#7: WITHOUT OFFICE LEASING OPTIONS, YOUR A PRISONER
"When you can't have what you choose, you just choose what you have."
- Owen Wister The Virginian
One of the most critical aspects of finding and leasing new office space is to develop as many reasonable options as you can. The greater your
options, the greater the likelihood that you will find the right location for you,
and that you will leave no money or benefits on the table in lease negotiations.
During the Decade of the 'Nineties Memphis enjoyed almost unprecedented development of Class A office space. Additionally, many older office
structures in the market were remodeled and/or expanded. Several major space users, such as Federal Express and AutoZone, developed their own
buildings, leaving much space on the market.
The result is a far broader selection of locations and building types than ever before. Tenants have an excellent opportunity to develop a variety of
options, and take advantage of today's broad selection and inventory.
Options mean leverage
Whether you want to be downtown, north, south, midtown or on the Poplar East Corridor, many options exist.
Why is it so important in your lease negotiations to have several options?
Obviously, the more options you have the more negotiating leverage you can wield.
Developing several options allows you to make comparisons between locations, buildings, building management, rental rates, amenities and
extra benefits, such as parking, and sub-leasing privileges.
Landlords and their brokers are engaged daily in a pursuit that you and your company may involve yourselves in once every five or 10 years. The more
options you develop, the more current experience that you gain, the more knowledgeable you become.
No regrets later
Options also make it far less likely that you will be stampeded into less advantageous lease terms by any landlord or his broker. Less likely that
you will rush into a decision that you might regret later when you learn of other opportunities that you failed to investigate. Less likely that you
will be fooled into believing you are getting a below-market-rate deal when
the opposite may be true.
Developing options is far easier today than ever before.
To find a used car you used to have to drive all over town, visit many dealers or lots and try to make comparisons. Today you go to the Internet,
type in what you're looking for and find the lots that have it.
Finding office space was much the same. You called or drove around, talked with landlords or their agents, and made a lot of notes. Developing almost
endless options today couldn't be easier. Professional tenant-exclusive real estate representatives maintain data on all buildings in the market,
comparable rates and amenities, and a broad knowledge of building
advantages and disadvantages.
Get a pro on your side
A tenant-exclusive representative will develop for you a list of options that matches your specifications. Unlike other brokers, because he is a
tenant-exclusive representative he will make no effort to steer you toward the listings of his own firm. Tenant-exclusive
representatives accept no listings.
Don't forget, every landlord budgets in your rent an amount for brokerage commissions. Since you're paying for it, you should see to it that at
least some of this money works for you, rather than going 100% to the landlord's
broker, whose interests are the landlord's, not yours.
MalmoMemphis Real Estate, Inc., represents office tenants. When we
represent you there will never be any question of whether we are under
pressure to lead you to specific properties. We handle no office
listings. We represent no office building owners, no office landlords,
no office sellers.
We are your expert, independent advocate.
The 'Tenant's 10-Point Guide to Leasing Commercial
Space' is copyrighted by MalmoMemphis Real Estate, Inc., (MMRE) and may
not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of MMRE, and the
inclusion of notice that the material is 'Copyrighted by MalmoMemphis Real
Estate, Inc.' |
