How a New York Company Hires a Commercial Real Estate Broker in Two Weeks

Hiring a commercial real estate broker in New York City takes five steps and about two weeks. Write a one-page brief. Put that page in front of two or three firms and ask each to answer in writing. Sit down with whoever would actually handle the work at each firm. Speak with two references per finalist. Then sign a representation agreement with a defined term and a way out. Whoever in operations or finance has been handed the job can run all five beside a normal workload. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, and the lease terms decide it on each deal.

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Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group

Days 1 and 2: the one-page brief an operations lead can write alone

Step one needs nobody outside the company. On a single page, state the headcount now and the figure the plan shows for 12 to 18 months out, the move-in date, the monthly budget, the neighborhoods you would accept, and what the office must have, such as power, daylight or a number of meeting rooms. Have the person who will sign the lease approve the page before it goes out, so that no firm is briefed on a requirement that later changes.

Days 3 to 7: one brief out, three kinds of answer back

Step two: send the page to two or three firms on one day with one deadline, five working days later. Ask each to reply in writing with three things.

A short market read: what floors of your size are asking in the neighborhoods you named, and where a tenant has leverage this quarter.
A few sample floors that fit, each with an address and an asking rent.
Answers on conflicts and pay: whether the firm leases any building it might show you for the owner, how it would disclose that, and who pays it on your deal.

The floors below, sized for about 30 people, are the kind of sample a firm should be able to send back within days.

Days 8 to 12: choosing between finalists on people and references

Step three is a meeting at each firm, and the rule is to meet whoever would run the search day to day. Ask that person how many searches they are carrying and who covers when they are away. The partner who signed the cover letter is not the answer unless the partner will be on your weekly call.

Step four is two reference calls per finalist, to tenants near your size. Ask each what the broker got wrong, how quickly calls were returned, and whether the face from the pitch was the face at the negotiating table. Written responses often read alike. People are what separate the firms.

Days 13 and 14: what you sign, and who pays under it

Step five is the paper. Read four things in any representation agreement.

Exclusive or not: whether you may work with anyone else while it runs.
The term: a fixed end date that covers the search and the lease, with no automatic renewal.
The exit: how either side ends it if the search stalls.
The pay: who pays the broker, when, and what happens on a sublease or a renewal.

The tenant representation agreement explains each clause, and your attorney should confirm how they apply to you. Ask each finalist, Nomad included, to send its standard agreement during the meetings, so there is time to read it before day 13.

Floors that fit a team of 30

Live from our listings · 6 of the 22, smallest first

A team of 30 plans on about 5,250 square feet at 175 a person. 22 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 5,250 to 9,450 square feet, asking $43 to $125 per square foot per year on the 21 with a published rent.

Floors: 22
Sizes: 5,250-9,000 sq ft
Asking rent: $43-$125 / sq ft

Every available floor, filterable by size →

The full guide

This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:

Who inside the company should run the broker selection?

One named person, usually the head of operations or finance, with the lease signer approving the brief and the final choice. A committee slows every step. The owner of the process needs the authority to send the brief, book the meetings and make the reference calls without asking each time.

Is two weeks realistic if a firm is slow to respond?

A firm that needs more than five working days to answer one page is showing you how the search would go. Two weeks holds when the deadline is written into the brief. If one firm asks for more time, give every firm the same extra days and keep the meeting dates where they were.

Once we choose a broker, who pays them?

In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, through an agreement between the landlord and the brokers. The lease terms decide it on each deal, and a sublease is a common exception, where the company giving up the space usually pays. Have each firm state its arrangement in the written response, so the answers can be laid side by side.

What should the sample floors in a firm's response look like?

Specific. Each should carry an address, a size and an asking rent, and fit the headcount and budget in the brief. A response built from neighborhood averages, or from floors with no price, has skipped the work. Our brokerage page describes how Nomad runs a search, and the list of available floors shows the level of detail to expect.

Talk to a broker

Want this answered for your team?

Tell us three things: team size, timing, budget. A first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours, with the asking rent on every floor that publishes one.

Within the houra broker reaches out during business hours, no automated triage
On your sidewe work for you on your search, and the landlord usually pays our fee
Open pricingasking rent published for 46 of 49 floors, size and address for all
300+ officesdelivered in New York, 2M+ sq ft leased

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