Tenant Realty Advisors: What Being Represented Means for a Startup

Four names for one licensed role

• Tenant realty advisor: the term on this page, and a less common label for the same job.
• Tenant's agent: the same person, described by whom they act for.
• Tenant rep, or tenant representative: the usual trade name.
• Tenant advisor: the name firms use when they want to stress planning.

Each is a licensed commercial broker working for the tenant. Nomad Property Group holds that license: it is a licensed New York real estate broker, with its office at 276 Fifth Avenue, Suite 402. It also offers agency leasing and owner representation, and on your search it works for you.

What being represented means: one voice, and what landlords hear

Once you are represented, landlords and their agents deal with your broker and not with five people at your company. They are told the requirement: the size, the timing and the kind of space. They are not told your ceiling, how urgent the date is, or which floor you like best.

That matters more than it sounds. A founder who tours alone answers those questions in the lobby without meaning to. A single channel also means every landlord gets the same brief, and every proposal comes back in a form that can be compared.

The confidential search, for a startup that wants quiet

For a company in stealth, or one that simply prefers discretion, the tenant's identity is held back until there is a deal to sign. Tours are booked as Nomad viewings, the brief travels under a code name, and financials go under a nondisclosure agreement to the one landlord who needs them at offer stage.

The lease can be signed by an entity that does not carry the brand, and directory and signage rights are negotiated so the name stays off the lobby board until you choose. Your attorney should confirm the entity structure. The cost is time, because fewer conversations can run at once. Why stealth startups choose Nomad has the full sequence.

What to prepare, and how little the first message needs

A first message can be two facts: a headcount and a timing window. A fuller brief adds the headcount expected in 12 to 18 months, a monthly budget and the neighborhoods you would consider. Financials come later, at offer.

Use the first exchange to ask what being represented would have you sign. If a firm puts an agreement in front of you, the tenant representation agreement entry explains what to read before you sign.

Support after signing, inside the same circle

Drawings say a lot about a business: a server room, a lab, a secure area. When the firm that ran the lease also runs the construction, the drawing set stays inside one confidential relationship. A furnished floor needs no construction at all, and a team can be in it two to four weeks after signing. Facilities management is available once you have moved in. The floors below would seat about 38 people. Their sizes are published, and so is the asking rent on nearly every one, so you can study them before anyone knows you are in the market.