Lease Negotiations-Trust your Advisor

First Call me! Then second be prepared to answer some basic questions on the terms:

1. Is this a renewal?
2. What is the current commercial market demanding for your space?
3. How much time do you have?
4. Are you expanding or contracting or flat on your growth?
5. Are you using the most efficient space configuration as possible?
6. When do you need to decide to stay or look for other space?
7. Are you ready to spend numerous hours negotiating with the landlord?
8. Have you ever negotiated a lease with counsel and sophisticated Commercial Landlords, and Brokers?

If you cannot answer one or more of these questions, don't go in this alone. Hire the help of a qualified Commercial Real Estate broker, that has experience in Lease negotiations.

When negotiating a lease, there are many factors involved in the decision. First, how long and for how much are you willing to commit to the lease. The longer terms are better for more negotiating power in the beginning, but can tie you to a location for the next five, ten, even twenty years. Are you ready for that commitment?

Second, consider the alternatives. Do you know if your landlord wants or needs to keep you in the space? Do you know what similar space in the area is being leased for? Are there other factors over the next several years that may affect your location?

Third, be ready to discuss in great detail the lease document with the counsel or the landlord broker. Remember, these folks work for the Landlord, not you. Be careful how much information you give out as it can and will be used in negotiations later.

Understanding the negotiation of the Lease is complex. If you have never done this before, I strongly suggest calling a qualified Broker. Our expertise and daily negotiations with landlords and other brokers, help use develop a relationship with the landlords and brokers so we can get the lease to execution faster.

Do you understand the financial analytics of the lease deal? The financials of the document can get very confusing. Triple net leases, Double Net, Modified gross, Full Service, etc., if you don't know these types of leases, the landlord representative will be able to "smell" that you don't understand what you are doing, and they WILL capitalize on that lack of knowledge. In the end you will not come out ahead.

Negotiating a successfull, mutually beneficial lease transaction is a complicated and lengthy process. Please remember never fly a plane without a pilot, and don't go into a commercial transaction without an advocate on your side.