Top commercial real estate agents, Indianapolis agents, and agents elsewhere will agree.  Working directly with tenants or potential tenants can be challenging.

Why? Well, it isn’t the tenant’s fault, but they are typically unfamiliar with the commercial real estate process. Lease negotiations, tenant improvements (office build out, construction improvements) and other nuances specific to the commercial real estate industry are new territories for them. Therefore, an inordinate amount of a broker’s time is spent simply educating the tenant on the various parts of the lease process and what they even mean.

This extra step of educating the tenant lengthens the lease process time and the tenant often is making decisions on things they are largely unknowledgeable about.

So how can the process go smoother?

Tenant representation. Tenant reps are the go-between for the real estate broker representing the landlord and the tenant.  When a potential tenant hires a tenant rep to help them in their real estate search, they’ve hired someone who already knows the rope and suddenly, the potential tenant no longer needs an education in leasing 101.  But the tenant does know that in hiring a tenant rep, they’ve hired an expert who is ethically and legally obligated to represent their best interests.

WIth a tenant rep involved,  both parties involved in lease negotiations have experience and expertise with lease contract negotiations including knowledge of business terms consistent with current business trends. This makes the process smoother for everyone involved: landlord, real estate broker for the landlord, potential tenant.

Commercial real estate leasing is a sophisticated process. Most brokers representing the landlords are very happy to work with a peer within the commercial real estate industry instead of teaching the lease process to someone interested in leasing, but outside of the industry.

The result is a lease that everyone understands. But ultimately the result is a happy tenant and that makes everyone happy.