The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received.

G.E. Grace & Company, Inc. represents corporate tenants leasing commercial space. An old timer, with whom I trained, gave me some advice that has proven valuable again and again. However, like many simple yet sage words—it took five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.

The advice: always negotiate between several viable options.

When you have more than one landlord competing for your tenancy, you can favorably enhance the economic outcome of a deal.

Sellers in general—landlords and their agents in particular—are in a competitive market place.

They do not like losing a tenant to a rival or having their building empty. They do not want to lose the deal. The more you make landlords compete, the more they want to win and that’s when you and your client achieve the best results.

This advice has saved our clients millions of dollars through lower rents, larger concession packages and more favorable lease terms. The advice underlies almost every negotiation we undertake.

There are many corollaries to this advice. Tenants frequently limit their options. Do not let them. Find additional alternatives. If you do not have any viable option—do not overplay your hand. When you have a great deal: stop negotiating and take it.