When is a Deal a Deal?

Always Get it in Writing.

Make sure to actually sign a finalized contract, and do it quickly.  So many transactions start off with a Letter of Intent (LOI), or some variation of it.  After the initial LOI, a flurry of counter proposals or LOIs can pile up.  At the end of the day, you could end up wasting a lot of time.  Somebody who isn’t a client of mine, but I met the other day, told me his tale.  He spent 20 days going back and forth with a landlord about a lease via proposals and counter proposals on a Second Generation Retail Space.  Well, Lo and Behold, after the LOIs are finally agreed upon, the potential lessee eases up and does not request for an actual draft lease for two days.  In the meanwhile, another prospective lessee had finished negotiations, and requested a Draft Lease, which he approved.   Thus, the space was lost.  The deal is not finalized until a binding contract is signed.  LOIs are just an agreement to agree upon terms to actually execute in a formal contract.  Don’t stop short of the finish line, follow through all the way to very end.