FEATURE landlord’s agent is negotiating fiercely to win. Remember that it is OK to negotiate assertively. Be prepared to walk away. Try to set aside your emotions and make objective decisions. Whoever most needs to make a lease deal will give up the most conces-sions. A good practice in a poor location can lead to poor business. Ask the right questions. Gathering information about what other tenants in the same location are paying in rent or what incentives they received will give you an upper hand and position you to get a better deal. Consider that your landlord and his agent know what every other tenant in the property is paying in rent, so you must do your homework too. Brokers… friend or foe? Real estate agents and brokers typically work for the landlord who pays their commission. It is not normally the agent’s role to get the chiropractic tenant the best deal – it is their job to get the landlord the highest rent and the biggest deposit. The higher the rent you pay, the more commission the agent earns. If you are researching multiple prop-erties, try to deal directly with the listing agent for each property, rather than let one agent show you around or show you another agent’s listing. Your tenancy is more desirable to the listing agent if he can avoid commission-splitting with other agents. Never accept the first offer. Even if the first offer seems reasonable, or you have no idea of what to negotiate for, never accept the leasing agent’s first offer. In the real estate industry, most things are negotiable and the landlord fully expects you to counter-offer. Ask for more than you want. If you want three months free rent, then ask for five months. No one ever gets more than they ask for. Be prepared for the landlord to coun-ter-offer and negotiate with you as well. Don’t be afraid to hear ‘No’ from the landlord – counter-offers are all part of the game. Negotiate the deposit. Large deposits are not legally required in a real estate www.canadianchiropractor.ca BUSINESS have it your way F Top tips for successful commercial lease negotiation for your practice living. Negotiating appropriate leasing terms is vital for a tenant as the amount of rent he or she pays will directly affect the practice’s financial bottom line. Whether you are negotiating a lease renewal or leasing a new location for the first time for your practice, these are some tips to guide you through the process. Negotiate to win. All too frequently, tenants enter into lease negotiations unprepared. In some cases, they don’t even try to win the negotiations. If you are not negotiating to win, you won’t. With big commissions at stake in any lease negotiation, you can be sure the By DAle Willerton AnD Jeff grAnDfielD or many chiropractors, nego-tiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experi-enced agent or landlord can be a challenging ordeal. While a chiropractor fo-cuses on proper patient care, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized sales people. Their job is to sell chiropractic tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate Chiropractic tenants may go through the leasing process two or three times in their entire lifetime – yet they have to negotiate against seasoned professionals who negotiate leases every day for a DAle Willerton AnD Jeff grAnDfielD are commercial lease consultants who work exclusively for tenants. Dale and Jeff are professional speakers and co-authors of Negotiating Commercial Leases & Renewals For Dummies. Contact them at 1-800-738-9202 or e-mail [email protected]. 38 Canadian Chiropractor April 2014 Photo: Fotolia
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