dallas: What Causes Sales?
- 12/02/11 03:22 AM
Yesterday, I attended a sales seminar put on by Chuck Bauer (www.chuckbauer.com). Chuck is a nationally recognized sales trainer and coach who has worked with some of the largest financial institutions in the country. He asked the question, "What Causes Sales?" The audience threw out lots of suggestions, but no one got the answer he wanted. Qualified Appointments! That's what causes sales. Notice he didn't say "Appointments." He didn't say, "walking into an office to drop off a brochure for someone I think should be interested." He didn't say, "leaving messages." He said, "Qualified Appointments." As you know, I am a … (0 comments)
dallas: Top 10 Downtowns In America
- 10/13/11 03:31 AM
How many of us go downtown for shopping, entertainment or to live? Very few I expect. I lived in downtown Dallas in 1985 for about a year. Not because it was cool to do so at that time, but because the company allowed me to use an upstairs office as a bedroom while I finished college. We do desperate things at times to save time and money. Things have changed. It's now cool to live in downtown Dallas. It has improved so much in the last 25 years, but not enough to make the list of the Top 10 Downtowns according … (0 comments)
dallas: Voice Broadcasting - Is This a Good Idea?
- 09/28/11 04:16 AM
Just a couple of months ago I told my wife that it would be great if a service were available which called a group of people and left them a voice message. If someone actually answered the phone, the call would hang up. This way you could leave a message to clients or prospects in bulk without having to actually call each one.
Well I just got an email this morning from Jim Gillespie who is a commercial real estate coach in which I found out that is now actually available. It called Voice Broadcasting. This could be a … (2 comments)
dallas: Density - Friend or Foe?
- 07/15/11 02:53 AM
I was driving through Dallas the other day with a client and we were talking about how new developments these days are more dense and involve multiple uses - office, retail, apartments - all in the same project. These developments are much more dense than in past years. This has typically definied the central part of cities and when you think of the greatest cities in the world, they are always quite dense - New York, Hong Kong, London, etc. Density seemed to be viewed as a bad thing by most cities in the US though - at least in the … (11 comments)
dallas: Here We Go Again - Texas is the Best, Greatest, Highest.....
- 06/02/11 02:50 AM
I know the poor folks that don't live in Texas get tired of those of us that do bragging about how we're the best, greatest, highest, on whatever the subject at hand might be. Okay, so we need to ignore education, funding for social services, and the like, but for conservative, pro-business types we can truly brag that it is the best place to be for business - low cost of living, central time zone, great climate (sans July & August), amazing airport, on and on. So here is a little more proof as if any more were needed. The Dallas … (3 comments)
dallas: Corporate Real Estate Services - Sometimes It's a Sale
- 05/23/11 03:45 AM
I am a Corporate Real Estate Advisor. Most people use the term "tenant rep" which is short for "tenant representative" because it's shorter and easier. I'm fine with that because most companies want to lease space instead of buying it. But Corporate Real Estate Advisor is a better term because we handle all real estate services that a company might need. This includes leasing new space and negotiating lease renewals as you would expect, but it also includes: 1. subleasing space no longer needed, 2. buying buildings for company use, 3. selling buildings no longer needed, 4. … (2 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #13 Subleases can Save a Bundle
- 05/19/11 09:09 AM
Want to save a bundle on your next office lease? Try to find a sublease. Subleases are often priced 20-50% below what the landlord is charging for direct leases. So a building charging $20.00 may have subleases in the range of $10.00 to $16.00. The closer you get to the expiration date of the sublease, the lower the price goes. Other factors affecting the rental rate will include how long the space has been on the market and whether furniture and equipment are available for the subtenant. Many subleases have furniture, phone systems, equipment, and maybe even art and plants in … (0 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #12 Get a New Base Year on Renewal
- 04/11/11 10:57 AM
Many companies renew their leases without engaging a professional tenant rep. Their logic is usually something like, "I know my landlord and trust him. We have been in the building for years so I don't see any reason to get a tenant rep involved and potentially get in the way of that good relationship. Besides, maybe the landlord will give me a better rental rate if he doesn't have to pay a commission." That sounds logical, but in 27 years in the business I have never seen that actually work out to the tenant's advantage. Even in situations where the landlord … (0 comments)
dallas: The Office Market will Turn Around - Now What?
- 03/30/11 02:03 PM
I have been in the commercial real estate business for 27 years so I have seen a few cycles. One thing is certain, whatever things look like today, they will look totally different in a little while. So while landlords have been suffering in this economy, it has been great for tenants who are enjoying lower rental rates and free rent. While no one knows exactly when things will change, there is general agreement that the tide will turn back to the landlord's favor within the 18 months. So what should a tenant do now? Well, if you are in a … (2 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #5 Create a Bidding War
- 02/07/11 10:44 AM
Scarcity is the basic economic problem that arises when someone has unlimited wants but limited resources. And guess what? Tenants are the resource that landlords want the most. I don't care if you are in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Richardson or Tokyo. Landlords are the same. Tenants create value in their buildings. So it's important to create a bidding war for your business. This requires that you have several lease alternatives (real or perceived) and that all landlords know that other options exist. Get proposals from each. Talk to them about certain features of other proposals you have been able to get. Even … (2 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #4 Never Tell the Landlord You Prefer to Renew
- 02/03/11 10:21 AM
You always compromise your negotiating position if the other side knows you really want what they have. A friend of mine who is a landlord leasing agent told me that he was showing office space to a Fortune 100 company once in Dallas, Plano or Frisco - I can't remember which. When the company man got off the elevator and walked into the space he exclaimed, "this is perfect. I love it." Negotiations stopped right there. My friend knew he didn't have to make any further concessions. So make sure the landlord (leasing agent) knows you are checking the market … (0 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #3 Never Exercise Your Renewal Option
- 01/27/11 09:37 AM
This may sound crazy, but exercising a renewal option is almost always a bad idea. The reason is that doing so may immediately obligate you to lease the space before you even know the rental rate. Exercising the option may trigger a series of events one of which is determining the rental rate, but you may be committed already. Not all renewal options work this way, but many do. So what to do? The main thing is to start looking for options at least 3 months prior to the date by which your renewal option must be exercised (that's date is … (0 comments)
dallas: Videos, business tips, inspirational quotes...another issue of The Reata BizLetter.
- 01/21/11 03:36 AM
We publish a monthly enewsletter with business tools and tips, videos, inspirational quotes, client profiles, and lots more. We are based in Plano, Texas which is a suburb of Dallas, but the info is applicable to anywhere. We are corporate real estate advisors or tenant reps so our customers are companies which lease office or warehouse space. Most of our work is in Dallas and Collin counties (Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Far North Dallas), but we also have handled transactions We'd love to have you subscribe if you like. Just go to my website and click on the orange "Join the Reata … (0 comments)
dallas: Top Tips for Negotiating Commercial Leases - #2 Decide What You Want
- 01/20/11 03:44 AM
Decide What You Want? Now I know this sounds crazy, but trust me, it can be much harder than you think. Especially if you have multiple decision markers. But it's a crucial second step. Since occupancy costs are typically the second-highest expense for most companies, you can't afford to get it wrong. Commercial lease terms average five years so they are a fixed cost that aren't easily changed during that term. So what do I mean by deciding what you want and how do you do that? First and foremost, identify the company's goals and objectives. For example, does the company … (3 comments)
dallas: How to get the VERY BEST DEAL on your Next Office Lease
- 01/14/11 03:06 AM
The blog post below offers some good advice on how to get the best deal on your office lease. The one thing he says that I don't totally agree with is that you get a better deal for a longer lease. While that's true if you are comparing a 1-year deal to a 5-year deal, I don't think the same can be said for a 3-year term versus a 7-year term. Most landlords in the Dallas, Texas area expect to see some rental increases throughout the lease term so the longer the term, the higher the rent may go. But … (2 comments)
dallas: Foreclosures good for tenants?
- 06/11/10 02:03 AM
How can foreclosures be good for anyone? Surprisingly though, foreclosures create an opportunity for tenants. I wrote an article about it that was published in today's Dallas Business Journal - http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2010/06/14/smallb3.html. … (2 comments)
dallas: Concessions on Office Leases Aren't Consistent
- 02/17/10 08:42 AM
This article (http://www.globest.com/news/1600_1600/newyork/183576-1.html) is talking about the New York City office market, but you could just as easily substitute Dallas in place of New York. Yes, the market is bad for landlords. Yes, tenants have lots of choices and rents have fallen while concessions (free rent, etc.) have increased. But certain submarkets are doing pretty well. Certain buildings have pretty good occupancy. So in those cases, the deals don't look as good and tenants are left questioning why the landlord isn't more aggressive. So you should shop widely when looking for space. And if you really just want to renew where … (0 comments)
One of our clients is a French software engineering company that just opened an office in Plano, Texas - a suburb of Dallas. We negotiated a sublease for them and were able to get full use of all furniture, cubes, phones, computers, copiers and even the server room equipment, all while also getting a huge discount off the market rental rate for the building. Take a look at the article at the following link - http://www.ccbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=3936.
… (2 comments)
dallas: What does this Economy Mean for the Corporate Tenant?
- 11/10/08 09:33 AM
Thank God I'm in Texas. Texas is certainly taking some hits while the economy in the US as a whole is suffering. It is certainly not hurting to the same extent. DFW is the 4th largest metro in the US, but it created 83,600 new jobs in 2007 (3rd in the nation) and 54,300 from September 2007 to September 2008 (2nd in the nation). Unemployment stood at 5.3% while the country as a whole was around 6.1%. These numbers may be adjusted later as often happens, but they show that it's a good time to be in Texas. Costar reported that … (0 comments)
Anything and everything related to corporate real estate - a company's use of real estate. This is usually a company's lease or purchase of office, warehouse or retail space.
Yesterday, I attended a sales seminar put on by Chuck Bauer (www.chuckbauer.com). Chuck is a nationally recognized sales trainer and coach who has worked with some of the largest financial institutions in the country. 
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