Leasing Interview Questions
Leasing interviews test market knowledge and execution: comps, pipeline, concessions, and how you actually get deals done. Here's what gets asked and how to answer it.
What leasing interviews are testing
Leasing is an execution-heavy seat — every week is a mix of broker calls, tenant reps, tour coordination, comp pulls, proposal structuring, and lease review. Interviewers are looking for three things that map to how leasing pros actually get hired and promoted:
- Do you know the market? Not "office is weak." Specifically: what are effective rents in your submarket, what's the concession package clearing deals, who just moved, who's in the market looking.
- Can you build and work a pipeline? Leasing without an active pipeline of 20+ prospects at various stages is just marketing. Interviewers probe for your qualification process and conversion discipline.
- Can you structure a deal and close it? TI, free rent, caps on escalators, termination rights, renewal options — any of these can make or break the economics. Interviewers want to see you understand the trade-offs.
The four-part leasing answer structure
- Market read (what effective rents + concessions are doing)
- Tenant story (who they are, what they need, why they moved)
- Economics (face rent, concessions, TI, term, escalators)
- Outcome (close, stall, walk — and why)
Leasing is often described in face-rent terms, but deals clear on effective rent (face rent net of concessions and TI amortized over the term). A senior hiring manager will assume you can think in effective rent; if you can't, it's an early filter.
Common questions by category
- What are effective rents doing? — Not face rent. Include concessions (free rent, TI) amortized over the term.
- Where are concessions trending? — Months of free rent, TI per square foot, cap on operating expenses. Specific numbers beat directional language.
- Who's winning tenants and why? — Name the specific buildings / owners who are taking share. Usually a function of location, parking, building amenities, or ownership's willingness to do deals.
- How do you build pipeline? — Named sources: tenant reps you have relationships with, industry events, inbound from marketing, cold outreach to specific categories of tenants (e.g., life-sci expansions).
- How do you qualify leads? — Have a 4–5 point checklist. Requirement size, timing, budget, decision-maker identified, competitive set they're evaluating.
- How do you manage conversion? — Structured follow-up cadence, clear next steps at every interaction, active management of the 20–30 deals in your pipeline with a tracking system.
- How do you structure TI/LC? — Base TI allowance, incremental for long terms, amortized into rent for anything above standard. Cap on rent abatement if exercised with cotenancy.
- What's your approach to renewals? — Start 12–18 months before expiration, anchor on effective rent at the time of discussion, use capex avoidance as the owner's leverage.
- Biggest deal you closed and why it worked? — Name tenant, SF, term, and the 1–2 moves that made the deal close (TI package, expansion option, escalator cap, buildout flexibility).
Technical questions you'll get asked
"Walk me through how you'd underwrite a new lease."
Start with the tenant credit — public credit, private with strong financials, small private with guarantor, or weak with LC backup. Credit drives what terms you'll accept. Then: face rent (comparable to market), term (long enough to amortize TI but not so long you're locked at below-market), escalations (fixed vs CPI, 2–3% fixed is standard), TI allowance (new tenant: higher; renewal: lower), free rent (months of abatement upfront), options (expansion, termination, renewal at what rent).
"What's the effective rent on this deal?"
Effective rent = face rent across the term, minus concessions (free rent value + TI allowance), divided by the total term. Example: $40 face rent, 10 year term, 6 months free rent, $80 TI allowance = face gross revenue ($400/sf over 10 years) minus $20 free rent value minus $80 TI = $300/sf over 10 years = $30/sf effective rent. Know the formula cold.
"What's the difference between gross and triple-net?"
Gross (or full-service gross): landlord pays operating expenses; rent is higher. Triple-net (NNN): tenant pays its pro-rata share of taxes, insurance, and operating expenses (CAM) on top of base rent. The economics can be equivalent but the risk allocation is different — NNN shifts expense inflation risk to the tenant; gross keeps it with the landlord. Office and retail use various middle-ground structures (modified gross, NN); industrial is usually NNN.
"How do you think about cotenancy provisions?"
In retail, cotenancy tied to anchor tenants gives the smaller tenant rent relief (or termination rights) if the anchor closes. It's high-stakes in weak retail environments — a single anchor closure can cascade to 30% of the GLA exercising cotenancy. As an owner, you want the trigger tight (specific named tenants only, clear replacement windows) and the relief capped. As a tenant rep, you want the trigger loose and the relief permanent until cured.
Red flags interviewers listen for
- Face-rent-only thinking. Candidates who talk about rent without referencing concessions or effective rent are pre-associate-level. Get to effective rent early in every answer.
- No market specifics. "Office is weak" is not a market read. "Effective rents in my submarket are down 15% from 2022 peaks, concessions are at 18 months free on 10-year terms, tenants are right-sizing 30%" is.
- No post-close view. Candidates who treat the signed lease as the end of the deal miss that leasing continues through operating: CAM reconciliation disputes, tenant expansion, early renewal conversations. Senior leasing people manage the full arc.