Need to find dental office space? Before you call your broker, click your mouse.

In the 21st century, the Internet should be the first tool every dentist uses to find new office space. It is simply the best way to research office rents and availability.

Whether you use this information to supplement the information you receive from a broker or to replace your broker entirely is up to you. Either way, using the Internet will help you find the best office space at the best price.

Begin your search at www.loopnet.com. This user-friendly site has listings for over 6.7 billion square feet of commercial space for lease and $435 billion of commercial property for sale.

If you are looking for office space to lease, simply click on the “For Lease” tab on page one of the LoopNet website, enter “Office” in the first box, enter the city and state in the second box and click on the “Search” button. LoopNet will generate a list of all available office space meeting your criteria, complete with photographs and detailed information about each property.

Did your search turn up too many properties? You can click on “Advanced Search” to filter your search results to show only office space offered for a particular range of rents or only office space of a certain size. Did your search turn up too few properties? You can broaden your search to include other geographic areas. Not seeing any property that interests you? You can ask LoopNet to send you an email whenever a new listing for office space meeting your criteria is added to LoopNet.

You can use the information from LoopNet to conduct preliminary research on current office rents and available locations, to supplement information you receive from your broker or to replace your broker entirely. At the very least, your Internet research will allow you to challenge a broker who tells you that “This is the best space you’ll ever find for that price.” At the very best, your Internet research may even lead you to your ideal office space.

This article was written by Janice L. Gauthier, Esq. Ms. Gauthier has an A.B. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is the owner of The Gauthier Law Group, LLC, a boutique law firm that represents dentists, physicians, health care providers, professional service practices and other businesses and business owners in Wisconsin and Illinois. You can contact Ms. Gauthier at 414-270-3857 or by email. To learn more about Ms. Gauthier’s background and experience, visit her Google or LinkedIn profiles.

© 2012, 2013 The Gauthier Law Group, LLC