REPE Books

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Why specifically is learning to negotiate leases good practice? To learn the technical aspects of lease agreements, or to gain experience being on the opposite side of the table from someone, or to show others that you have "reps"? Genuinely curious about the value you seem to impute on experience negotiating leases!

1. the book was in my analyst program training packet (nearly 20 years ago), so someone thought it was valuable before I did. The training involved all departments of a large pension fund advisor, an it was probably a book from asset management.
2. I read the book as an analyst and I think I reread it a couple years later when I negotiated my first two leases (also used AIR Commercial lease template).
3. Reading a book about negotiating leases is not the same as negotiating leases. However, it is a good introduction to leases and legal contracts in general.
4. When you think about our profession that evaluates cash flow and the stability of that cash flow over time, the essence of valuation, the lease is one of the basic building blocks of value. 
    
5. in fact, we might gush on WSO that development (particularly land assemblages) create the most value, followed by a great deal structure - I’m going to say, a great lease with high upside and low downside is the greatest value creation you can have - ROI-wise, and time-wise, as you get to use the asset like you own it, for $___.  
    
6. more importantly, you need to learn nuance and level 2 thinking.  I googled level 2 thinking: The power of second level thinking comes from being able to look past the immediate results and consider the impact long term; sometimes a bad outcome now might result in a good outcome in the future. One way to do this is to explore how the decision will play out at different time points. (credit: mindtools.com)
7. Whether you are negotiating a lease, management agreement, purchase and sale agreement, loan agreement, guaranty agreement (with your personal assets on the line, yikes!), GMAX, JV Agreement, operating agreement for your start up, mutual separation agreement, sales agreement, installment sales agreement, or conducting enforcement action via litigation, the collective understanding of how time, timing, risk, upside, nuance, probability, leverage, market value, future market value, fairness, collaboration, disentanglement, game theory, and there’s probably more, that gets honed in your brain and gut. 
    
8. Therefore, start with reading a book about negotiating leases.