Right now my studio is in a building that was finished off as a recording studio, the rooms sound great and it has a good location. I like working there. My problem is that the space is quite small (approx. 950 sq ft) does not have pluming and I am paying quite high rent (around 1200 per month w/o utilities)
So, how much of a premium should I put on the fact that it's all done? A raw space around the same area should be more like 1.00 per sq foot and most of them have built in pluming. Is it worth it to find my own space and spend money on improvements or should I keep paying a high rate?
Thanks,
Reed
Renting a finished studio: What are they worth?
-
FormulaReed
- alignin' 24-trk
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:36 pm
- Location: Seattle
- Contact:
Renting a finished studio: What are they worth?
Owner/Engineer Attercop Sound
www.attercop.net
www.attercop.net
-
JGriffin
- zen recordist
- Posts: 6739
- Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:44 pm
- Location: criticizing globally, offending locally
- Contact:
It'd be much more than the $3k a year you'd save on rent to build it all out again, I think.
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
-
chris harris
- speech impediment
- Posts: 4270
- Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:31 pm
- Location: Norman, OK
- Contact:
-
JGriffin
- zen recordist
- Posts: 6739
- Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2003 1:44 pm
- Location: criticizing globally, offending locally
- Contact:
good point.subatomic pieces wrote:yeah.. but, it'd be nice to have a toilet, no?
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
-
jmoose
- suffering 'studio suck'
- Posts: 407
- Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2005 4:53 pm
- Location: Normal, IL USA
- Contact:
I dunno man. Is your insurance covering the "improvments" to the space or is the landlords? What's the amount of the coverage on there? Like, say there was a fire and the building is gutted, the actual building is totally
seperate from the "improvements" which is the build-out of your recording space. There always has to be an amount specified in the insurance policy...$10K, $50K, $250K...whatever it cost to build the 'inner structure' of the control room, live & iso rooms, lounge. etc...but NOT any of the 'common areas' like hallways & bathrooms.
Anyway, if you can get a copy of the insurance policy you can look and see what the actual amount of the build-out on your space is worth.
The reality though is that real-estate is as wonky as anything else. There's a LOT more to factor in here...location, ease of parking, other utilities like electric, gas & water...are they included in the rent at your current space or not?
Believe me, moving a studio SUCKS. Everytime you move there's about a six month disruption in work-flow and therefor...income. If you moved would you buy or lease a space? If you lease, how much bread can you afford to throw at the build knowing that you'll HAVE to walk from it at some point in the future. I know a guy who was in one spot for 22 years before the building owner decided not to exercise the option and turned the place into a McDonalds! The only things he could salvage for the new shop were the doors, diffusors & some other acoustic treatment. When I had to leave my old space in East Rutherford I couldn't even get THAT out!
Think about this way...if you sink $50,000 into building out a space (not an unreasonable number for a 1500 square foot studio) and you're in that space for 10 years...those materials cost you $5K a year and really, that can be depreciated for tax purposes if you have a good accountent so in theory...it'll cost you nothing at the end of the 10 years. But if you're only in that space for 5 years now its costing you $10K a year!!! That's pretty insane no matter how you slice it!!!
And if you lease, you know that at some point, 5 years from now...20 years from now you'll have to start the process all-over-again.
Better to buy a building IMO.
I'm still looking forward to the day when I can afford to follow my own advice!
seperate from the "improvements" which is the build-out of your recording space. There always has to be an amount specified in the insurance policy...$10K, $50K, $250K...whatever it cost to build the 'inner structure' of the control room, live & iso rooms, lounge. etc...but NOT any of the 'common areas' like hallways & bathrooms.
Anyway, if you can get a copy of the insurance policy you can look and see what the actual amount of the build-out on your space is worth.
The reality though is that real-estate is as wonky as anything else. There's a LOT more to factor in here...location, ease of parking, other utilities like electric, gas & water...are they included in the rent at your current space or not?
Believe me, moving a studio SUCKS. Everytime you move there's about a six month disruption in work-flow and therefor...income. If you moved would you buy or lease a space? If you lease, how much bread can you afford to throw at the build knowing that you'll HAVE to walk from it at some point in the future. I know a guy who was in one spot for 22 years before the building owner decided not to exercise the option and turned the place into a McDonalds! The only things he could salvage for the new shop were the doors, diffusors & some other acoustic treatment. When I had to leave my old space in East Rutherford I couldn't even get THAT out!
Think about this way...if you sink $50,000 into building out a space (not an unreasonable number for a 1500 square foot studio) and you're in that space for 10 years...those materials cost you $5K a year and really, that can be depreciated for tax purposes if you have a good accountent so in theory...it'll cost you nothing at the end of the 10 years. But if you're only in that space for 5 years now its costing you $10K a year!!! That's pretty insane no matter how you slice it!!!
And if you lease, you know that at some point, 5 years from now...20 years from now you'll have to start the process all-over-again.
Better to buy a building IMO.
I'm still looking forward to the day when I can afford to follow my own advice!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Nick Sevilla and 79 guests