I was recently talking about work with a friend who’s a financial advisor in New Hampshire. He’s looking to expand out of his home office to grow his practice and was surprised to hear that this is something a commercial real estate broker can help with.  He thought that we only help people buy and sell real estate and list real estate for lease on behalf of a landlord.  He was missing out on a big piece of what we do: Tenant Representation.

Whether you are expanding, “rightsizing,” or relocating, the process can be cumbersome and can distract from the daily activities of running a business.  It can also be overwhelming to negotiate a letter of intent, negotiate a lease, complete space planning, coordinate a move, and take on potential leasing complications.

Typically when I’m assisting a client who’s looking at leasing office, industrial, or retail space for their business, I start with understanding the “must haves” and “wants.”  Location is usually the first piece of the puzzle followed by size of the space.  Other factors are ease/access to parking, building amenities or amenities nearby, length of lease, and budget.  From there, we can cast a wide net by putting together a market survey and going over the pros and cons of each space.  Once we narrow that down to a shortlist, it’s best to spend a day touring the properties on that list.

Everyone would love to walk into a space and with an ideal—even turnkey—layout for their business.  This rarely happens so landlords understand that prospective tenants are likely to request changes.  Who’s responsible for these changes—landlord or tenant?  Out of curiosity, I posed that question to my friend to see what his thoughts were.  I also asked him how long of a term he wanted and what class of building he was interested in.  My friend, like many people looking for office space, hadn’t thought of those particulars.  He knew what his end goal was, but wasn’t sure how to get there—that’s where we come in. Through comparisons, analysis, and market knowledge my colleagues and I help tenants navigate the leasing process and secure their ideal space. It’s incredibly rewarding to visit tenants once they’ve opened up shop and have made the space their own.

When The Boulos Company represents tenants, we do the heavy lifting from completing the site search to negotiating the lease terms—as well as advising our clients after they have secured space—so they can focus on what’s important: growing their business.