When meeting with potential clients, one of the most common questions our tenant rep brokers hear is “why should I work with you exclusively rather than bring on multiple brokers?”

You may think that having multiple brokers from different firms working for you will ensure more market coverage which will result in you finding the best space for your company at the right price.

This is a myth. Using exclusive representation actually benefits you, the tenant, in several ways. Below are five reasons why every tenant should hire an exclusive tenant representation broker.

Read Now: The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Tenant Representation Broker

 

1. Finding Space is Only The First Step

A common misconception is that by employing multiple brokers on the same project, you will uncover more options. That is typically not the case.

Nearly all reputable brokerage firms go through the same process to find options that will fit a client’s needs. They will:

  • Search subscription databases such as Costar and Loopnet
  • Email requirements to landlord brokers asking for availabilities that fit your specific needs
  • Drive certain areas to find anything that is not online

In a way, this step is the simplest, most commoditized part of the entire site selection process. While there are exceptions to this, the process is the same for a vast majority of transactions completed.

As a result, it is not uncommon for multiple brokers to end up with the same options after the market survey process.  

Where brokers differentiate themselves is in their ability to create leverage to ultimately negotiate the best possible economics on your behalf.

 

2. Gain Legitimacy in the Market

As a tenant, having multiple brokers can lead to both you and your brokers losing legitimacy in the market.

Landlords may get confused about which broker is representing you and, as a result, will view you as a less viable prospect.

In tight real estate markets, this can be the difference between a landlord wanting to proceed with you as a tenant or moving on to the next interested company.

With an exclusive broker, there will be no confusion about who is representing you in the landlord representation community.

Additionally, when a landlord calls your exclusive broker for an update on your status, your broker can position their response strategically in a way that benefits you. If you’re working with multiple brokers, they may not be able to speak as certainly or strategically, as there may be other things in the works that they aren’t privy to.

Exclusivity arms your broker with all of the information they need to do their job to the best of their ability, ultimately resulting in the most favorable results for you.

 

3. Make Your Life Easier

Having an exclusive tenant representation broker will make the site selection process more efficient for you and your company for a few reasons.

First, an experienced tenant rep broker will quickly learn your likes and dislikes, your wants and needs, and any “hot-button” issues that you may have. As you go through the process with one broker, they can then quickly advise whether a specific property may be suitable for you or not. Using multiple brokers will create redundancies in this process, which will muddy the waters and unnecessarily complicate the process.

Furthermore, having an exclusive tenant representation broker will save you time. Contrary to what you may think, having multiple brokers is not more time efficient. Don’t think of it as “divide and conquer,” instead, it’s more of a “too many cooks in the kitchen” result.

Brokers often require the same input from you and have access to a lot of overlapping information, so with multiple brokers, you’re going to sit through a lot of the same meetings and see a lot of repeated information (as we said before, they’re likely going to be presenting the same list of options).

Additionally, as your single point of contact, you can reach out to your exclusive broker and ask questions on any of the options you are considering and get an answer, as opposed to calling multiple brokers for multiple options.

 

4. Get Unbiased Advice

Because tenant reps are only paid once your lease is signed, when there are multiple tenant representation brokers, each broker will be incentivized to get you to sign at the a property they showed you rather than the property that truly fits you best.

An exclusive broker, on the other hand, is not at risk of going uncompensated for their work on your transaction. Because of this, they can put their own interests aside and truly focus on finding the best real estate solution for your company and negotiating the most favorable terms.

 

5. Ensure a Dedicated Team

By working with an exclusive tenant representation broker, that broker can then deploy additional company resources and bring in a dedicated team to assist with your transaction, including financial analysts and advisors, project management, and architectural teams that will help the tenant come to realize their total future costs.

To learn more about why it is important to bring a construction project manager in during the site selection process, read our article When Should I Engage a Project Manager for My Build-Out or Renovation?

A non-exclusive broker may be less willing to commit team resources to their client, whereas exclusive brokers will have the best interest of their client as their sole focus.

The fact of the matter is, by working with an exclusive brokerage team, you are going to get a more dedicated and focused team, that holds your needs as the singular most important priority throughout the entire process.

Now that you know the value of hiring an exclusive tenant rep broker, here are a handful of articles to help you determine which broker is right for you:

Or, if you’re ready to talk to a tenant representative about your real estate needs, schedule a consultation today.

 

ultimate guide to hiring a tenant rep broker cta
 


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Max McDonald | Commercial Tenant Representation in Austin, Texas | AQUILA Commercial

Max McDonald

Max’s experience spans a broad range of clientele including institutional ownership groups, professional service firms, and technology companies.

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