If you’re looking for a new office for your business, it can quickly become a time consuming task. Are you prepared to handle employee growth projections, relocation, and the lease all by yourself?
The process holds a lot of unfamiliarities that many business owners don’t have any experience with. But a lot of people aren’t sure what a commercial real estate broker actually does, and why almost every business should hire a commercial real estate broker months before your current lease ends.
What Exactly Does a CRE Broker Do?
The role of a commercial real estate broker is continuously evolving, and since they’re working within a team, a brokerage company is able to handle a wide range of services for businesses.
Commercial real estate brokers can work with you from the initial planning stages, all the way up to finalizing a lease and coordinating relocations. In-between all that, you can expect a brokerage company to be able to handle:
- Office Space Layout
- Company Growth Projections
- Identifying Alternative Properties
- Lease Analysis
- Negotiations
- Office Design
- Relocation
- And Build-Outs
Many businesses will feel that they can handle all of these tasks on their own, but there are several reasons why it’s still smart to hire a commercial real estate broker.
Why Hire a Broker?
Even if you feel confident that you can guide your business through the process of securing a new office, you may want to get a better understanding of why hiring a broker is still useful.
1) Save Time
Do you have any free time in your day to day work schedule?
If you don’t, commercial real estate brokers can unload a lot of that time from you, by reviewing listings, calling listing agents, setting up times to visit potential locations, creating offers, and many other activities that will save you time. They know that you’re busy doing your work, which is why they want to make it as easy as possible for you.
2) Save Money
Typically, commercial real estate agents are paid commission and don’t charge a tenant any fee. But brokers save you money in other ways too, including negotiations, and finding a property that will work best for your business in the coming years.
3) Negotiating Experience
No matter how good you are at negotiating, it’s a whole new ball game in commercial real estate. You need to know the ins-and-outs of a lease before being able to negotiate the terms you want and secure the best deal.
In fact, many business owners don’t even know what to consider when revising the terms of a lease. Commercial real estate brokers can work with you a safety net to make sure you’re not making any mistakes in the negotiating process.
4) Market Knowledge
Real estate brokers perform a market analysis to give them a better understanding of what locations are the best for your specific audience, where your competitors are located, and which areas will be the most cost-effective.
Knowing the best location for a specific clientele will allow your business the best opportunity to succeed.
5) They Have Your Best Interest in Mind
If a broker feels that a particular property is too expensive for your business, or includes more space than you need, they’re going to help you find an office that works better for your business.
They’re also able to provide you with information that you wouldn’t otherwise have known such as the seller’s motivation, previous lease data, and anything else that they feel is important for you to know.
6) Accessibility to Listings
There are many different listing platforms, but not every listing platform is made available to you. Commercial real estate brokers pay a lot of money to gain access to these listings so that they can best serve their clients. But if you choose not to hire a commercial real estate broker, you won’t have access to numerous commercial listings.
7) They Know the Right People
Most brokers have built up an extensive list of contacts in their area. They know who to go to for designing an office, which movers to contact, as well as important businesses and property owners. Many brokers also know who not to contact.
Networking is a large part of being a successful commercial real estate broker, and the more connections they have, the easier the process will be for you.
Consulting a Broker
Whether you’re a year away from the end of your lease or a few months, you should consider consulting a broker prior to doing any planning. They’ll assist you with that, and a majority of other tasks. To schedule a call with one of our brokers, fill out our form.
