4 Questions to Ask Before You Sign With a Commercial Real Estate Broker

Most 3PLs spend more time vetting a warehouse management system than they spend vetting the broker who negotiates their biggest fixed cost. That's backwards. A bad WMS costs you efficiency. A bad broker relationship costs you seven figures over the life of a lease.

Before you sign a representation agreement, ask these five questions. Pay attention not just to the answers, but to how quickly they come.

1. "Do you represent landlords in this market?"

This is the single most important question you can ask, and the one most tenants never think to. If the answer is yes, ask a follow-up: which landlords, and are any of them buildings you might consider? A broker representing the landlord of a building you're touring cannot simultaneously fight for your best deal on that building. That's not an opinion, it's math.

2. "How is your firm compensated, and by whom?"

In most commercial deals, the landlord pays the commission on both sides. That means your "free" representation is being funded by the same party you're negotiating against. That arrangement isn't inherently a problem, but you deserve to know exactly how the money flows and whether your broker's firm has a financial reason to keep deals moving smoothly with landlords they work with repeatedly.

3. "Can I see your track record with tenants my size, in my industry?"

A broker who mostly closes office leases for law firms is not the right person to negotiate clear height, slab thickness, and power infrastructure for a 400,000-square-foot fulfillment center. Ask for specific, recent examples. Vague answers about "years of experience" without specifics are a red flag.

4. "What's your process for creating leverage, beyond asking for a lower number?"

Anyone can ask a landlord to come down on price. Ask what your broker actually does. Do they negotiate TI allowances, free rent, and operating expense caps as hard as they negotiate the headline rate? If the answer is just "we'll push for a good deal," push back. That's not a strategy, it's a hope.

The Answers Tell You Who They Work For

None of these questions are designed to be uncomfortable for their own sake. They're designed to surface something every tenant deserves to know before signing a representation agreement: whether the person across the table is structurally capable of working only for you.

Watch the Delivery, Not Just the Content

The words a broker uses matter less than how comfortably they say them. A broker who's confident in their independence will answer question one, "do you represent landlords in this market," without hesitation, often before you finish asking it. A broker who dances around the question, pivots to talking about their "relationships" in the market, or reframes it as a positive ("that actually helps me negotiate better for you") is telling you something important, even if they don't realize it.

The same goes for question two. A broker who can explain their compensation structure in two sentences understands it. A broker who needs several minutes and a few qualifiers to get there may not have thought about it as carefully as you're about to.

What Growe Can Do For You

Growe was built to answer every one of these questions the same way, every time. We only do Tenant Rep, we take zero landlord assignments, and our only client in any deal is the tenant. Besides 3PLs, Growe has represented manufacturers, 4PLs, trucking companies, and e-commerce businesses. If you want a broker who's already answered these questions before you ask, talk to our team.