By Tenant Advisory Group · Updated
Short answer
In the first month, expect a written representation agreement, a kickoff meeting, a needs analysis that turns your preferences into a ranked brief, a review of any existing lease for deadlines, a market survey of spaces that fit, and a tour schedule. Your job is to supply headcount ranges, budget guidance, technical requirements and one decision maker.
Before the work starts: the agreement and the team
The first document you see should be a representation agreement. It states that the broker represents you, how long the engagement lasts, which markets and space types it covers, and how the broker is paid. Read it, ask questions, and have your attorney look at it. Nothing about your search should begin on a handshake.
You should also learn who will do the work. Ask which person runs the survey, who attends tours, who negotiates, and who you call with a question on a Friday afternoon. On your side, name one point of contact and one final decision maker. They can be the same person. Searches slow down when a broker gets conflicting direction from a founder, a head of operations and a finance lead.
The thirty-day frame in this guide is a way to organize the early work, not a promise. A small team that needs furnished space quickly may cover all of this in days. A company with several locations or a complex build-out will take longer on the brief alone.
The kickoff meeting
The kickoff is a working session, not a pitch. A good tenant rep spends most of it asking questions and very little of it describing buildings. Expect to cover why you are looking now, what is wrong with your current setup, how the company is funded and how it expects to grow, and what would make the project a success a year after move-in.
Expect some uncomfortable questions too. How confident is the hiring plan? What happens to the office if the next round takes longer than planned? Is the board aligned on spending money on space? These answers shape the lease term and the flexibility you will need, so candor here pays off later.
Tell your broker the real budget and the real constraints at kickoff. Your broker works for you. Holding numbers back from your own advisor only produces a survey full of space you cannot use.
Needs analysis: from wish list to ranked brief
After kickoff, the broker turns the conversation into a written brief. The useful version ranks every requirement as a must-have, a want or a nice-to-have. A must-have removes buildings from the list. A want breaks ties. A nice-to-have is noted and traded away first.
For an AI or technology company the brief usually covers more than seats and conference rooms. It should record how many people are in the office on a busy day, whether anyone works with hardware, whether you need an equipment room with its own cooling, what your security or compliance commitments require of the premises, and whether the team works late or on weekends.
You will be asked to react to a draft. Push back where it is wrong. It is far cheaper to correct the brief than to discover on the sixth tour that the team will not accept an interior suite with no natural light.
A review of the lease you already have
If you occupy space today, your broker should read the lease and every amendment in the first week or two. The goal is a short summary of the dates and rights that control your timeline and your leverage.
- The expiration date and whether the lease states what happens if you stay past it.
- Renewal options, the notice window for each, and how renewal rent is set.
- Any termination, contraction or expansion rights and their deadlines.
- Sublease and assignment terms, in case leaving early is part of the plan.
- Restoration and surrender obligations that will cost money when you leave.
- The security deposit or letter of credit and the conditions for its return.
These dates determine how much time you really have. A renewal notice deadline that falls earlier than you assumed changes the pace of everything else. If you are in coworking or a short license, the same review applies to the notice period in that agreement.
The market survey and how to read it
The survey is the first tangible product of the engagement. It lists spaces that fit the brief, usually across direct space, sublease space and landlord-built spec suites, with floor plans, asking terms and the broker’s notes on each building and owner.
Read it as a map of the market, not as a menu. Asking terms are a starting position. The notes matter more than the photos: how the landlord has behaved in recent negotiations, whether ownership has the capital to fund a build-out, and whether the building suits a tenant with your technical needs. An active tenant rep should also include space that is not publicly marketed yet, such as suites coming back from tenants who are downsizing.
Your task is to cut the survey down. Mark each option yes, no or maybe, and say why. The reasons sharpen the next round more than the choices do.
Scheduling tours
By the end of the first month, tours are usually on the calendar or under way. A well-planned tour day groups buildings by area and orders them so you can compare similar options back to back.
- Agree on a short list from the survey, with a few backups.
- Decide who attends. Include the decision maker and, for technical requirements, the person who owns IT or facilities.
- Let the broker arrange access with each landlord’s agent and confirm what is available to see.
- Bring the brief and score each space against the must-haves while you are standing in it.
- Debrief the same day, while impressions are fresh, and cut the list again.
On tours, let your broker do the talking with the landlord’s agent. Enthusiasm shown in a lobby has a way of appearing in the landlord’s first proposal.
What you need to bring
The broker carries most of the work in the first month, but a few inputs can only come from you. Having them ready is the biggest factor in how fast the search moves. Preparing this brief with clients is a standard part of the tenant representation work TAG does for technology, software and data companies.
- Your current lease, amendments, and any coworking or license agreement.
- Headcount today and a forecast in ranges, not a single number.
- How many people are in the office on your busiest day.
- A budget range for occupancy cost and who approves it.
- Where your team lives and how they commute.
- Technical requirements: equipment rooms, extra power, cooling, connectivity, after-hours use.
- Security or compliance commitments that affect the premises.
- Recent financial statements or a funding summary a landlord can review under a confidentiality agreement.
- Your target date for being in the new space, and what is driving it.
- The name of the attorney who will review the lease.
At the end of the month you should hold a signed agreement, a ranked brief, a summary of your critical dates, a survey you have already narrowed, and tours booked or completed. If you have those five things, the search is on track.
Frequently asked questions
Do we pay anything during the first 30 days?
In a standard lease transaction the landlord pays the commission when a lease is signed, so the early work does not usually involve a fee from the tenant. Your representation agreement should state exactly how compensation works.
How much of our time does the first month take?
Expect a kickoff meeting, a review of the draft brief, some document gathering and one or two tour days. Most of the remaining work sits with the broker.
What if our headcount plan is uncertain?
Say so. A forecast in ranges is more useful than a confident single number, and the uncertainty tells your broker how much flexibility to build into the lease.
Should we contact landlords ourselves while the survey is under way?
It is better not to. Direct contact can weaken your negotiating position and create confusion about who represents you. Route inquiries through your broker.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Have your attorney review any lease before you sign it.