Any commercial Tenant Representative should not only know, but better yet, ardently embrace, is that there is no such thing as a typical commercial lease transaction. Like your family, your business needs are unique – with lists of what you must have, what you’d like to have, and what you can afford.
What you need to know is that the difference between being stuck for years in a substandard commercial lease or having a lease that yields flexibility for your business – wherein you spend your time focusing on your business – is a direct reflection of the quality of your tenant advisor. Know what makes a good one, choose wisely, and get the space you need – how and where you need it.
Single Point of Contact for “Boots on the Ground”
We are proud to call the growing Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex home. So it’s no wonder that we have expert-level competency in this market, and have been fortunate to contribute to Uptown’s growth, Greenville and Deep Ellum’s revitalization, the future of Downtown, and Frisco’s $5 Billion Mile. The best tenant consultants categorically offer more. We do.
Whitebox tenant reps advocate for and advise clients in markets across the United States. We have worked in 20 states from Florida to California, because our “boots on the ground” model is underpinned by two mutually supportive foundations: our “single point of contact” client management concept, and our SIOR Global network (more on that below).
So you might ask, “How does this work?” All you need to do is call your firm, tell them what you need, and let the team do the rest of the work. They will know how to help in whichever market you need space – that is if they have a professional global network like SOIR under their belt. Your single point of contact is already familiar with your company, your culture, and your needs. This eliminates the need to devote time and resources to search for a tenant advisor, conduct interviews and explain over and over again your requirements.
Instead of spending time worrying about real estate, focus your time where it’s most valuable – your company. The ultimate benefit of using a single point of contact is the relationship and service you get from a single real estate professional. That professional is in charge of the day-to-day communication and management, and will always be up-to-date on what’s going on. At Whitebox Real Estate, our job is to be fluent in your objectives and ensure that our work promotes and supports your organization’s short-, medium-, and long-term goals.
The best tenant agents are there to act as an extension of your real estate team. For smaller companies, they function as an outsourced real estate department. You should only have to speak with one person, while the team works with a local market professional counterpart who knows that market and will make certain that you achieve the best economic terms with the most flexible lease possible. We work with experts in those markets just as we are the experts in DFW.
Memberships
Always at the top of our list is the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, usually referred to by its acronym, SIOR. Established almost 80 years ago, it is one of America’s oldest and most discerning real estate organizations and global networks. We are unabashedly biased, because our Co-Founder, President, and Managing Director Grant Pruitt has been through the rigorous admission process. He is one of 3,200 members in 685 cities and 36 countries who have demonstrated to executive-level real estate practitioners that he is, “The most qualified, successful, and experienced – the best of the best.”
In addition to SIOR, a tenant rep’s memberships in state, regional and city real estate and business organizations are a must. You can easily identify who is truly plugged into their business community and the real estate players, and who isn’t. Click here to view our memberships.
Commercial Real Estate Lease Detail-ist
It’s not what was agreed to at the handshake. It’s also not in the Letter of Intent (LOI). The rules, the financials, your rights and responsibilities, and the stuff that matters for the coming year – is in the lease. A tenant representative must be an expert financial negotiator because the contractual agreement is about business, not fairness.
Leases can run 30 to 100 pages long and will contain very particular terminology that will almost without exception result in dollars and cents on the square foot. They will include terms like cap funding, operating expense stops, estimated expenses, reconciliation and more. The detail-oriented tenant agent vigilantly examines every aspect of the lease, in concert with your legal counsel, to ensure that there will be no surprises. The best tenant advisors act as a buffer for the client and as a master negotiator to produce a lease agreement that is flexible and based on harmonized interests.
Customer Care
The right Tenant Rep knows that once the lease is executed, customer care continues. If the landlord contacts our client, we want our client to contact their Whitebox agent so that our team can verify and clarify what landlord is actually communicating.
Oftentimes tenants will simply comply with what the landlord demands without question, but not always with a positive impression of fair play. Distrust is not the basis of a productive tenant-landlord relationship. Miscommunication can snowball beyond anything analogous to the original intent. The best tenant agent will step into the breach to represent the client, shielding the client and the business from unnecessary diversions from their priority – growing the business.
Flawless customer care is especially critical for lease renewals. In fact, the greater part of our work is spent renewing tenants in their existing space, downsizing (rightsizing) tenants in a portion of their larger space, or expanding tenants to neighboring spaces. At this juncture landlords look for some sort of additional lease term (renewal or extension) in exchange for a downsize or expansion.
The highest rental rates in the market are the outcome for companies who forgo expert Tenant Representation. What’s more, they also often fail to capitalize on this opportunity to renegotiate more favorable lease underwriting terms. But if a landlord is obliged to renegotiate terms with the right Tenant Rep, the negotiation is leveled between two expert actors who know the market. Because the landlord will not desire to entertain the possibility of expending resources to cover lost income and a tenant search, a favorable market-based rate will be achieved.
Our corporate culture is solely tenant-focused. We do not represent landlords, so there is no conflict of interest. If you’re looking for a new space and don’t know where to begin, the Advisors at Whitebox Real Estate can get you moving in the right direction.
Call us today for a consultation, and we’ll get you started on your way to a better office space for you and your employees!
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