A cell tower lease is an arrangement between the mobile phone service providers ("provider" or "lessee") and a property owner that requires the provider to build and retain a cell service tower at a fixed lease rate for a defined number of years, usually with several renewal options. More than 300,000 such towers operate across the United States offering cellular service and data to customers across the world. The ever increasing demand for mobile phone and data coverage has led to almost 10,000 new cellular sites being built each year, with an average annual lease cost of $45,000.
Cell service lessees are responsible for the care, repair, improvement, and removal of the tower, giving the property owner responsible for lease care if any. The cell tower lease also adds value at the time of selling the house, in addition to producing rent for several years. The average cost of constructing a cell tower is around $175,000, but the cell tower lease will add to the property value of $600,000, or more.
In general, the fair market value of a lease is measured by the proximity of the location to the network of the cellular provider, or the value of the coverage given by the site. The availability of nearby alternative sites would also drive value. It is difficult for most landowners to assess the fair market value of a cellular lease because of a lack of available details. Lease rates for cell towers are not public knowledge, and those rates differ widely. However, in this highly specialized sector, there are companies which are specialized in providing information and assistance to property owners
There are two types of telecommunications leases in the telecommunications industry: a rooftop lease agreement, and a land lease agreement. Cellular sites are, in some cases, built on the roofs of industrial office buildings, and even residential living complexes. These rooftop installations take advantage of the height of the buildings on which they are installed to provide better cellular coverage. In comparison, land leases are usually arrangements between the cellular provider and the landowner of property for space at ground level where a cellular tower is built.
For certain landowners, there are some risks from cell tower leases. The tower occupies property that could be used for other uses of land such as parking lots or retention ponds. Towers establish long-term easements on the property, limiting the use of the property's land site to that or other sections. These leases may also postpone or stop the selling of a property if a seller can not find prospective buyers for the leases to the cell tower.
Cell tower demand is currently strong but this could change with many pending mergers in the cellular communications industry. What's more, one day the advancement of wireless technology could eliminate the need for cell towers, making the structures redundant. Some companies are currently designing smaller towers that can be installed on buildings to save land space and increase the number of possible cell tower locations.
A new study by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows that landowners may be able to get more of that rent - money from the rental prices of cellular towers. Cell tower lease rates exposed.
TowerLeases.com is offering landowners free advice on their current mobile tower rent. TowerLease. Com is in the process of offering the landowner "free advice" on its current Cell Tower lease, according to HUD.
Lease negotiations for cell towers depend on location, the size of the object, the type of cell tower, and other factors. Specialist brokers and lawyers can advise property owners who wish to rent a mobile tower on a variety of examples, including, but not limited to, mobile tower rentals for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes.
Cell Tower Leasing consultants use these factors to negotiate competitive lease rates for their clients. The size of the tower site is another property - based on a variable that determines the rental prices of the mobile towers. For example, leases are more expensive in the case of farmland than leases for residential and commercial properties. Also, tower sites are often located in densely populated areas, with a high concentration of mobile towers in urban areas.
The truth is that not all mobile tower leases are the same, and the value of your cell tower can fluctuate over time, depending on the size and location of a cell site. This creates a situation in which not all cell sites are equally valuable and the rental price for a mobile tower lease varies.
What would you do as a landowner to improve the chances of getting a contract for a cell tower?
1. Be Visible. Make sure you have a sign for a cell tower on your property gate or fence by the nearest major road indicating you have land available for lease. Attach your daytime phone number to the sign so wireless company agents have a perfect way to get in touch with you.
2. Pay Attention. Visit your local zoning hearings to see if there are any other towers being constructed in your town or county. Attend the hearings when a tower is on the agenda; you will be able to talk to the company's representative who deals with the sites all the time.
3. Be Patient. It may take years before the wireless companies are interested in your area. But they eventually will come– even in the more rural areas. Also, don’t be afraid to contact the carriers every six months or so to find out if things have changed.
4. Be Diligent. We are often contacted by people who wish to place a tower on their property. They expect that some companies will want to help them lease their land for a share of the action. Unfortunately, this person or company does not exist. The wireless companies don’t need to have you contact them. They know they can find land anywhere. As such, there is no reason for them to make their search rings or their phone numbers public.
5. Don’t Pay. Don’t entertain paying a “site listing service” or a site management company. They don’t work. If you are considering it, ask if they have local contacts in your city with the carriers.
Here is an article from 2013 which shows older lease rates.
