere. I used to work down the road and thought there might be something there. I saw a space that had brown paper covering the window (good indication nothing was there) and took down the agent's name from the lease sign. We called him up and the place was supposed to have been a deli but the renter's financial backing fell through. So, it had plumbing and a partial hood and a monsterous 19' walk in refrigerator that was partially...

scifimom

That perfect space I wanted fell through. The landlord came to an agreement with the investor, at least on price. They are now going for financing and my agent feels it will fall through given they are looking for somewhere around 1M. It will take a while for them to give up on financing. My agent is going to call in a couple weeks to see what's up.

So, I'm looking yet again. It is incredibly difficult to keep doing this and if I didn't really feel a kitchen would be successful here...

scifimom

I haven't abandoned my story! The landlord who has the restaurant space may have a buyer for the property. He knew that when he showed it to me, but neglected to mention it (grrrr..). He isn't returning my agent's phone calls but I catch him at his restaurant supply store. The latest is that he should know more by next Wednesday. In anticipation of yet another disappointment I'm looking around once again. Stay tuned - this can only get better, I hope.

scifimom

My agent is still talking to me but his boss called and was questioning my decision, thinking I was worried about the lease. I told him it was a business decision. End of story.

My agent called a couple days later to tell me about a restaurant that was for lease. Good start... It was 3500 sq feet which is larger than I want but if the price were right, it would work. It had a hood and grease trap and all the kitchen works. Getting better all the time here. It has parking - Bingo!...

scifimom

Ah, the next mountain to climb... leases. The landlord had a lease drawn up by his attorney. It was 17 pages of legal words. My agent looked at it and so did I. It had some really scary things. I was going to be responsible for any structural problems. First, that is absurd and secondly, the building was built in 1890. The landlord was going to pick all my insurance policies and I was going to have to pay for them. If the landlord put planter boxes around trees and someone tripped on them, I'd be...

scifimom