--- title: "Engaging a tenant-rep broker: what good looks like" description: "A working framework for selecting and engaging a tenant-rep broker for a Class A search." canonical: https://classa.info/guides/tenant-rep-broker-engagement pageType: guide lastUpdated: 2026-04-01T00:00:00.000Z license: "CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Class A Atlas (https://classa.info)." --- > Engage a broker who represents only tenants in your specific submarket. ## TL;DR - Engage a broker who represents only tenants in your specific submarket. - Five years of recent submarket experience is the minimum credible bar. - Confirm the conflict-of-interest policy in writing. - Negotiate the engagement letter — fee structure, exclusivity scope, and termination. - Insist on the side-by-side TCO at every shortlist round. # Engaging a tenant-rep broker: what good looks like By The [Class A](/glossary/class-a) Atlas Editorial Desk · 2025-10-01T00:00:00.000Z · 8 min read **A working framework for selecting and engaging a tenant-rep broker for a Class A search.** ## TL;DR - Engage a broker who represents only tenants in your specific submarket. - Five years of recent submarket experience is the minimum credible bar. - Confirm the conflict-of-interest policy in writing. - Negotiate the engagement letter — fee structure, exclusivity scope, and termination. - Insist on the side-by-side TCO at every shortlist round. ## Tenant-only matters The market structure pays the tenant's broker out of the landlord's commission pool. Engaging a tenant-rep broker is therefore effectively free at the negotiating table — and engaging a dual-rep broker (one that also represents landlords in the same submarket) introduces an inherent conflict that reduces leverage. ## Submarket experience Five years of recent transaction experience in your specific submarket is the minimum credible bar. Brokers with deep submarket experience know the recent comparables, know which landlords are negotiable, know which buildings have hidden capex issues, and know which lease forms are landlord-friendly. ## Conflict policy Get the conflict-of-interest policy in writing. The strongest tenant-rep firms have hard internal walls preventing the same broker from representing both sides of a transaction. Smaller firms often run looser — confirm before engaging. ## Engagement letter Negotiate the engagement letter explicitly: fee structure (typically paid by landlord, but confirm), exclusivity scope (geography, deal size, time-bound), and termination (90-day cure / for-cause termination). Some brokers attempt to claim the commission on every adjacent [expansion](/topics/cross-border-expansion) for years post-deal — strike that language. ## Insist on the side-by-side At every shortlist round, demand a single spreadsheet from your broker that compares all candidates on identical assumptions: term length, free rent treatment, TI treatment, op-ex pass-through, seat [density](/glossary/density). The brokers that won't deliver this are the wrong partners. ## Frequently asked questions ****How much does a tenant-rep broker cost?**** : In the US, typically nothing direct — the broker is paid out of the landlord's commission pool. In some EU markets, tenant-side fees are common (1–3% of rent value). Confirm explicitly. ****Can I run a search without a broker?**** : Technically yes; almost always a mistake. A broker pays for itself many times over through better lease economics, faster process, and fewer landlord-friendly traps in the lease. ## Editorial provenance Reviewed by [**Class A Atlas Editorial Desk**](/about/authors/class-a-atlas-editorial-desk) — House byline · global editorial team. Last updated 2026-04-01. See our [methodology](/about/methodology) and [editorial standards](/about/editorial-standards). ### Primary sources for this page - [CBRE Marketview reports](https://www.cbre.com/insights) — CBRE - [JLL Office Insight](https://www.jll.com/en/trends-and-insights) — JLL - [Cushman & Wakefield Marketbeat](https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights) — Cushman & Wakefield - [Savills World Research](https://www.savills.com/research_articles/) — Savills - [Colliers Global Office Outlook](https://www.colliers.com/en/research) — Colliers [Full sources index](/about/sources) · [Submit a correction](/about/corrections) ## Related topics - [**Class A Lease Negotiation**](/topics/class-a-lease-negotiation) — How to negotiate a Class A office lease — the playbook from LOI to signed deal. - [**Cross-border Expansion**](/topics/cross-border-expansion) — How to run a coordinated Class A office search across multiple geographies. - [**Lease Renewal Strategy**](/topics/lease-renewal-strategy) — How to negotiate a Class A [lease renewal](/topics/lease-renewal-strategy) — leverage, timing, and the relocate-vs-renew test. --- Citation: Source: Class A Atlas (https://classa.info/guides/tenant-rep-broker-engagement), updated 2026-04-01T00:00:00.000Z.