Your landlord has a broker. That broker's job is to get the highest rent, the longest term, and the fewest concessions the market will allow. Tenant representation is the answer to a simple question: who's doing that job for you?
A tenant representative is a commercial real estate advisor who works exclusively for tenants. Not for landlords, not for both sides — for the tenant. At WRA, that's not a service line. It's the whole firm.
The conflict problem tenant representation solves
Most commercial brokerages represent landlords and tenants at the same time. The same firm listing a landlord's building will happily "help" you negotiate against that landlord. They call it full service. We call it a conflict.
Think about what that means in practice. Your broker's firm earns listing fees from the landlord side of the market. The landlords they represent are their repeat clients; you're a one-time transaction. When your interests and their landlord relationships collide, guess which one wins.
A tenant-only firm has no listings, no landlord clients, and no reason to soften your position. Every piece of advice points one direction. That's the model behind WRA's tenant representation services.
What a tenant rep actually does
The work runs from months before you tour a single space until well after you move in. Here's the arc:
1. Needs assessment. Headcount, growth plans, budget, location constraints, lease expiration. The goal is a clear requirement before the market ever sees you coming.
2. Market survey. Every building that fits — including spaces that aren't publicly listed. Vacancy, sublease availability, and asking rents in your submarket set your negotiating position before anyone talks numbers.
3. Tours and shortlisting. We evaluate layout efficiency, building systems, landlord reputation, and the real math behind the asking rent.
4. Requests for proposals. We put multiple landlords in writing, competing for your tenancy at the same time. Competition is where leverage comes from. A landlord who believes you have alternatives behaves differently than one who believes you're stuck.
5. Negotiation. Rent is one line item. The rest of the deal — free rent, tenant improvement allowances, operating expense caps, renewal options, expansion and exit rights — is where a lease gets better or quietly gets worse. This is also where an unrepresented tenant leaves the most money on the table.
6. Lease review. We work alongside your attorney to make sure the business terms you negotiated actually appear in the document, and that the clauses landlords love — relocation rights, escalation mechanics, pass-through definitions — don't cost you later.
7. Build-out and move-in. Construction oversight, timeline management, and making sure the space is delivered as promised.
If you want the step-by-step detail, we've written it up: WRA's 10 Steps of the Leasing Process and Part 2.
Who pays for tenant representation?
The landlord does. Commercial lease commissions are built into every deal, and the landlord pays them whether you have your own representative or not. If you show up without one, the landlord's broker typically keeps the full fee — you don't get a discount for being unrepresented.
So the honest framing isn't "can I afford a tenant rep." It's that the cost is already in the deal, and the only question is whether anyone at the table is earning it on your behalf.
When to engage one
Earlier than feels natural. Time is the tenant's most valuable form of leverage, and it evaporates as your expiration date approaches.
Lease renewal: start 12 to 18 months out. Landlords know most tenants renew, and they price that inertia into renewal offers. The only credible counter is a real alternative — which takes time to build. More in our lease renewal service, Tenant Representatives in Lease Renewals, and The Ideal Commercial Lease Renewal Timeline.
Relocation: 12 to 24 months for most office requirements, longer if construction is involved. Here's the full relocation timeline and how we run a space search.
Right now, if your lease expires within a year. Short runway doesn't mean no options. It means the work starts today.
What it's actually worth
We won't hand you a made-up "average savings" number. What we can show you is documented work: when HomeWorks Energy's lease came up, building real alternatives and negotiating both sides of the deal produced a 35% reduction in occupancy costs — documented, not modeled. F.L.Putnam's story is here.
The mechanics behind results like that are always the same:
Competition. Multiple landlords bidding for your tenancy.
Market data. Knowing what concessions comparable deals actually achieved, so the landlord's "best and final" can be tested against reality.
The full deal, not just rent. Free rent, TI allowances, opex caps, and flexibility rights often move more dollars than the base rent number everyone fixates on.
Someone else playing hardball. Your rep can push in ways you can't with a landlord you'll live with for ten years. We take the uncomfortable conversations so the relationship stays clean.
How to choose a tenant rep
Three questions do most of the work:
1. "Do you or your firm represent landlords?" If the answer is anything but a flat no, the conflict problem from the top of this page is sitting across the table from you.
2. "Show me your market data for my submarket." A real answer includes current availability, recent comparable deals, and where concessions are trending — not a brochure.
3. "Who can I call?" References from tenants your size, in your market, who've been through a renewal or relocation with them.
Frequently asked questions
Does hiring a tenant rep cost me anything?
No. The landlord pays the commission, and it's built into the deal whether you're represented or not.
My landlord's broker says they can represent me too. Should I let them?
That's dual agency — one firm on both sides of the same negotiation. It's legal in Massachusetts with disclosure, but you should ask yourself who they'll favor: the tenant they'll never see again, or the landlord who feeds them listings.
I'm just renewing. Do I still need representation?
Renewals are where unrepresented tenants give up the most. The landlord knows moving is expensive and disruptive, and prices your renewal accordingly. Representation — and a credible alternative — is how you get a renewal priced like a competition instead of a captive audience.
How is a tenant rep different from a regular commercial broker?
Same license, opposite loyalty. A traditional broker's book of business is landlord listings. A tenant rep's only client is you.
What size company needs this?
If you lease commercial space, you qualify. Our clients range from first-office startups to multi-site companies. Smaller tenants arguably need representation more — you have less in-house real estate expertise and less negotiating weight to begin with.
What markets does WRA cover?
Greater Boston — office, industrial, flex, and lab space across the metro and the suburban corridors.
Your lease is coming up eventually. The landlord's broker is already prepared for that conversation. Get a free lease review and be prepared for it too — no cost, no obligation, no landlord conflicts.