Tried a broker vs going direct on a 5,000 sq ft warehouse lease in Nashville last month

The broker got me 3 months free rent and a lower CAM cap that saved me $8,400 over the term, so I guess paying someone who knows the landlord's weak spots is worth it, anyone else had a broker pull off a deal you couldn't have gotten alone?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilyfisher4d ago

Wait, did you also see if the broker got the landlord to throw in any free rent for the buildout period? That's where the real money hides, because 3 months free sounds great but if they're also covering rent during construction that could be another month or two of savings on top of it.

faithj104d ago

My buddy leased 4,000 sq ft in Atlanta without a broker and the landlord slipped in a 5% annual rent escalation clause that ended up costing him an extra $12,000 by year three, something a broker would've caught. The real hidden savings nobody talks about is when a broker knows the building's vacancy history or if the landlord's been sitting on empty space for months, that gives you instant leverage for things like a longer rent abatement period. Your $8,400 is solid, but I wonder if you also got them to cover any tenant improvement allowances for buildouts, because that's another area where brokers earn their keep by knowing which landlords are desperate to fill square footage.