Franchise Real Estate
Franchise Lease Consulting — Read the Fine Print Before You Sign
A bad lease can sink a profitable franchise. Hidden CAM costs, weak exclusivity, short terms, and personal guarantees all show up in lease drafts. Summitly reviews and negotiates franchise leases so you do not learn about the problems later.
Coldwell Banker Summit Realty, Brokerage (905) 553-8500
What you get
- Line-by-line lease review with plain language notes
- Negotiation with the landlord on rent, term, and key clauses
- Coordination with your lawyer and franchisor
What Summitly does — and doesn’t
Summitly's franchise practice is run by Coldwell Banker Summit Realty, a real estate brokerage specialising in franchise locations across Canada. We help you secure, hold, and exit the real estate underneath your franchise. We are not a franchise consultant or recruiter.
We handle
- Site search and site approval coordination for your franchise locations
- Commercial lease review, negotiation, and renewal
- Resale brokerage when it’s time to sell — confidential marketing, buyer prequalification, lease assignment
- Coordination with the landlord, lender, lawyer, and franchisor real estate team
We don’t handle
- Franchise applications, brand approval, or franchisor selection criteria
- Training, supply chain, operations, or marketing programs — those stay with the franchisor
- Picking a brand for you — that’s a business decision we’ll respect, not influence
Why lease terms matter so much
Your lease is the second-longest contract in a franchise deal, right after the franchise agreement itself. Most franchisees sign a 5 to 10 year term with personal guarantees. One bad clause can cost you more than your franchise fee. Summitly catches those before you sign.
How a Summitly lease review works
Send us the draft
Email us the offer to lease or the full lease. We review it within 48 hours.Plain-language notes
You get a one-page summary plus marked-up lease showing what to push back on and why.Negotiation
We negotiate with the landlord directly or coach you through the back-and-forth.Final sign-off
Once the lease is clean, your lawyer does the legal close. We stay available for questions.
Who franchise lease consulting is for
Franchisees who got a lease draft and want a second opinion before signing. Multi-unit owners standardizing lease terms across stores. Buyers taking over an existing lease who want to know what they are inheriting.
Your franchise real estate team
Coldwell Banker Summit Realty — Franchise Real Estate Practice
Coldwell Banker franchise · Licensed in Ontario
Coldwell Banker Summit Realty, Brokerage runs a dedicated franchise real estate practice serving operators across Canada. We handle the operator-side real estate work on franchise deals — securing sites at the start, reviewing and negotiating commercial leases, and brokering the exit when it is time to sell. Backed by the Coldwell Banker brand, an independently owned and operated franchise with deep commercial and residential reach, our team reads a lease the way the operator does, scopes a site the way the franchisor does, and structures the exit the way the buyer will underwrite it.
- Operator-side franchise real estate across food, retail, hospitality, fitness, and service categories
- Site selection, lease review, and lease negotiation aligned to franchisor criteria
- Resale brokerage, location takeovers, new-build site work, and sale-leaseback structuring
- Backed by Coldwell Banker — an established global real estate brand and franchise network
Coldwell Banker Summit Realty, Brokerage (905) 553-8500
Questions
Franchise Lease Consulting: common questions
Quick, honest answers to what franchise buyers and sellers ask us most.
A line-by-line look at every clause in your commercial lease, with notes on what to push back on. We flag rent escalations, CAM charges, exclusivity, demolition clauses, personal guarantees, and assignment rights. You get a clear summary, not legal jargon.
No. A lawyer makes the lease legally enforceable. A lease consultant tells you whether the business terms are fair and market. You usually want both. We work with your lawyer, not against them.
For franchise buyers we represent on the deal, lease review is included. For standalone reviews, fees start at $750 for a simple retail lease. Larger deals are quoted after we see the draft. Book a free call first so we can quote properly.
Demolition clauses that let the landlord cancel mid-term. CAM caps that are not actually caps. Personal guarantees that survive sale of the franchise. Short terms with no renewal option. Each one can cost a franchisee five or six figures over a 10-year lease.
Next step
Got a lease draft? Send it over.
Email it to us for a free first look. We will tell you if it needs work before you spend on a full review.
