For small business owners · Commercial lease renewals
You have the comps. Rehearse what happens when they say “this is already below market.”
The checklist is printed. You still don’t know what you’ll say when the rep cites vacancy risk.
You’ve been in this space eight years. You built the customer base around this address. The renewal proposal landed with a 22% base-rent bump, uncapped CAM, and a signature deadline in sixty days. You pulled two competing listings and read every LeaseRef article. What you can’t picture is proposing flat rent for year one and sitting on Zoom while the landlord’s rep says “we’ve already discounted 8% from market” — then waits for you to blink. Kommi puts you in that call first, with a rep who pushes back the way professional landlords do, so Thursday isn’t your first take.
The market data isn’t the hard part.
Every CRE blog says the same thing: start 12 months out, pull comps, negotiate the full package — TI, free rent, CAM caps — not just base rent. You have the spreadsheet. What you don’t have is muscle memory for when the rep says “relocation will cost you more than staying” and you have to decide in real time whether to hold your anchor or accept two months free instead of a lower rate.
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What’s at stake
Accepting a $900/month base-rent bump on a 5-year term costs $54,000 — before CAM escalations compound. One soft conversation can lock in thin margins for half a decade.
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Why you procrastinate
You don’t want to sound like you’re bluffing on relocation. You keep rehearsing your opening in your head but skip the part where they refuse TI and you have to push back without sounding adversarial.
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What checklists can’t do
LeaseRef and attorney blogs give you the clauses. They can’t simulate a rep going quiet for eight seconds while you wonder if your competing proposal is credible enough.
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What a tenant rep costs
A tenant-rep broker often costs you nothing — but many owner-operators negotiate solo anyway. You still need reps before the call, not just a market report delivered the night before.
Sample roleplay · 3 minutes
“We’ve already discounted this 8% from market rate.”
You’re Morgan. You’ve walked through your tenure and stated your counter. Now the landlord’s rep pushes back.
You (Morgan)
“We’ve been here eight years, always current on rent, and we invested $40k in the build-out. Your proposal is $4,850 base — 22% above our current $3,975. I’m asking for flat rent year one, then 3% annual escalations capped, plus a CAM reconciliation cap at 5%.”
Landlord’s rep
“I appreciate what you’ve built here. But $4,850 is already 8% below what we’re getting on the vacant suite downstairs. Relocation will cost you more than staying — build-out, downtime, moving your members. What I can do is two months free on a 7-year term at $4,650. We’re not doing TI on a renewal.”
Your move
- → Separate base rent from term length: “I’ll discuss term if we agree on year-one economics”
- → Cite your competing LOI by address — without bluffing a move you won’t make
- → Trade free rent for CAM cap or HVAC allowance instead of accepting a longer lock-in
Each choice changes how the rep responds. The call gets uncomfortable. You practice holding your anchor without sounding like you’re threatening to leave — or catching yourself when you’re about to accept free rent on a 7-year term you didn’t want.
Then the coach reads you back to yourself.
Not a lease abstraction scorecard. Not a list of CAM clauses from a blog. One observation about what you did, one adjustment for next time, one sentence you can carry into Thursday’s call.
Sample coach debrief
“You opened with tenure and build-out investment — strong credibility play. When the rep offered two months free on a 7-year term, you immediately said ‘let me run the numbers’ and dropped your CAM cap ask. That signals you’re negotiating against yourself before they moved on base rent.
Try next time: Pause after the free-rent offer. Ask one clarifying question: ‘Help me understand — is the blocker base rent, or is it the CAM structure? If we cap CAM at 5% and hold year one flat, what base works for a 5-year term?’
Carry into Thursday: ‘We want to stay — and we need year-one economics that match what new tenants are getting. What base rent gets us flat year one with a 5-year term, and can we put the CAM cap in the LOI?’”
Questions before your renewal call
- Is this for first leases or renewals?
- This page is tuned for renewals — when you’re a known tenant with leverage, but the landlord’s rep still anchors high and cites market comps. You can practice initial lease negotiations inside Kommi too.
- I have a tenant-rep broker. Why practice?
- Brokers handle LOIs and market data. You still show up on calls, approve concessions, and decide when to hold or walk. Kommi is where you rehearse your side of the conversation before the broker sends the counter — especially if you negotiate solo.
- What if they say my competing proposal isn’t credible?
- That’s one of the most common paths in the roleplay. You practice citing specific comps without overplaying your hand — and pivoting to total occupancy cost (CAM, TI, free rent) when base rent is stuck.
- Is $11.99/mo worth it for one lease renewal?
- One avoided percentage point on $4,200/month base rent is $504 a year — every year of the term. A single hour with a commercial attorney costs more than a year of Kommi. You also get unlimited sessions across every scenario: salary talks, vendor disputes, hard conversations outside work.
$11.99 a month.
A coach with a calendar runs two hundred dollars an hour. Kommi runs roughly forty cents a day — and is awake when you can't sleep, which is when most of these conversations are actually being rehearsed anyway.
We don't have a free tier, a team plan, or a premium upsell. One price, no pricing page riddle. If we add tiers later, we'll do it because users asked — not because a growth deck did.
About forty cents a day.
- Two free sessions before billing starts
- Then $11.99 a month — about forty cents a day
- Unlimited sessions — any conversation you can describe
- A coaching read after every session, and your progress over time
- Cancel in two taps; 7-day refund if you change your mind
One conversation you’d have talked yourself out of is worth years of this. Or just sleep better on Wednesday. Either way.
Run your first rehearsal — free →US only at launch. We'll get to the rest of the world.
The conversation is on Thursday. Begin tonight.
Three minutes. Two free. 7-day money back after that.