Episode #13: Stepping into a Commercial Lease with Eric Anderson

If negotiating commercial real estate is something you’ve been struggling with, today’s episode is for you. Eric Anderson from Colliers International is here to talk all about commercial real estate leases. Eric is a commercial real estate broker with years of experience working on behalf of both tenants and landlords.  

In today’s episode, Grant and Eric talk about what’s negotiable, what tenants should consider, why you should work with a broker and more wisdom from Eric. Towards the end of the episode, Eric shares some of the things every tenant needs to know before entering negotiations. 

Show Notes

[03:11] What Eric does for a living – Eric shares his role at Colliers International and how he works with both tenants and landlords.   

[05:38] Looking for real estate for the first time – Grant asks Eric what to do when you’re on the market for office space for a new business.  

[09:11] How brokerage fees work – Eric explains how the fees for brokers come in to play for tenants as well as landlords. 

[15:31] Getting started with a broker – Eric explains the process he goes through with his clients who want to find office spaces. 

[22:49] Early termination – How early termination clauses work and what to do if your business grows and runs out of space and you want to move out before your lease ends. 

[31:03] What if the worst happens? – Eric talks about what happens if your business dries up for some reason before the lease ends. 

 [38:12] Due diligence by landlords – Grant asks Eric what sort of guarantees and financial track records a reputable landlord might ask when negotiating a real estate lease. 

[39:47] Grading of office spaces – Eric explains how they classify office spaces into different grades and how the grading varies from market to market. 

[42:20] Biggest mistakes tenants make – Eric shares some of the biggest mistakes he has seen tenants make over his career and how to avoid them. 

[50:19] Fiduciary responsibility of brokers – Eric explains how he works in the best interest of his clients and the reasons behind it. 

[54:58] More real estate wisdom – Eric shares quite a few things tenants should consider when looking for business spaces. 

Resources

Basics of commercial real estate: bit.ly/3c5PKRa 

What Commercial Real Estate Agents Do: bit.ly/2v0FDfP