FAQ's

A tenant representative, as the name would suggest, is engaged on behalf of a tenant to represent their company and best interests in their commercial property negotiations, with the goal of securing the preferred premises on favourable terms.

A leasing agent is appointed on a building, on behalf of the landlord, to secure a tenant for the vacant space on the most favourable terms for the landlord.

Either a traditional leasing agent or a independent tenant representative can assist you with your requirements. However, a commercial leasing agent represents the landlords interests, not yours.

No matter if its a landlords market or a tenants market, balancing the score betewen experienced landlords and their agents and the humble Tenant is a must.

There are five main benefits to using a Tenant Representative no matter how good you think a deal is;

UNDERSTANDING YOUR UNIQUE BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

For an organisation and its executives, decisions in relation to selection of office space and work setting might only come up once every 10 years. It means that most often the people driving the decision making in the executive team may not have ever had to embark on the task of assessing their organisation in terms of attendance, work settings and emerging work styles to determine what the right answer is for their business. Without an experienced Tenant Advisor with a background in Architecture and Design, an executive team may guess their way through their business requirements resulting in an improperly planned workplace which is not fit for purpose.

Fundamentally a well conducted Workplace Strategy must take place to ensure there is buy in from all executives and department heads and to derive a property and design brief that is endorsed by the whole team.

Having an experienced tenant advisor on your side ensures that you are making informed decisions along the way, guided by a team that helps businesses understand their property requirements for a living.

MARKET KNOWLEDGE

You dont trade stocks unless you get advice from professionals. It’s the same with office leasing. Understanding how the market is shifting from city to city and building to building is important knowledge required to negotiate sharply on lease terms. If you don’t have an abundance of data available to you to compare an offer with other tenants in the same building or the building across the road you are likely not able to make an informed decision and may miss out on the best deal.

An experieneced tenant advisor is armed with years of historical data and experience to inform you accurately on what you should be paying for a renewal or a new lease and not a penny more. 

REACH

It is essential for you to be able to inform an entire market at the same time and be able to receive and compare all the available spaces that may suit your business without delay or direct exposure to agents and owners who have a tendancy to push you into spaces without proper due diligence.

A tenant advisor has the contacts to immediately blast your requirements to every landlord and agent in Sydney to make sure your requirement stands out in front of other demand side proponents. Being represented allowes you to view properties in advance of their listing as well.

TIME

Time is critical in leases and for this reason it must be treated with respect or you might find your business homeless for a period of time.

It is essential to have plenty of time on your hands and an experienced tenant advisor will prepare a realistic timeline of your journey from one office to another, carefully orchistrating a fitout and makegood and the relocation of your business with plenty of time to spare. All while taking advantage of early access periods and minimising delay. Niche does this especially well as our forte is end to end delivery.

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” – William Shakespeare

RISK MINIMISATION

Risk is apparent in everything we do and that includes commercial leases. There are no industry guidelines or government imposed safeguards on commercial leases and as such some lease offers may seem fine on the surface however they are filled with hidden nastys added by frugal landlords over long periods of tenure.

At Niche we have seen all the hidden “tricks of the trade” from all of the landlords so we know what to look out for. Our internal processes ensure checklists are followed to mitigate risk in preparation of your Heads of Agreement (HOA) and in negotiating with your landlord.

It is a tenant advisors job to inform you of the potential risks of commercial terms presented and to offer solutions to mitigate those risks for the future.

The best way to compare all the available space on the market is to engage a specialist tenant advisory firm to represent you in the market who can set up an expression of interest campaign on your behalf. You will then receive all the available premises including those not yet listed online. The next step is to use a process of elimination to cut down that list to suit your property brief.

A workplace strategy is where a professional cunducts a brainstorming session with your business key stakeholders, executives, heads of departments and decision makers to review how your business operates departmentally within a workplace. This strategy session results in a property and design brief which encourages collaboration and productivity within your team.

The three important things you need on your side when negotiating an office space is;
LEVERAGE
Ensuring that there is acomplete search of the whole market and plenty of options to compare and consider and fall back on if your negotiations fail or the property becomes unavailable.
TIME
You must have enough time to comfortably do a deal, design and fitout your premises and relocate your business seamlessly without too much interruption.
EXPERIENCE
You must have good experience in dealing with the commercial terms that underpin a lease, it also requires a sound understanding of the corporate property market and the rentals and incentives from building to building. If you are unsure how to converse with an experienced agent or landlord you should seek professional representation. Feel free to Call Us to discuss your current circumstances and we can help you with the next steps.

A heads of agreement (HOA) is an initial document produced by the lessor (in most instances) stating the key commercial terms within a lease.
It is your first (and only) opportunity to respond to the lessor with a sensible counter offer which will have commercial meaning and cover your business for future risk. The Niche team are experts at negotiating leases and can help you with responding to your prospective landlords in the right manner to ensure the best deal and a positive relationship moving forward.

Most definitely not, there are 3 types of office spaces available on the market and each have their own benefits.

SPECULATIVE FITOUTS

Speculative Fitouts or “Speccies” known in the industry, is where a landlord conducts a brand new fitout in anticipation for an incoming tenant. This is usually conducted in an open plan arrangement and does not allow for customisation requirements which may be necessary to suit a business. A Spec Fitout is not free however, the cost of the fitout and the landlords risk and management of the work is usually built into the lease. A Spec fitout also isnt always 100% complete, for instance you sitll need to install your electrical and data infrastructire.  There is little to no opportunity for an incentive from the landlord as the incentive otherwise available has been used on the speculative fitout. Spec Fitouts also aren’t easily modified as they are usually the landlords property and 

PARTIALLY FITTED (SECOND HAND)

Partially fitted spaces are second hand and have been used once and maybe even twice over by previous tenants over many lease terms. As they have been paid for by previous tenants they are an opportune way of obtaining a fitout without the price tag. You still obtain an incentive from the landlord and are usually not required to make good to a second hand space with proper negotiation.

 You would however have to settle for a second hand space however there is plenty of opportunity to customise areas for a fraction of the cost of a new fitout with relative ease. Our Design & Fitout team can help with this www.nicheprojects.com.au

EMPTY SPACE

As the name suggests, here you are presented with a completely empty space with no internal walls ready for a fitout. The first hurdle to face with an empty space is to ensure your business would fit in the space, the second is to make sure it fits the way you need. It’s often hard for business Executives to envisage how an organisation will fit into a space when there are no walls and furniture.

An empty space typically yields the highest incentive offering in a corporate lease and the greatest flexibility for unique businesses to design the most appropriate work setting for your team.

At Niche, we believe that the most important step of your workplace journey is the Workplace Strategy session, conducted well in advance derives an accurate property and design brief ready for one of our in house interior designers to plan your new space and include it with the financial comparisons of your shortlisted properties. So you can make an informed commercial decision. 

In summary the most important thing to determine between the three offerings of space is factoring the cost into your comparisons. Not all properties are the same and each option must be carefully costed to suit your business so you can make an informed commercial decision on which space is right for you.

A makegood obligation is an obligation to return your premises back to the condition it was in prior to your occupancy. In some cases a makegood obligation is even more than this, its all dependent on your lease terms.

Lessors are experienced at makegood negotiations and it pays to have someone on your side who can represent you when negotiating a settlement or embarking on a physical makegood to your premises. Our team handles negotiation and delivery of makegood services.

The most common pitfall businesses identify when embarking on a makegood is lease interpretation of the scope of works required.

The worst thing you could possibly do in a makegood is to enter into a settlement negotiation prior to scrutinising the landlords requested scope of works. Often they are ambitious and not in line with the lease.

If you need help to understand you makegood obligation Get in Touch.