Helpful Tips
What You Need To Know
Important Things To Know Before Signing Any Lease…
Selecting space for your organization and successfully negotiating a lease you can live with are: complex, time-consuming tasks, full of potential pitfalls. These pitfalls only multiply if you undertake the process on your own without the benefit of the experience Burchfield Commercial Realty provides as your representative.
01.
No Cost To You, The Tenant
This should be a good enough reason on its own! You pay nothing for the support and advice provided by Burchfield Commercial Realty’s advisers, because we are compensated BY THE LANDLORD as part of the real estate transaction. Our fees are calculated as a percentage of gross rents paid over the lease term and noted in the lease or purchase document.
02.
Avoids Conflict of Interest
Unlike a landlord’s broker, a Burchfield Commercial Realty broker is 100% committed and accountable to your company. The landlord’s broker is under a contractual obligation to represent their client’s best interests, not the tenant’s (you!). It’s OUR obligation to represent YOUR best interests. By representing the tenant’s interest alone, we avoid the conflict of interest that regularly arises from working with one or multiple landlord brokers.
03.
Legal Costs
Legal fees during a lease negotiation can cost your business an unnecessary and significant amount of money. Without a representative, businesses send their lease to their attorney to interpret the terms that are in the lease. Our experts can get 99% of the terms of the lease negotiated and written prior to legal submission.
04.
Negotiate Lease Terms That Save You Money
Many leases hold the tenant responsible for ongoing maintenance such as flooring, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc. We are able to evaluate the move-in conditions and determine a benchmark indicating the point at which your wear and tear begins. Without proper documentation, you could become liable for building deficiencies that existed prior to you occupying the space.
Additionally, your tenant representative can negotiate for you to receive a rent concession for moving and set-up time. In short, this allows your lease to begin and you delay paying rent while you are moving out of your old space and setting up operations for the new space.
05.
Create a Bidding War Among Several Landlords
Through our proven Request for Proposal (RFP) process we can create an environment that prevents you from being “captive” at your current location. This process generates a bidding war amongst landlords to compete for your business. Even if there is one property that is best for your operation, creating a competition will optimize your negotiating position; which your advisors will assist you in from start to finish. The result can be concessions and incentives that exceed the norm in the marketplace, such as months of free rent, allowance for tenant improvements, or a moving allowance and more.
06.
Save Hours Of Your Valuable Time and Thousands Of Company Dollars
Allowing companies to focus on their business’ operations is one of our primary objectives. Instead of utilizing valuable time of your most capable people, we leverage our extensive market knowledge and proven systems to streamline the leasing process, saving you thousands of company dollars. Just as you hire a CPA for financial matters and an attorney for legal matters, you will be hiring a broker to navigate the complicated commercial real estate process. Having a commercial real estate broker is essential to achieve the maximum money and time savings for your business.
07.
Serve As A Buffer Between You and Your Current Or Future Landlord
Throughout the negotiation process, your representative can act as the “bad guy” to secure economic concessions from your current or future landlord. This buffer will ensure that your relationship with your landlord is cordial and professional once the transaction is completed.
08.
Avoid Lease Provisions That Could Negatively Affect Your Business In The Long Term
Many leases have provisions that allow the landlord to increase the base rent or the additional expenses of which the tenant is responsible. For example, landlords will attempt to tie rents and/or expenses to the consumer price index (CPI) and ask that these rents/expenses float with the index. Your tenant representative can eliminate such provisions or negotiate a CPI cap for the lease.
09.
Provide Expertise From The Beginning Needs Analysis To The Exit Strategy
Burchfield Commercial Realty focuses on providing a holistic approach to the leasing process which includes a needs analysis all the way through the exit strategy; prior to any negotiations with landlords. Failure to properly plan all aspects of the process can create leasing problems that last for years. We circumvent these pitfalls by utilizing our proven processes.
