Sure...You can go it alone. There’s nothing written that you have to use a real estate broker. You can easily find your own space, call the Landlord and make a deal directly with them…it happens every day.

Hopefully during your market planning phase you found a few workable locations and didn’t stop as soon as you found your first potential site. By sticking to the planning process and logging a few possible sites, you’ve probably got a few numbers to call anyway, go ahead, give it a try.

Or...you could hire a Buyer’s Broker or Tenant Representative.

These folks are licence real estate brokers that contractually work for you, the Tenant and many of today's larger companies use them. The difference, of course, is that the broker is bound (by a written contract) to look after your best interests at all times, not the Landlord’s. The contract that is signed by both you and the broker should state that for a certain period of time, the broker will work for you and look out for your best interests, not Mr. landlord's.

But as with any contract, read what you sign carefully. Because it’s not unusual to find that even if you are the one to find the site, you or the owner may be responsible for the commission, if you’re lucky the property owner would pay.

And just when you thought you were out of options, there's another really, really good one...think of hiring your very own Development Consultant. You see; every once in a while even the best of corporate real estate and construction people find themselves "between jobs" and take on consulting gigs until they find more permanent employment. So, Corporate America's loss could be your gain. The benefit of course is, if you choose them wisely, they could be a highly-trained site selector and lease negotiator or maybe your very own on-site construction manager. You save time, money and aggravation and the professional gets to earn a living...a pretty good trade if you ask me.

So do you really need to work with a broker? No, you don't...but a good experienced commercial real estate broker can make all the difference between finding a good site and a great one. Take your time and try to identify the right one for your team.

Happy Hunting!

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