Let’s go back to the doctors who “hop in the car” and call the number on the sign.
Pay close attention to this detail. This one mistake strips dentists of their control in the negotiations.
Guess who the phone number on the sign belongs to? The landlord’s realtor.
Whose realtor?
That’s right, the landlord’s, not yours.
In a dental real estate transaction, you need your OWN representative.
It’s an incredibly poor negotiation strategy to begin real estate discussions representing yourself.
But that is what those doctors do when they “hop in the car” and start making calls.
Your negotiating strength drops instantly.
I see this all the time. And it breaks my heart when I see how much money dentists lose when they start calling signs on real estate.
Negotiating your own real estate is a little like putting a golf ball into the hole. If you’re 20 yards away, a miscalculation of 2 degrees makes you miss the hole.
Just 2 degrees is the difference between success and failure.
It’s like that in dental real estate negotiations. Being off by even a few “degrees” could cost you hundreds of thousands more than you should pay. Wasting years of profits.
Even worse, in real estate, you can jeopardize the long-term legal protection for your practice. I hear countless stories of doctors who get kicked out of their dental office real estate—with just weeks of notice—setting them back in incalculable amounts financially.
Imagine what that would do to your savings.
Think of the stress when you realize you signed a legal document that hurts your family’s future. Especially when you know it could have been avoided if you didn’t try to negotiate for something so expensive without having any real experience.
It’s not your fault, really. You just haven’t done this before.
But this is what happens when you start by “hopping in the car.” You’re going to be off by at least a few “degrees” because this is your first time entering this process.
Here’s the humble pill:
Real estate is a big game represented by big lawyers, big players, and big money.
Where are you best? Chairside!
But that doesn’t make you effective in your first commercial real estate transaction. This is the “big leagues” of negotiation. This lease could be worth a few million dollars throughout your career.