You're Ready to Buy Dental Practice Real Estate. Now What?

Maybe you’re a dentist who has finally decided to go into private practice. In terms of where you want your practice to be located, you’ve settled on a city or town, but not the property. According to Brandy Keck, a Brockerage Liaison at Carr Healthcare Realty, now is the right time to get a practice real estate broker involved. Do not go it alone when faced with the stresses of negotiating a lease or purchase.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“The tips that we give dentists when they’re negotiating on a property are, first and foremost, make sure you hire representation. Do not talk to the landlord, or the seller directly. The dentist is going to want to bring in an expert to handle the commercial real estate transaction for them, and they need to make sure that they come from a place of posture and education. What they need to do is be looking at multiple properties in a market and having a very educated stance on what the market has to offer and what landlords are willing to do for dentists, who are blue-chip tenants coming into the space.

Something that can be challenging for dentists can be the confrontational piece of what it’s like to work with a landlord or a seller directly. Often times, especially if it’s in a renewal situation, they feel like they’re somewhat comfortable or know their landlord when really it’s a brand-new transaction. Dentists are really great about bringing in their team, their contractor, the dental-specific CPA, their attorney. You name it, they have those pieces. They should also have a real estate expert to come in and handle their real estate transaction because there’s a lot of confrontation in it and there’s a lot of looking at a specific property. There really needs to be a posture and an education on multiple properties at one time, and separating themselves a little bit from the transaction.”