How to Be An Expert in Commercial Real Estate Leasing
It is a fact that you can earn good commissions from commercial real estate leasing if you focus on the right properties and locations. To succeed as a real estate agent in this process it is a matter of understanding what tenants are looking for and having a good source of listings to match them to. Prospecting the right listings and landlords to serve is part of that process.
A special note should be made that you as a leasing agent can also act for tenants as a tenant advocate; if that is a market for you, make sure that you only work with larger corporate tenants; they are the ones that pay reasonable fees for effort to the agent. Smaller tenants are far too much work for tenant advocacy.
The best properties lease faster and generate better tenant interest. To work with tenants and introduce them to the right listings here are some questions to ask:
- Where are they coming from? Do they have another property that they are leaving? Consequently are they looking at a critical date of property changeover?
- What improvements do they need in the relocation? Some improvements may be non-negotiable from a tenant’s perspective. Those improvements may even shorten the ‘hit list’ of properties to inspect.
- They will have a budget of rental to apply to the new lease. Remember that ‘rent’ is also outgoings and other occupancy costs to a tenant. Match the budget that they are working with to the properties and the location that they can afford.
- Some businesses in relocation have real issues with end customer markets and customer car parking. Make sure that your properties are correctly placed for servicing the tenants needs in that regard.
- Who is the decision maker in the leasing process? Only work with the key people when it comes to property choice and inspections.
- Will expansion or contraction be an issue for the tenant in ongoing occupancy? That may have an impact on the lease term and any option period you may negotiate.
- Monitor market rents, incentives, permitted uses, zoning, and property types. Everything in your local market will have a leasing opportunity at some time in the future.
As agents in the leasing market place, it is critical that we know about rent strategies and property performance processes. The leases that we negotiate are integral to property performance. A well designed leasing package will help the net income for the property and the overall tenant mix.
