The “third rail” has been in the news for the last few days and that made Ruminations think about posting this piece having to do with the role of brokers in commercial lease transactions. At the risk of needing to purchase a bespoke Nomex suit crafted to protect against possible flaming, we proceed.

Brokers make the marketplace work. They connect parties who might not have known of each other’s interests in the absence of the broker’s efforts. Certainly, the internet and the information age have made information readily available that historically had been in the “secret” files of the brokerage community. If, however, that were the only grip a broker had over prospective buyers, sellers, tenants or landlords, the show would have been over a long time ago – the curtain would have fallen.

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