More and more companies are looking to outsource their real estate transaction management, or compliment their in-house corporate real estate departments. Community First Commercial Real Estate serves as a single point of contact dedicated to serving multi-market/ national corporations in office transactions.
Discovery/ Create a Plan of Action

The first step in transaction management is determining the correct course of action by working with our clients to develop a plan of action. Community First Commercial Real Estate acts as a consultant for multi-market clients. We assist in outlining occupancy strategy with our clients’ business plans. The discovery/ action plan stage of transaction management includes:

• Determining corporate office space criteria
• Uncovering short and long-term business objectives relative to holistic occupancy strategy
• Providing a comprehensive summary of available properties relative to each specific market and sub-market through our local partners
• Comparing properties, analyzing qualitative and quantitative criteria
• Measuring estimated occupancy costs of each candidate property, in each market
• Creating and submitting customized proposals/ RFPs for short-listed properties, fine-tuning each proposal or RFP to align with market-specific nuances

Decision-Making Process

After proposal/ RFP responses are gathered, the next phase of the transaction management process is to thoroughly examine the economic factors of the candidate properties in each market or sub-market. This step includes:

• Designing a space plan based on clients space utilization/ ideal layout for candidate properties
• Determining cost estimates for construction specific to each property/ market
• Reviewing each candidate property to assure corporate/ ADA compliance and zoning
• Analyzing cash flows/ determining budgets for each space, which vary based on locale
• Creating an apples-to-apples cost comparison based on effective rent, annual cash flows, and net present value
• Reviewing non-financial terms such as expansion rights, sublease and assignment rights, termination options, etc., looking for opportunities to align with overall corporate strategy

The Negotiation Process

Community First Commercial Real Estate negotiates aggressively on behalf of its clients, ensuring satisfaction with the process, as well as the terms of the transaction. We work in conjunction with partner offices/ brokers across the country to ensure we pursue the correct negotiation strategy in each market, based on local knowledge. The final phase of the transaction process incorporates:

• Managing each step of the negotiation process, from local broker selection, to initial proposals/ RFPs, to local broker management, culminating in a signed lease or purchase agreement
• Providing a matrix of specific deal terms as they evolve through negotiations, often times in multiple markets on a parallel track
• Preparing lease or purchase contract comments to ensure full understanding of each transaction, working in conjunction with corporate legal counsel
• Creating an abstract of the lease or purchase document with key terms and conditions and important dates for future reference