The invention provides a system and method that facilitates a structured lease
negotiation between two parties to a real estate transaction, and subsequent steps
to occupy the leased premises and evaluate the transaction process. A series of
predefined milestone negotiation steps are executed on a computer that couples
two parties through a network, such as the Internet. The negotiators use a web
browser to answer predefined questions regarding a proposed transaction in such
a manner that certain aspects of the transaction can be agreed upon early during
the negotiation process while others are deferred to later phases. In each phase,
each party must select from a predefined list of actions (e.g., agree, defer, identify,
mediate, etc.) associated with a particular aspect of the negotiation (e.g., rent
to be charged, term of the lease, etc.). Tools are provided to facilitate transnational
aspects of the negotiation (e.g., conversion between currencies, metrics, or languages).
Third-party service providers such as brokers and architects can be automatically
pulled into the negotiations using computer-issued requests for services. Feedback
from the parties in the form of problems encountered and solutions achieved during
the negotiation process are collected and stored in a database for review and use
by other future negotiation parties.