Reflections on a Successful Career in Commercial Real Estate Leasing
I have leased many different property types over the last 30 plus years. In saying that, I know and have proven that leasing is a powerful, effective, and direct way of tapping into the ‘players’ of the property market. Why is that? You are connecting with and servicing local landlords, investors, and successful business owners.
About 90% of our real estate business and the opportunities come from those segments. The connections are valuable in so many ways. The services that can be provided to those groups are many, and over time can be optimized for market trends and property types or precinct activities. Specialization is involved. Are you the ‘specialist’?
Optimizing Leasing Services
What are your leasing services now and can they be improved? Here are some service alternatives that work very well in the commercial and retail property leasing industry:
- Helping businesses find new premises or solve expansion or contraction needs
- Finding tenants for landlords that have too many vacancies in their investments
- Providing expert tenant advocacy services in a city and property type
- Negotiation of leases or options for renewal for either landlords or tenants
- Strategically leasing a set of vacancies in a property to improve the net cash flow from the investment over time
- Establishing a tenant retention program in an asset with multiple occupants
- Vacancy marketing for a major new property project
- Consulting on the tenant mix for a property and how it can be changed or strengthened
- Improving occupancy costs for a property and either the tenant or landlord based on the lease documentation
All these things require leasing knowledge and specialization. They all involve good fees and professional services. You can say that the services are there to be offered if you understand that fact at the outset of your prospecting and marketing of services with landlords and tenants.
Your Professional Leasing Services?
Here are some good ways you can improve your professional services in commercial and retail property:
- Tenant awareness – get to know plenty of local tenants and what they are doing and thinking from a lease occupancy perspective. Track the upcoming lease expiry dates. Remain in contact with all local tenants.
- Property focus – choose a couple of property types that you can relate to and know a lot about. Understand the rents, vacancy factors, leasing strategies, lease documents, and marketing alternatives for the property type.
- Businesses locally – create a solid and accurate database of local businesses by street and by building. Soon you will see a few leasing opportunities coming up.
- Landlord solutions – from the list mentioned earlier, there are vacancy and leasing solutions that can be offered and from which fees can be generated. Develop your professional services accordingly.
- Exclusivity – control your leasing stock. That is the rule and not the exception. Devote special attention to your leasing stock and talk to plenty of local businesses as part of finding tenants and movement across building types and locations.
- Rentals and leasing strategies – different property types generate unique rents and leasing strategies. That is why specialization is so critical in leasing. Drill down in all your rentals and occupancy cost issues. Quote the ‘numbers’ in some effective and direct ways as you close on a lease or a negotiation. It is hard for a tenant or landlord to refute accurate figures.
In closing on this topic, it is easy to see how ‘leasing’ is a valuable and specialized part of our property industry. Get your leasing services refined for the opportunities with tenants and landlords. Tap into the business movement.
Here is a leasing chart to help with tenant and landlord connections:
