Are You Getting the Most Value Out of Your Lease Abstracts? If you’re like most companies, probably not. In fact, having a stack of pdf lease abstracts isn’t substantially better than having a stack of leases lying around. Even more challenging is being able to rely on the abstracts to answer crucial questions. What if language was missed? Or language was implied, but important operational assumptions were not clarified?
To ensure lease abstracts are highly usable, you need a failproof plan which identifies which topics will be abstracted, at what level of detail, and what assumptions will be made about the language. A thoughtfully developed plan will help you decide what language you will use on a regular basis, and what language will be relegated to the lease research process when a more complex question is raised, or context is required to answer the question.
Every engagement at Grant & Lewis, whether for a single lease abstract or a full due diligence project, starts with the development of an abstracting plan to ensure your lease information is usable.
As you have likely experienced, lease abstracts will only take you so far. There are some questions which require additional information before they can be answered. Lease research, like lease abstracts, starts with identifying the questions to be answered, the lease documents to be reviewed, and any assumptions to be made about the question like whether a common area change is considered material.
Using a combination of lease abstracts and lease research along with techniques like lease language base lining will help you operate much more effectively with the best information available.
Most companies have never thought about how to properly manage their lease information. They don’t know where the value line is between a lease abstract and a lease research project, so they spend time reviewing the entire lease far more often than they should. Or worse, they rely on abstract information in situations where they shouldn’t.
We’ll provide you with a well-developed lease abstracting plan that will maximize the value of your lease information. Your expert plan will ensure all data points identified on the plan have been considered, at the appropriate level of detail, and any assumptions being made are explicit. Working from such a detailed plan will save you massive amounts of time and give your team confidence to use abstracted information to support your team’s decision-making process.
Teaching people how to read leases and create abstracts is hard. Really hard. How do you tell someone what information you need to know without knowing what is in the lease in the first place? And even if you think you know what the important language is, there is always the chance you could encounter lease language you’ve never heard of before. All too often new language is skimmed over without understanding what the language means and how it might impact your portfolio.
And that can spell disaster for your business.
At Grant & Lewis, we’re professional abstractors who have read thousands of leases and quite literally, have seen it all. And can also identify when lease language is not common. Our team of experienced abstractors will prepare an abstract plan to ensure all your abstracts are consistently produced, critical language is identified and communicated in a way that is easy to understand.
Some companies do all the right things. They have a good lease information management plan. An expert team of abstractors. But no way to use the valuable information they’ve created. It is a tragic reality. But it happens all the time. Most commercial real estate software platforms just don’t have the tools you need to search and share information with the people who need it.
That’s why we created the groundbreaking Lease Toolkit. The Lease Toolkit has an advanced toolset which allows you to search across abstracts, create gorgeous looking reports, and share information with key stakeholders, both inside and outside the company. It also allows for the creation and sharing of abstract instructions which are fundamental to maximizing the value of lease information. When you order a lease abstract from Grant & Lewis, we provide you with a license to the Toolkit to ensure you can easily access and use your lease information.
Having leases abstracted can add substantial value to the lease administration process and your real estate portfolio. But they need to be done consistently, correctly and in accordance with a lease information management plan.
Many companies order abstracts without knowing how to get value out of them. Some companies we have worked with identified key provisions without giving much thought to how that information would be used later. Other companies have no plan whatsoever and simply order abstracts because they think it is what they are supposed to do.
Developing a good lease information management plan is critically dependent on knowing how and exactly when to use abstracted language. For example, lease language related to eminent domain should rarely be abstracted since those types of events are unlikely, and when they do occur, reviewing the entire lease will be important. Conversely, abstracting language around late fees is more important since it commonly used more often.
Combining an abstract plan with other information management strategies, such as base lining language and lease version tracking, can greatly extend the value of your lease information management plan. Ensuring everything is planned correctly can pay massive dividends in the way you manage and use information.
Every new engagement starts with our onboarding team and the development of an expert plan. Our onboarding process has worked with different clients pursuing a variety of goals -- from maximizing net operating cash flow to developing a new property or repositioning an old one. The team will help you document your objectives, and identify potential risks factors standing in between you and success. At the end of the onboarding process, a detailed lease information management plan will be developed, which will include abstracting instructions for each datapoint included in the plan as well as how the information will ultimately be delivered. Once the plan has been approved, the instructions will be submitted and reviewed with the abstract team.
Don’t have time to create a plan? We’ve got you covered. We have several standardized lease information plans which will meet common objectives like a simple accounting lease abstract. Just select from one of our standard plans and we’ll effectively move to the execution phase.
Once the onboarding process is complete, the lease administration manager assigned to the project reviews the lease information plan. Based on the plan requirements, the lease administration manager will select a team of abstractors with the right experience to meet the goals of the plan. Once the team is selected, the plan is reviewed by the entire team and risk factors are identified. Critical leases are identified and reviewed together to ensure the team understands the plan and will complete each abstract in accordance with the plan. Once the instructions are reviewed it is time to get to work. Each team member completes their abstracts, and the lease administration manager compiles the information.
Using a set of standard instructions? No problem. Everyone on our team knows how to write a lease abstract in accordance with our standard instructions. We can skip the meetings and get right to work!
Once the abstracts are complete, the team prepares for delivery of the abstracts. There are a variety of ways in which we deliver lease information. In some engagements, we deliver by directly uploading to the client’s software system. In other cases, we deliver a formal report which includes the abstracted information. We can also accommodate most other formats like a pdf, work document, or excel.
Don’t know how you want the information back? We can abstract the information into the Lease Toolkit, and a license will be provided to you which will allow you to search and download your information.
Following delivery of the project, you will have time to review your information and request changes to the information provided. Need a few changes to your Lease Abstract? No problem, we are here to ensure you get what you need, large or small.
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Let’s find out if we’re a great fit. Schedule a no-obligation consultation to learn how we can provide best-in-class lease administration, and enhance your real estate portfolio.
