Check out our newest video presentation of the 3 biggest mistakes tenants make when looking for office space.

Find Office Space

According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors, the US commercial real estate markets stabilizing with more demand and growing employment numbers. According th the NAR forecast office vacancy rates are expected to drop slowly over the next few years. The national office vacancy rate is expect to fall from 16.1% now to 15.3% by the end of 2012. This is based upon their economist's forecast of job growth of 1.5 million and 2 million jobs in 2011 and 2012.

If the NAR is correct and job growth continues at this pace beyond their predicted time period ending 2012, it would be 2018 or 2019 before the Office Vacancy rate drops to a more normal 10% level. This is assuming developers don't decide to provide any significant amount of new office space.

It also means that there are great opportunities in the market place for office tenants looking for office space. With the help of an experience local representative, a great deal can be had on office space of all types.

Get Help Finding Office Space

I found this Infographic on Mashable and found it interesting at how social media has ingrained itself in the real estate sales business. Granted this reflects the use of Social Media by residential agents. Commercial agents are usually a few steps behind when it comes to the use of cutting edge technology.

National Office Update & Office Tenant/ User Strategies PodCast
Original Air Date:    4/2/11

Very informative broadcast about the office market and office space strategies for office space tenants.

"The office user show provides a national office market update and best practices for corporate office users. Chris Macke, Senior Real Estate Strategist with CoStar Group provides an update on national office market performance including top cities for investment and markets prime economically for corporate headquarters. He also shares market advice for office users and expectations for 2011 and 2012.

Show host Michael Bull and industry leading guests cover current topics important for office users including strategic lease provisions for tenants, protecting lease rights before foreclosure, prevalent lease situations in this economy and the guests share best practices when renewing leases and securing new locations.

If your company uses office space or you advise companies that do, you will find this show very informative and enlightening."

Listen Now

Find Office Space

The following is from our OfficeFinder LinkedIn group discussion on the most importnat activities Tenant Reps provide their clients on addition to just finding space:

I believe the top Time & Money saving services that we provide to clients all revolve around the Transfer of Specialized Knowledge to the client, so that they may make the most informed decision. Up to date market information, understanding the players involved, defining and executing the process required for a successful outcome and most importantly, proactive advocacy, each individually represents significant savings for a client.
Mike in Boston

Avoiding mistakes is another important aspect of why tenant representation is so important for office tenants. We do this every day, just like the landlords and listing agents. Tenants only search and negotiate for office space every few years. Landlords and listing agents love to see tenants coming unrepresented. It makes their business much more profitable than when a tenant is represented by experienced and knowledgeable tenant reps...like the ones we have at OfficeFinder!
Jim - OfficeFinder Founder

We provide lease digests and early reminders of important dates i.e. rights and renewal options. We also place these dates on an earlier call up internally so that we remind the tenant that they need to be addressing their real estate needs, even if their intent is to renew. We also assist with renewals. In today’s market the lease signed five years ago is most likely far above today’s market rates.

A 10% discount off of today's asking rate may sound good however, the market may be giving a 25% discount. Only through the use of their own broker can a tenant gain an accurate opinion of today’s market.

Any business who leases office, retail or industrial space expiring within the next 6 to 18 months should be talking with a broker to represent their interests. This not only pertains to renewals subject to negotiation but also pre-stated rent renewals. This is also a good time to negotiate terms and conditions not included in the original lease.

We have a good system in place and when started at the right time in the renewal process, we have been successful in leveraging our position, procuring rent reductions and changes in other terms beneficial to the tenant. We've also been able to facilitate early renewals where the tenant benefits from the negotiated terms and conditions sooner than later.
Lynn in St Louis

There is no question as a tenant representative we can all save our clients real money in the transaction and "time" money by not only doing things they would have to do but also the fact we know what to look for in the first place.

We might want to consider the money we can save clients by handling non-transactional issues after the lease is signed. Two examples: 1) client is a 501C-3 teaching museum- eligible for property tax relief. Worked with county and LL-client received over $100K in refunds over 12 years. 2)Client located in Enterprise Zone. Another client/accounting firm specializes in that area of tax. Put them together...anticipate over $500K in saving over next 6 years. There's a lot more we can do than just focus on the transaction. Just my $.02 :)
Jerry in Orange County, Ca