- Collect the landlord's offering documents30 min
This step produces a complete document set: the base-rent schedule for every year of the proposed term, three years of operating-expense actuals, a site plan or floor plan, and the current lease draft or letter of intent.
Without all four you cannot verify the landlord’s numbers or spot hidden costs later. The most common gap: operating-expense actuals, which landlords often replace with rosier budgets.
Send a single email to the landlord or broker requesting each item by name:
- “Please provide the base-rent schedule for each year of the proposed term, including any escalation formula (fixed dollar, percentage, or CPI).”
- “Please provide the prior three calendar years’ actual year-end operating statements — CAM, real-estate taxes, and insurance — with line-item detail. If only a projected budget exists, please send that along with the most recent actuals you have.”
- “Please provide a site plan or floor plan that shows the demised premises with dimensions.”
- “Please provide the current lease draft or letter of intent, even if marked ‘draft’ or ‘sample.’”
Set a five-business-day deadline for the landlord or broker to respond.
When the documents arrive:
- Rename each file as
YYYY-MM-DD_DocumentType_SpaceName.pdf. - Save it to a dedicated folder for this space.
If the landlord refuses any requested item, reply in writing stating the gap. For example: “We note that operating-expense actuals for 2024 have not been provided. We will proceed based on the information available and may revisit this during lease review.”
Save the refusal correspondence in your folder alongside the received documents, and add the refused item to your gap list.