It often happens quickly. You enquire about a space, tour it with the listing agent, and within days an offer to lease arrives in your inbox. The agent is friendly, helpful, and eager to move things forward. It can feel natural to work through the offer together. But before you do, it is worth being clear about one fact: the landlord's agent works for the landlord.
That is not a criticism. Listing agents do exactly what they are hired to do, which is lease space on the best terms for their client. It simply means that the person guiding you through the offer is not responsible for protecting your interests.
Who the Landlord's Broker Represents
When a brokerage lists a property for a landlord, it owes duties to the landlord. Those duties typically include loyalty, confidentiality, and working to achieve the landlord's goals, such as higher rent, longer terms, and fewer concessions.
In Ontario, brokerages must disclose who they represent, and a person who is not represented by a brokerage is generally treated as a self-represented party. RECO publishes consumer guidance explaining what a brokerage that does not represent you can and cannot do for you. Alberta has comparable disclosure requirements under RECA. The details matter, so read any disclosure form you are given, and confirm the specifics with RECO or RECA guidance or your lawyer.
In practical terms, the landlord's agent can share information about the property and pass your offers along. They are not there to tell you whether the rent is high, which clauses are unusual, or what concessions other tenants have secured.
What Is Actually on the Table
A first offer from a landlord reflects the landlord's preferred position. For a medical tenant, the terms that deserve the most attention include:
- Net rent and how it compares to recent deals in the submarket.
- Escalations, whether fixed, stepped, or tied to market, and how they compound over the term.
- Tenant improvement allowance, which matters more for clinics than most tenants given the cost of medical build-outs.
- Free rent or fixturing period to cover construction before rent begins.
- Permitted use and exclusivity, so your use is broad enough for future services and a competing practice cannot move in down the hall.
- Assignment on practice sale, so you can transfer the lease if you sell, merge, or retire.
- Renewal options, with clear notice periods and a defined method for setting renewal rent.
- Restoration obligations, so you are not required to demolish a compliant clinical fit-out at the end of the term.
Many of these are harder to change once an offer is signed and the lease is being drafted. The offer to lease is where your leverage is greatest.
Who Pays for a Tenant Representative
Many practitioners assume that hiring their own broker will add a large cost. In commercial leasing, that is often not the case. The tenant's broker is commonly paid through a cooperating commission from the landlord or the landlord's brokerage, which is frequently already built into the landlord's leasing budget. That means the tenant often pays no direct fee.
Arrangements do vary, so ask how your representative is paid before you engage them. A reputable tenant representative will disclose this upfront and in writing.
Hospital-Affiliated and Institutional Landlords
Some of the most desirable medical space is owned by hospitals, hospital foundations, health-focused real estate funds, or large institutional landlords. These owners often use standard lease forms and experienced in-house leasing teams, and it can seem as though their terms are fixed.
In practice, institutional landlords still negotiate, but they tend to do so within policy limits and through formal approval processes. Knowing which terms are genuinely fixed and which are flexible, and how to frame a request so it can be approved internally, is where an experienced healthcare representative adds value. Hospital-affiliated buildings may also carry specific use restrictions, referral expectations, or rules about competing services, which deserve careful review.
How to Engage Quickly When You Already Have an Offer
If an offer is already in hand, you have not missed your chance, provided you have not signed a binding agreement. Here is how to move quickly:
- Do not sign or verbally commit while you get advice. It is reasonable to tell the listing agent you are reviewing the offer with your advisors.
- Engage a tenant representative and share the offer, any floor plans, and your timing.
- Let your representative benchmark the offer against comparable deals and identify the terms that matter most for your practice.
- Let your representative respond on your behalf with a counter-offer.
- Have a lawyer review the offer before it becomes firm, and the lease before you sign it.
A good representative can often review an offer and prepare a response within a few days, so this rarely delays a deal meaningfully.
If you have already signed an offer, have your lawyer review what you are bound by before taking further steps. Some offers are conditional, and there may still be room to negotiate lease terms.
How PRAXIS Helps
PRAXIS Healthcare Real Estate, the healthcare practice of Lucero Commercial Group, works exclusively in healthcare real estate across Ontario and Alberta. We represent clinics and we also represent landlords. We always disclose who we represent upfront, and if we work with both parties on the same deal, that is disclosed in writing and handled as provincial rules require. Led by Principal Broker Mya Qi, MPH, we help practitioners review offers, benchmark terms, and negotiate with confidence. Learn more about our tenant representation and lease review services, or contact us as soon as an offer lands.
Frequently asked
No. A broker listing a property for a landlord is working for the landlord and has duties to the landlord, including getting the best terms for them. In Ontario and Alberta, brokerages must disclose who they represent, so ask for that disclosure in writing and confirm the specifics with RECO or RECA guidance or your lawyer.
In many commercial lease transactions, the tenant's broker is paid through a cooperating commission from the landlord or the landlord's brokerage, so the tenant often pays no direct fee. Arrangements vary, and a reputable tenant representative will disclose how they are paid before you engage them.
Most terms are negotiable, including net rent, annual escalations, tenant improvement allowance, free rent, permitted use and exclusivity, assignment rights on a practice sale, renewal options, and restoration obligations. The first offer from a landlord reflects the landlord's preferred position, not a final one.
Usually not, as long as you have not signed a binding agreement. A tenant representative can review the offer, benchmark it against the market, and respond on your behalf, often within a few days. If you have already signed, have a lawyer review what you are bound by before taking any further steps.