Lease Negotiation
Negotiating is a core skill at Your Leasing Co. We have been negotiating commercial leases for over 25 years and have completed over 1,000 lease transactions. We are in the market every day and have access to the same information or better than Landlords and their agents. So, before we start a negotiation, we have a very good understanding of where we should be landing on a deal. We don’t stop there, we continue working to improve on that position for our clients.
Negotiation is a specific skill and just like most things, the more you do something, the better you get. Especially when it is an activity like commercial leasing.
For a lot of Tenants, negotiating is a challenging and frustrating experience. This is generally due to a lack of certainty that comes from not having the same level of information as the Landlord and Landlords know this. Things like the underlying market trend, access to recent and comparable leases completed, industry benchmarks and the history on the property being considered. Also, most business owners are time poor and simply don’t have time to research this information, let alone know where to find it.
Combine this with the challenges around understanding the leasing process and getting the right mix of interconnected lease terms, leaves a lot of Tenants wondering… “have I negotiated a great deal… or not?” or “how much did I leave on the table?”
No two leasing deals are alike. The mix of the terms and essential lease elements are different every time, reflecting the primary needs of the Tenant and the Landlord. Our depth of technical experience and commercial approach enables us to develop creative solutions to complex leasing negotiations.
Typical negotiations we regularly undertake include:
- New Leases
- Lease Renewals
- Agreements for Lease
- Letters of Offer / Heads of Agreement
- Surrenders of Lease
- Lease Assignments
- Make Good Arrangements
The primary elements of a lease negotiation include:
The Lowest Rent
We provide rental certainty through our market information, professional property networks and comparable leasing data. Landlords are aware that most Tenants don’t have access to market information and often set advertised rents well above the market.
Combining our market intel with our negotiation experience is your advantage in bridging the Landlord/Tenant power imbalance.
Maximised Incentives
Leasing incentives, fitout contributions, rent free periods, rent abatements, work done at the Landlords cost and rental side deeds are examples of incentives that are often worth $100,000’s of dollars.
These are privately negotiated arrangements and the only real way to know how much you can ask for and how many incentives you can package up, is by being in the market and having access to market knowledge.
Flexible Terms
Fast growing businesses need to have flexibility built into their leasing arrangements that allow them to adapt to market conditions. Things like being able to have a first right of refusal over adjoining tenancies for growth, the ability to review rent mid term, sublease and fair and reasonable provisions to end a lease early if market conditions change.
Make Good and Fine Print
Most commercial leases have a requirement for vacating Tenants to return the tenancy to its original condition or make it good before the rent will be turned off. We often see Landlords holding Tenants into a lease until their heightened expectations, in excess of the lease requirements, are met.
Having a professional in your corner to review the fine print and who can confidently enforce industry acceptable practices could save you $100,000’s of dollars.
Interested in finding out more?
Call our FREE phone hotline 1300 356 702.