Commercial property offer with lease contingency

[Cory Jones]

Has anyone had experience with making offers on commercial property with the contingency to find a lessee before purchase is required?

The situation is I have an interested party in leasing a commercial building for sale.  I am wanting to make an offer stating I will buy this property only if the said interested party agree to an X-month lease term.  How do I word this to protect me from having the owner go after the interested party I already have on my side?  The interested party would not sign an exclusive representation agreement with me.

[Jessica Zolotorofe]

Sign a lease with the tenant and have the lease be contingent upon the closing of the purchase. So the effective date is today and you are bound to the terms of the lease the day you get title to the property. The Seller doesn't even need to know. The lease can have a confidentiality clause in it if you think that the Seller might back out of your deal if they know that tenant is interested.