If you make a small leasing mistake in an office, it might cost you a little bit of money. Getting the wrong space or the wrong lease terms when you’re a retailer could tank your entire business. After all, you can’t contract out retailing or have salespeople sell from home if you’re a brick-and-mortar retailer. With this in mind, it’s crucial to not just get the right space, but get the best lease terms.

1. Shop Around

Even if there’s only one perfect space for you, the key to getting the best terms if to create competition for your tenancy. Knowing what other landlords are offering helps you to gauge what lease terms to request in your offer for the space you want. It also creates some fear of loss on the part of your landlord by letting him know that you could go elsewhere.

2. Look at Total Cost

To many tenants, the only numbers that matter are TI allowances and net rent levels. If they get a high TI allowance and a low rent rate, they’re happy. While net rents and TIs are important lease terms, they’re far from the only ones that matter. Which lease would you rather sign?

1.   5 years, $48 per square foot rents, $15 CAMs, $2.50 annual escalations, 2 months free rent, $40 in TIs

2.   5 years, $50 per square foot rents, $15 CAMs, $1 annual escalations, 6 months free rent, $30 in TIs

Many tenants would probably jump at the first rent. After all, it has more CAMs and lower rents.

However, if you read carefully, you’ll see that the value of the extra free rent on the second lease is well more than the value of the CAMs on the first lease. Furthermore, while the rent on the first lease starts out lower, the average over five years is $53. The second lease’s average is just $52.

3. View Non-Compete Clauses Carefully

Non-compete clauses can be great for you if they limit other tenants, but can really limit your ability to do business when they’re applied to you. For example, imagine if you were running an Asian restaurant in a retail center with a delicatessen. It’d be reasonable for the landlord to put in lease terms that prevent the deli from selling Asian foods while preventing you from serving sandwiches. However, given the popularity of Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches), that clause might make you miss out on a potentially significant opportunity to increase your lunch sales.

4. Demand Co-Tenancy Protections

Unless you’re in an unanchored strip, you’re probably considering a space because you expect one or more co-tenants to drive traffic to the center and to your business. Co-tenancy clauses are some of the most valuable lease terms that you can include in your agreement since they preserve your right to move out if the tenant that drives the traffic you need to succeed vacates their space. If a landlord won’t give you a co-tenancy clause, consider requesting a rent reduction or abatement while the co-tenant is absent. While it might not make up for all of your losses, it may help.

5. Get Help

If you aren’t extremely experienced in lease negotiations and extremely knowledgeable about the market you’re considering, get professional help. An experienced tenant representative doesn’t just have the negotiating skill to get you the best possible lease terms. He also has the market knowledge to now what to ask for, when to fight, and when to come to a negotiated settlement.