Commercial Real Estate Brokers Skills Help Negotiations
Commercial real estate brokers are entirely different from their residential counterparts. The typical residential agent has promulgated contract and forms that they use in their offers and sales agreements. Commercial real estate brokers are more involved in the transactions.
Commercial brokers are involved with many types of negotiations. The experienced commercial real estate brokers know that there is more to his profession than just locating an office space. The broker many more skills and talents that get their client the perfect office deal.
The first step that a typical client takes is to search on the internet for office space. Sometimes they will contact the landlord's brokers and visit an office or two. They will usually discover that there is a lot more to leasing an office space than merely looking at offices.
Now the client will decide they need a professional tenant representative to help them located the best office space for their needs. Hopefully, they will not work with one of the brokers that have a responsibility to the landlord. I had a phone call with a friend yesterday who kept referring to his broker. I asked him if he had signed a representation agreement with this broker. He said that he didn't. I informed him that he doesn't have a broker. The broker he is working with is considered a sub-agent of the landlord's broker in Texas.
Yes, the broker has a responsibility to treat all parties to a transaction fairly, but he doesn't have fiduciary duties to my friend. Unfortunately many people think they are getting something for nothing but in fact, they are getting nothing because they don't have a broker with loyalties only to them.
Commercial real estate brokers have many tools that they will use to help you find and negotiate the best terms and conditions for your office lease. Yes, we all have databases with property listings. Every office has these services. I think what separates the qualified brokers form the mediocre is dedication and experience. I would also include that it is determination and drive that gives our clients the best results.
Last week I earned business from a new client. He had been working with one of my competitors, but he never found the location they were looking to move in. Out of desperation, he reached out to me for help. We reviewed what they were doing, and it is evident that the broker he was using searched for properties on a database.
If this is all your broker is doing, you can do the same thing using LoopNet. It doesn't take any skill to search for stuff on the internet. Our services offer so much more. In fact, only ten percent of the work is finding a space.
Commercial Real Estate Brokers Skills:
Extensive market knowledge
Construction knowledge
Lease negotiation strategies
Space planning and design
Construction experience
Lease negotiation skills
Space planning
Financial analysis
Relationships with other brokers
If you are renewing your lease, expanding your office or looking for your first Dallas office location, you need to have the right skills on your team. YOU need to work with commercial real estate brokers that are exclusively representing you so that you get the best office space for the best deal possible.