Multifamily Owners 5+ Units

Investors! I want to hear from you!

If you own 5+ units and have held for 10+ years:

What would actually make you take a serious look at selling, 1031 exchange, or restructuring — versus just riding it out? Is it a life event (retirement, health, family), a market signal (cap rates, interest rates, insurance costs), a tax consideration, management fatigue, or something else entirely?

Have you looked at an exit before and backed out? What killed the deal for you — price, taxes, lack of a good replacement property, not trusting the broker, something else?

Is there anything a broker could bring to you that would actually be useful, versus the usual "I have a buyer for your building" cold call? For those who've held through multiple cycles — what finally tips a long-term hold into "it's time"?

Not trying to sell anyone anything here — I'd rather understand what actually matters to people in your position before I ever pick up the phone. Appreciate any honesty, even if the honest answer is "brokers annoy me and here's why."

I'm also an investor myself. I keep running into the same pattern: owners who bought 5, 10, 20+ years ago are sitting on huge embedded equity, rents that are way under market, and properties that — on paper — look like they should be no-brainer sells or refi's. But most of them never move.