By James A. Schnur, CCIM
President and Designated Managing Broker
Integrated Real Estate Solutions
LinkedIn
When businesses find a space that fits their current and future needs, they are motivated to remain in that space. But business owners that are renting have their steadfast resolve tested every time their lease comes due for renewal as it means entering into a negotiation where the power is potentially unbalanced. Loyalty to a space and wariness about searching for a new space to rent can make renewal conversations daunting, especially for those that don’t want to “rock the boat” with their landlords. Just as often, though, this fear leads to business owners leaving valuable renewal terms for their new lease term unexplored and off the table.
For businesses to get the best outcome out of commercial lease renewal negotiations, they need expertise and support on their side. And this can be achieved by retaining the services of a tenant representative broker.
Tenant Rep Brokers are Your Negotiation Partners
Tenant representative brokers provide businesses with a steadfast ally on their side of the negotiation table because tenant rep brokers have the businesses’ needs front of mind — this is why they are tenant representatives; they are in the service of the tenant. Tenant reps align a business’s goals for their space and future with real-estate industry knowledge and experience to ensure the renewal being signed is fair and delivers the best possible terms for the business. A good tenant representative broker backs the business owner’s interests with the authority and expertise to secure more reasonable concessions and incentives during renewal renegotiations.
Prime Market Insights from the Market Insiders
There are a number of factors outside of the lease itself that can impact lease renewal terms when a business’s renewal comes due. Tenant rep brokers have invaluable knowledge of the current state of the commercial real estate market, including market changes, building availability, economic impacts, and rental rate trends — all of which can factor into how best to renegotiate a business’s renewal terms.
For instance, tenant rep brokers will be the most familiar and up-to-date with occupancy and rental rates in a given market or location. Landlords do not like to let a property sit empty for any amount of time, but especially if demand for renting is low. A tenant rep broker would then have the available information to leverage this position with the landlord during renewal negotiations to the benefit of the tenant they represent.
Lease Language Navigation
Tenants that take advantage of a tenant representative broker’s services during the initial leasing process will understand both the complexity of lease terminology and how helpful it is to have professionals available that are able to distill and translate the language of leases into more understandable terms. Tenant representative brokers make it simpler for those businesses they’re working with to understand exactly the type of deal that’s being signed — what a business’s responsibilities will be as a tenant, the costs they’re responsible for, and what is covered, what allowances are provided to the business, and what recourse the business has in the event of outside circumstances that requires the business to seek a new space or need to change their lease terms after the lease has been signed.
A tenant rep broker also saves business time — the most valuable resource available. Rather than spending undue amounts of time trying to understand what is within the lease, a tenant rep broker can synthesize the language more quickly, freeing up the business leaders to attend to more pressing day-to-day matters and providing confidence that what is being read in the lease and communicated is accurate.
Lease renewals are a daunting negotiation to attempt alone. This is why it is important to not only find a tenant representative broker to help but to find the right tenant representative broker to help — one that works with you, that puts in the effort to understand your business and your unique needs, and that will be there when you need them most. The team at Integrated Real Estate Solutions, Inc. works on behalf of your business to ensure that the considerations and requirements of your business are kept front and center to guarantee you have the right spot to lead to a smooth relocation, easy renewal negotiations, and continued business success. Pulling from well-established commercial real estate market knowledge and years of experience representing a variety of commercial tenants, the representatives at Integrated Real Estate Solutions are ideal partners to act on your behalf throughout the lease renewal process.
Integrated Real Estate Solutions, Inc. provides clients with the in-depth knowledge and experience that is critical to determine the right path to your next move, lease renewal, or strategic repositioning of your real estate portfolio. Contact us or call 847.550.0160 today about your needs, and put our success to work for you.
