The easiest and best way to find and negotiate new office space.
Relocating your office is a big responsibility. First you have to find a space that suits your company’s needs and ensure the location is convenient for staff and clients. And then you have to make sure you’re not paying over-market rent or getting stitched up by overly harsh lease conditions.
While many tenants take on the task of office relocation themselves, there are professionals available to provide assistance. But not all of them are truly on your side!
To help you decide how to tackle your office relocation, here are the pros and cons of the 3 common options: doing it yourself, working with commercial real estate agents, and engaging an independent tenant representative.
Option 1: Doing it yourself
Many corporate tenants decide to go it alone on their office relocations. It may seem a tempting option, but you could end up sacrificing the best deal.
Unless you have experience in commercial property negotiations, you run the risk of:
- selecting the wrong space by not taking into proper consideration your company’s current and future needs
- failing to negotiate the best possible rent and terms due to insufficient market research
- failing to ensure the “building services” – mechanical, electrical, fire and hydraulic – are adequate for your needs
- taking up a lot of hours searching for space and negotiating with agents and landlords.
No matter how much you trust an agent or landlord it would be unwise to begin lease negotiations without at least some market knowledge such as:
- current vacancy rates
- what space is available
- rental rates for comparable space
- landlords’ incentives being offered
- landlords’ responsibilities for base building services and technical requirements.
How long would it take you to gather this information, while holding down all your other job responsibilities at the same time? And even with all this information, you could still leave money on the table because you’re not familiar with the nitty gritty of commercial lease negotiation.
Option 2: Working with a commercial real estate agent
When you’re looking for new office space there are usually many commercial real estate agents who are eager to help you out. These agents are highly trained property professionals, and are perfectly competent to give advice and find you new premises. But there’s a problem…
Because their revenue is mainly from landlords, the agents’ goal is to get the highest rent and best terms for the landlord. So, there’s often a conflict of interest between what you want and what the agent is trying to achieve.
Agents are fundamentally driven by the commissions paid by landlords for signing up tenants for the highest rents possible. So don’t expect them to help you drive a better deal!
Option 3: Engaging an independent tenant representative
In contrast, an independent tenant representative operates without affiliations to specific buildings or owners. They exclusively serve your interests, avoiding conflicts of interest. The benefits of engaging an independent tenant representative include:
Analysing your space needs – calculating your actual space and layout needs so you don’t lease too much or too little space. (Remember, landlords and agents have no incentive to help you economise on space and save money.)
Exploring all properties on the market – identifying well-suited spaces with affordable rents, including off-market options.
Protecting you during lease negotiations – a tenant representative knows all the tricks and traps, so they can help you make a deal that meets your current and future needs.
Due diligence on building services – explaining how they impact the design of your fit-out and operating costs.
Acting as a buffer – advocating on your behalf during negotiations while maintaining a positive relationship with the landlord.
Handling the lease paperwork – and all the other time-consuming details of the lease negotiation.
A good independent tenant representative’s know-how and advice are invaluable. They can help you avoid making some major mistakes which may cost you dearly down the road. The end result is significant savings of money, time and stress.
But what about the cost?
Obviously independent tenant representatives charge for their services. But a good one will more than cover their fees – by ensuring you don’t over commit to space, and negotiating lower rent and better terms and landlords’ incentives than you could negotiate yourself.
In the grand scheme, investing in professional and independent support for such a crucial and costly decision like finding new office space just makes sense. It’s not just an expense – it’s an investment in your company’s future success.
Can we help?
We don’t believe you should act without professional and independent support on something as important and expensive as finding new office space. Contact us for help finding your new office space
