Why Use a Broker for Commercial Real Estate, and What It Really Costs

Use a broker because it usually costs you nothing extra and puts someone on your side of the negotiation. This page is about leasing office space in Manhattan, not about buying property. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee; the main exception is a sublease, where the outgoing tenant usually pays. The commission is normally a percentage of the total rent over the term, and no standard or regulated rate exists. Going direct to a landlord often saves little, because landlords typically budget for commissions. The fee does grow with rent and term, so ask any broker how they treat cheaper floors and shorter leases.

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Show me cheaper floors

Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group

Who pays the broker, for a finance lead checking the assumption

The assumption is that skipping the broker removes a cost from your side of the ledger. Usually there is no such cost to remove. The commission is written into the landlord's own agreement with the brokers, so no separate invoice goes to the tenant.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. On a sublease, the outgoing tenant usually pays. And a tenant can opt to pay its broker a direct fee, which separates the pay from how big the lease is. Either way, ask to see the structure first.

How a commission is usually calculated, read one point at a time

A commission is normally a percentage of the aggregate rent, meaning all the rent due over the term. No rate is fixed by rule. It is negotiated on every lease, and in some agreements the percentage falls in the later lease years.

The clearest way to read any arrangement is per point. Say a 4,000 square foot floor asks $50 a square foot on a three-year term: the aggregate rent is $600,000 before escalations, so each 1 percent is $6,000. That pool is shared between the listing broker and the tenant broker under their own agreements. The broker guide carries the fuller arithmetic.

What going direct to a landlord saves in practice

Often very little. A landlord prices a deal expecting to pay commissions, and the listing agent you meet still answers to the owner. What you give up is certain: a view of other owners' buildings, knowledge of what comparable deals closed at, and someone converting each offer into a total cost. What office space really costs lists the lines beyond rent that a direct tenant has to price alone.

The incentive question, and why this page shows our lowest-priced floors

Here is the honest weakness in the model. Because the fee is calculated from rent and term, a broker earns more when you take a more expensive floor for longer. A good broker advises against that when it is wrong for you, and can give an example of having done so.

So ask it directly: how do you advise when the right answer is less space, a cheaper building or a shorter lease? The block on this page shows the lowest-priced floors we list. Ask any broker, us included, whether floors like these would be on your shortlist.

Floors asking under $50 per square foot

Live from our listings · cheapest first

3 of the 46 floors with a published rent ask under $50 per square foot per year, from 2,978 to 8,308 square feet.

Floors: 3
Sizes: 2,978-8,308 sq ft
Asking rent: $43-$44 / sq ft

Every available floor, with asking rents →

The full guide

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

Is there a standard commission rate on a New York office lease?

No. There is no standard or regulated rate. Commissions are negotiated on each deal, usually as a percentage of the aggregate rent, and the percentage can change by lease year. If someone quotes a single figure as the norm, ask: a percentage of what, over how many years, paid by whom?

Does a longer lease mean a larger fee for the broker?

Usually, yes, because the fee is calculated from the rent over the whole term. That is why the incentive question matters. A broker who has recommended a shorter term or a smaller space to a past client should be able to tell you about it.

Does this page cover buying a commercial building?

No. Nomad publishes on leasing office space in Manhattan, and nothing here is advice on purchasing, financing or investing in property. The questions about who pays and how the fee is set are answered for a lease.

Where can a cost-led team see the cheapest floors?

In the block on this page, and on our page for the lowest price band, which shows each floor in it with its size and address.

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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