A tenant representative is commercial real estate broker, agent, or realtor that acts as an advocate for the tenant during a commercial lease transaction. They only work on behalf of the tenant and do not represent the landlord.
All too often, a landlord’s listing agent will try to work directly with prospective tenants, suggesting that they will “cut you a deal”. However, when it is said and done, who do you think they want to help out most? The tenant that they will only do one deal with or the building ownership that they can thank their entire career for?
The Texas Real Estate Commission recognizes the need for tenant representation. That is why in Texas, where an agent’s fee comes from does not dictate agency. So what does this mean for your company? Access to a tenant representative is a free service for you! The landlord pays their listing agent a fee for completing a lease transaction. Your tenant representative will split that fee with the listing agent in a very similar way to fee splitting in residential home sales. During the entire commercial real estate leasing process, your tenant representative’s legal and fiduciary duty remain to you, the tenant. The landlord’s listing agent is getting paid to work against your best interests, so you would be best served to hire a tenant representative as it costs no out of pocket fees.
Not only does using a tenant representative reduce the risk of conflict of interest, but it is also a great way to save you time and money during the office leasing process. A tenant representative will do all of the legwork for you when it comes to finding office space and negotiating the lease. You can stay concentrated on running your business and doing what is best to keep you successful.
How to Qualify a Tenant Representative
When looking for a tenant representative, it is important to be sure that their entire brokerage firm strictly only performs tenant representation. Otherwise, conflict of interest can still arise if other agents in the brokerage firm represent landlords. Agency is established at the brokerage level, not by the agent you are working with, so you’ll want to be sure that your representation is completely unbiased. There is also a major difference between a Residential Realtor and a Commercial Real Estate Broker. Yes they are both real estate professionals, but you wouldn’t visit your eye doctor for a tooth ache, would you?
At Texas Office Advisors, our entire firm only represents commercial tenants and never landlords, to avoid any possible conflicts. It is our goal to provide our clients with the best possible representation to achieve the most favorable lease terms. The professionals at Texas Office Advisors put their years of experience, expertise, and knowledge to work negotiating in the best interests of office space tenants. Click here to learn more about tenant representation services that we offer.