3 Must-Have Docs to sell your Multifamily. Get ready for Excitement.

Are you starting to noodle over the idea of selling your multifamily property?  Get ready for a truly exciting topic: Documentation!!  If you want to sell, now or in the future, you have to have a few things at the ready for any potential buyer.  Without further ado, here are the 3 sets of documents you will need to have when you finally make the decision to put the for sale sign on the front yard:

1) Tenant leases and the rent roll. You don't necessarily have to provide the actual physical copy of your leases to your potential buyers, but what they're going to want to know is when did those leases start, when do those leases expire, and how much each tenant is paying. That's a big part of selling a multifamily. It's a big factor when potential buyers are buying multifamily.  If one of the tenants is below-market rent, when does that lease expire, allowing for the rent to increase. 

2) Systems warranties. Did you recently have the roof changed? Did you recently install a new heating system or a new AC system? What about those appliances, did you recently install appliances into any of the units within the buildings and are they still within warranty? That is adding value. If you are able to take those warranties and provide those to the new potential buyer and show this refrigerator was installed last year and it's still under warranty, that is a great way to provide value, so you really want to go out and see if you can collect any warranties that you have from roof to heating systems to appliances, anything else. 

Also included here is a maintenance schedule. When was the last time that your heating system was serviced? If you have a good maintenance schedule in place, you should have been documenting that over the years. Being able to turn that over to a potential buyer is going to create value and give the buyer a sense of ease knowing that the systems were maintained over the years. 

3) Lead Paint Certification. Using lead paint hasn't been allowed since 1978, however in many parts of the country the housing stock is much older than this. Being able to certify that your property is lead free is a huge value add not only when trying to sell the property but in renting those apartments as well, which is why this will be so important to potential buyers.  Families with children under 6 will be especially tuned into lead paint and it will be an absolute no go for potential buyers and renters.   

Ok, that wasn't too bad, was it?  Lining up these documents may be a pain if you haven't kept your records up, but once you have them, they will be incredibly valuable and will help insure that you get a swift and competitive offer if you decide to sell your multifamily.