By Mashum Mollah
If you have been approached by a wireless carrier with regards to a lease for your property for developing a cell site or renting one off of you; you will go through a long process of negotiation where things can get a little confusing. Even if you have experienced going through cell tower negotiations, there are a lot of gaps that you might not be able to fulfil. It is critical for you to know every detail or else you risk losing out on your contract. You might get stuck with a contract that you do not want or has a lot of unagreeable terms for you. However, you don’t have to go to this gunfight alone. You can hire a cell tower consultant who has in-depth and up to date knowledge of the current industry.
What is a Cell Tower Lease Consultant Exactly?
A Cell Tower Lease Consultant is exactly what it sounds like. They guide landlords during cell tower negotiations to ensure that landlords do not lose out on deals. Cell Tower Lease Consultants also help up and coming landlords to guarantee that they get fair and ethical terms. It is advised that you do not rush headfirst into a Cell Tower negotiation without help. You should know that mobile wireless companies will be sending you with a team of negotiating experts who have been in the business for years. They will likely get the lion’s share leaving you with scraps. It would be like coming to war with your opponents bringing in tanks and nuclear bombs while you are carrying a plastic knife. You do not stand a chance.
These negotiating experts will be looking out for the company’s interest and chances are they will come upon terms that are more favourable for them than for you. Having someone at your side to guide you will make your life easier. Often, a consultant is met with doubts but during negotiations, clients find out their true importance.
Your consultant will be your ally and will aid you into getting more favourable terms and more importantly, to protect your assets. It is your consultant’s job to know all there is to know about your contracts — whether there are good or bad terms. You can rest assured that your consultant will have your best interest in mind and making sure you are fully protected when the terms are dished out in the lease.
Moreover, they have an understanding and appreciation for the following details related to your property i.e. insurance, property value, electrical implications, the frequency of tenants access; this is only to name a few details that would be an issue to a landlord to be concerned about.
Your consultant will have a proper appreciation of the value of your property (land) and the market value of it to boot, thus advocate on your behalf to the wireless carriers so you can get the best results.
You can’t rely on the wireless carrier to have both of your interests in mind and make sure you both get a fair treatment but you can rely on your consultant to ensure that this happens.
The Benefits of a Cell Tower Lease Consultants
Assistants of cell tower lease consultants will prove to be valuable as you progress through these, at time daunting negotiations – achieving the best rates and terms you can get. You will be briefed on all the facets of the contract upon entering an agreement with a wireless carrier. You will be informed about the best decisions to make, so you can stay protected from any surprises. In no particular order, let’s go through some of the scenarios you may encounter where having a cell tower lease consultant will prove to be an asset.
Let’s say in the scenario someone has approached you, they are interested in a lease buyout or you’re in the beginning phases of negotiations for a lease. Your cell tower consultant will be able to determine the value of a property and give it a close to an accurate appraisal of it too. With that knowledge in your arsenal, both you or the consultant will be able to negotiate the best rate you can get for the particular property.
If you’re in negotiations for a lease renewal, you can count on your cell tower lease consultant to assist you. Maybe you probably think you got an appropriate amount of money for the lease agreement, but things change and the property value may have too, so it’s always worth getting a second opinion on the matter. This is due to various factors changing, such as demographics, inflation and commercial interest these are details that need to be taken into consideration; moreover, due to those details, the terms can be renegotiated.
Cell tower experts are able to assist you with many of your questions no matter how nuanced they can be, many lots of issues addressed throughout the long tedious and complex negotiations. In no particular order, the issues below are typically addressed i.e. Can tower equipment damage the property? Who pays for utilities? Will my tenants be safe from the equipment if anything malfunctions or collapses? The responsibility for the roof repairs goes to whom?
The assistance of cell tower experts will be invaluable during negotiations. As you can see from the basic examples above there’s a lot of reasons to why you should enter negotiations with a cell tower lease consultant assisting you.
