Industrial space isn't like office or retail — the details that matter are buried in the building's bones, not just the balance sheet. A warehouse that looks perfect on a walkthrough can turn into a costly mismatch if you don't ask the right questions before you sign. Here are five that belong at the top of your list.

1. What's the clear height, and does it match how I actually plan to use the space?

Clear height (the unobstructed vertical space from the floor to the lowest overhead obstruction — not the roof peak) determines how you can rack, stack, and move product. A building advertised at "24 feet" might have sprinkler heads, HVAC ductwork, or bar joists that cut usable height well below that number in key areas.

Before you sign, ask for the clear height measured to the lowest point of obstruction, not just the roof line, and confirm it against your actual racking or equipment plans — not just today's needs, but where your operation is headed in the next few years.

2. What's the loading configuration, and is it enough for my volume?

Dock-high doors, drive-in doors, and ramp space aren't interchangeable, and the number you need depends entirely on your freight patterns. A single dock-high door might be plenty for a business receiving a few truckloads a week; it's a bottleneck for anyone running daily distribution.

Walk the site with your actual trucks and trailers in mind. Ask how many doors are dock-high versus drive-in, whether there's a dedicated truck court with room to maneuver, and how other tenants in a shared industrial park use the shared loading areas, if any.

3. What's the power situation — and will it support what I'm installing?

Electrical service is one of the most expensive things to upgrade after you've moved in, and one of the easiest to overlook before you sign. Ask specifically about the amperage, voltage, and phase (single-phase versus three-phase) currently run to the space, and get it in writing.

If you're bringing in manufacturing equipment, compressors, EV charging, or heavy HVAC needs, have your electrician review the existing service against your equipment specs before you commit — not after the lease is signed and the buildout has started.

4. Who's responsible for what under this lease structure?

Industrial leases are usually structured as triple net (NNN), which means you're responsible for your pro-rata share of property taxes, insurance, and common area maintenance on top of base rent. But "triple net" doesn't mean the same thing in every lease.

Ask specifically what's included in CAM charges, whether there's a cap on annual increases, and who is responsible for major structural items like the roof and the foundation versus day-to-day maintenance like the HVAC units and dock equipment. These lines get blurry fast, and they're worth spelling out before you sign rather than discovering the answer in your first year-end reconciliation.

5. What does the zoning actually allow — for me and for the property's future?

Just because a building has always been used a certain way doesn't mean your specific use is covered under the current zoning, especially if you're adding outdoor storage, running heavier truck traffic, or bringing in any kind of light manufacturing. A prior tenant's use being "grandfathered in" doesn't automatically extend to you.

It's worth a quick call to the local municipality (or having your broker make it) to confirm your intended use is permitted outright, allowed with a special use permit, or not allowed at all — before it becomes a lease clause you're trying to renegotiate out of.

The bottom line

Industrial leases reward tenants who ask operational questions, not just financial ones. Clear height, loading configuration, power, expense structure, and zoning all affect your day-to-day operations in ways that a base rent number never will.

If you're evaluating industrial space in the DFW area and want a second set of eyes on a lease before you sign, Nation Properties Group is happy to walk through it with you.

If you've spent any time looking at commercial listings, you've seen it: a percentage sitting quietly next to the price, labeled "cap rate." It's one of the most-cited numbers in commercial real estate — and one of the most misunderstood. Here's a plain-language walkthrough of what it actually measures, and just as importantly, what it doesn't.

The basic formula

Cap rate (short for capitalization rate) is calculated as:

Cap Rate = Net Operating Income (NOI) ÷ Purchase Price

So if a property generates $80,000 in net operating income per year and is listed at $1,000,000, the cap rate is 8%.

That's the whole formula. The complexity isn't in the math — it's in what goes into NOI, and what the resulting number actually tells you about the deal.

What "net operating income" really means

NOI is the property's income after operating expenses, but *before* debt service (your mortgage payment), income taxes, and capital expenditures. That distinction matters, because it means cap rate is measuring the property's performance independent of how it's financed — which is exactly what makes it useful for comparing properties, and exactly what makes it dangerous if you forget it.

Two identical buildings with identical cap rates can produce very different cash flow to you as the owner, depending on how much debt is on each one and at what interest rate. Cap rate tells you about the asset. It doesn't tell you about your actual return.

Higher cap rate ≠ better deal

This is the part that trips up a lot of first-time commercial investors: a higher cap rate isn't automatically the better investment. Cap rate and risk move together. Properties in stronger markets, with stronger tenants, longer lease terms, and less turnover risk, trade at lower cap rates because buyers are willing to accept less yield in exchange for more certainty.

A property offered at a notably higher cap rate than similar listings nearby isn't necessarily an undiscovered bargain — it's more often the market pricing in something: a shorter remaining lease term, a less creditworthy tenant, deferred maintenance, a tougher location, or upcoming capital needs. The higher number is compensation for risk, not a discount on the same risk.

What cap rate is good for

Used correctly, cap rate is a fast way to compare similar properties in a similar market — two multi-tenant retail strips in the same submarket, for example, or two industrial buildings with comparable lease terms. It lets you sort a stack of listings quickly and figure out which ones deserve a closer look.

It's also useful as a market-level indicator. When cap rates in a submarket are compressing (getting lower) over time, it generally signals growing investor confidence and rising competition for deals there. When they're expanding, it often signals the opposite.

What cap rate can't tell you

Cap rate is a snapshot, not a forecast. It says nothing about:

• How the property's income might change over the next several years (upcoming lease expirations, below-market rents that could be raised)
• The physical condition of the building and what capital expenditures might be coming
• Financing terms and how leveraged returns will actually perform
• Tenant concentration risk — one tenant making up most of the income is a very different risk profile than ten tenants each paying a small share

For a full picture, cap rate needs to sit alongside the rent roll, the lease abstracts, a property condition assessment, and — if you're financing the purchase — an actual cash-on-cash return calculation based on your real loan terms.

The bottom line

Cap rate is a useful shorthand, not a verdict. It tells you how the market is currently pricing a property's income relative to its risk — nothing more, nothing less. Treat it as the first filter in your analysis, not the last word.

If you'd like help running the numbers on a specific property, Nation Properties Group can walk through the full picture with you — cap rate included.

If you've leased commercial space anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you've almost certainly seen the letters "CAM" somewhere in your lease. Common Area Maintenance charges are standard in nearly every commercial lease structure here, but the details of what you're actually paying for — and how much control you have over it — vary a lot from lease to lease. Here's what DFW tenants should know.

What CAM charges actually cover

CAM charges are your pro-rata share of the costs to maintain and operate the shared areas of a property — the parts that benefit every tenant, not just you. In a typical retail center or office building, that usually includes:

• Parking lot maintenance, striping, and lighting
• Landscaping and grounds upkeep
• Common area cleaning, trash removal, and pest control
• Property management fees
• Insurance on the building and common areas
• Security, where applicable
• Snow removal or storm cleanup (less common in DFW, but it happens)

Property taxes and building insurance are sometimes bundled into "CAM" and sometimes broken out as separate line items depending on the lease — that's one of the first things worth clarifying, since it changes what your total occupancy cost actually looks like.

How your share gets calculated

Most CAM charges are allocated on a pro-rata basis, meaning your share is your leased square footage divided by the total leasable square footage of the property. If you lease 2,000 SF in a 20,000 SF center, you're typically responsible for 10% of the shared CAM pool.

The wrinkle: "total leasable square footage" can be defined differently from lease to lease. Ask whether the denominator includes vacant space (which spreads the cost across more tenants, lowering everyone's share) or only occupied space (which shifts more of the burden onto whoever's currently paying rent). This single definition can meaningfully change your annual bill.

Estimated vs. actual: the reconciliation process

Most leases have you paying estimated CAM charges monthly throughout the year, based on the landlord's projected costs. At year-end, the landlord reconciles those estimates against actual expenses. If actual costs ran higher than estimated, you get a bill for the difference. If they ran lower, you're owed a credit (though this happens less often in practice).

This is where a lot of DFW tenants get an unpleasant surprise on space they thought they'd budgeted correctly. A few things worth doing:

• Ask for the prior 2–3 years of CAM reconciliations before you sign, if the landlord will share them, to see how estimates have historically compared to actuals
• Request audit rights in your lease — the ability to review the landlord's supporting documentation if a reconciliation looks off
• Pay attention to the notice period for disputing a reconciliation; many leases give you a limited window (often 60–90 days) to contest charges before you lose that right

Look for a CAM cap

Some leases — particularly in tenant-favorable markets or with larger, more sophisticated tenants — include a cap on annual CAM increases, often expressed as a percentage (e.g., controllable CAM expenses can't increase more than 5% year-over-year). This protects you from a landlord's rising costs being passed straight through without limit.

Note the word "controllable" — caps typically apply only to expenses the landlord has some control over, like landscaping contracts or management fees. Taxes and insurance are usually excluded from the cap, since those are outside the landlord's control too.

Questions worth asking before you sign

• What exactly is included in CAM, and is anything bundled in that I'd expect to be separate (or vice versa)?
• Is the pro-rata calculation based on occupied space or total leasable space?
• Is there a cap on controllable CAM increases, and what's excluded from it?
• Do I have audit rights, and what's the notice period to dispute a reconciliation?
• Can I see recent CAM reconciliation history for this property?

The bottom line

CAM charges are a normal, expected part of leasing commercial space in DFW — but "normal" doesn't mean "non-negotiable" or "not worth understanding." A little diligence upfront on how CAM is calculated, capped, and reconciled can save you from surprises down the road.

If you're reviewing a lease and want a second opinion on the CAM structure, Nation Properties Group is happy to take a look with you.