When seeking a new location for your company, it can be easy to overlook the small things that play a big role in what your long-term experience will be like as an office-building tenant.

The property management company and the property managers that you will be interacting with are important differentiators when deciding a location. The fees, services and other details should be addressed up front, but can sometimes get overlooked when planning a major corporate relocation or finding a suitable space for a start-up company.

Here are a few tips when negotiating a property management lease:

Determine Fees. It’s inevitable that any new contract will contain a management fee, but it’s important to remember that it can manifest itself in numerous ways. The fee is negotiable and the landlord should agree to bid the contract out every few years. Tenants should determine what the management fee is and what it applies to. For instance, fees can be levied onto the net rent, real estate taxes, operating expenses or tenant electricity. In each scenario, tenants should be informed in advance what to expect once they take occupancy and begin paying rent.

Keep It Local. If the property is managed by a national firm, fees can include accounting for corporate expenses not directly attributable to the property. The lease should specifically exclude any salaries for managing the property above the property management level. You should also determine whether the rent for the property management office is only for the property in question, or whether additional buildings are managed out of the same office as well.

Select Services. The types of services included with your contract can vary greatly between properties. Before signing any lease, compare options. Determine if another landlord will include more standard services with your lease, and if not, what the likely range of fees will be for different services. Cleaning of kitchens, after-hours HVAC costs, electricity for HVAC equipment, freight elevator and loading dock fees and security details for after-hours deliveries are examples of services with costs that vary from property to property.

Meet Your Manager. Like meeting the neighbors, tenants should arrange for a face-to-face consultation with their property manager. After the deal is done, it’s not the broker you’ll be interfacing with on a daily basis. In addition to inquiring about basic building policies, use this opportunity to resolve other issues, such as whether the manager is at the building every day or “on call”

Go For The Green. As more companies strive to incorporate green features into their office environments, it’s important to find out what a property has to offer. Work with your broker to identify a building or property manager that has green programs in place, whether for recycling initiatives or fixtures with enhanced energy efficiency.

Dave Richardson is an executive vice president and principal with McCall & Almy, Boston. Email: drichardson@mccallalmy.com