The wireless carrier is offering a few hundred dollars for the option to lease my property. What should I agree to?

Many landowners and building owners don’t recognize that the carriers aren’t actually offering a lease, but instead want to purchase an option to lease. The difference is that a lease necessitates that the carrier pay rent, while the option only requires that they put down an option payment so that they have the right to lease the property if they so choose. Under the option, the carrier could always choose not to commence the lease and thus, you would not receive payments. Please note that when you sign the option, you are agreeing to the terms of the lease, so make sure that you have an attorney review the language before you sign, not after. We recommend asking for option payments, which can vary widely, from as little as $100 and as high as $10,000. Some landowners or their attorneys try to force the carrier or tower company to start paying rent immediately. If you do that, you will lose the lease 99 times out of 100.