Multifamily Owners 5+ Units

Multifamily Owners 5+ Units

West Covina, Los Angeles County · Member since 2021 · 18 posts · 8 votes

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.

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    Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1mo

    @Ellie Ochoa first, a broker could understand the difference between a commercial property (one whose use is derived in commerce) versus an apartment. This is the commercial thread: retail, office, industrial. 5+ unit apartments are... APARTMENTS. There is a whole forum on Bigger Pockets for multi-family and apartment discussion.

    Second, money. Real buyers with money to pay market prices for the properties you are targeting. That's really it. Every investor I know is willing to sell all of their properties for the right price. If you want to be successful, you should be sourcing buyers that want to pay real prices versus just hunting for listings.

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    • Greg ScottPro Member
      Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
      1mo

      My wife and I, along with our investors, own three apartment complexes. Since most of the paperwork has my phone number, my phone rings constantly with brokers and buyers who are hoping to get an off-market deal. (Next apartment, I'm using a burner phone number!)

      The amusing ones are cold-calls from single-family buyers wanting to buy my house at XXX address. They ask the price at which I would sell and I usually throw out $40M. That delivers stunned silence. If the conversation continues they are excited to hopefully land a big fish, but that is where I shut them down. If you don't know who you are calling, you don't know what you are doing, and I'm wasting my time with you. Good bye.

      Similarly, brokers that call often say they have a buyer or a 1031 exchange buyer. If I'm not ready to sell, it tends to be a tiring conversation. Frankly, there is a lot of brain damage to really get your apartment ready for a sale. I don't want to waste my time with a newbie broker that has no clue what they are doing. I usually just tell them I am not interested. I'm sure some of them have called me multiple times, but there are so many of them calling, I don't remember 90% of them.

      For those that I recognize, they often ask if they can deliver a BOV. Since we are not ready to sell, I usually decline. I don't want to send them all my financials, have them crawl over my properties, get my staff upset, and get noticed by our residents, which is just a headache. Besides, we have our preferred broker anyway.

      I'm presuming you are looking at smaller apartments with mom & pop owners, not 100+ unit properties. If I were one of those people and you wanted to actually get my attention, here is an approach I would take....

      "I'm a broker and have been reviewing apartment sales in your area and created a report. I see you have owned for a long time so may not be aware of current values. Would you be interested in taking a look at my report? Obviously the actual value would depend on your property's performance, but it could give you an idea what your property is worth today."

      Whether or not you have created the report in advance is unimportant. If you can provide value like this, you get your foot in the door. It is fair to call them a week later and ask if they read it. Have they considered selling? Then, you will at least get their attention. Otherwise, you are just another cold call, a fly buzzing by my ear that I try to quickly swat away.

    • Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
      1mo

      @Ellie Ochoa first, a broker could understand the difference between a commercial property (one whose use is derived in commerce) versus an apartment. This is the commercial thread: retail, office, industrial. 5+ unit apartments are... APARTMENTS. There is a whole forum on Bigger Pockets for multi-family and apartment discussion.

      Second, money. Real buyers with money to pay market prices for the properties you are targeting. That's really it. Every investor I know is willing to sell all of their properties for the right price. If you want to be successful, you should be sourcing buyers that want to pay real prices versus just hunting for listings.

    • Ronald RohdePro Member
      Attorney · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
      1mo

      Yep, I'm always willing to sell at a 6 cap. But i've sold 3 deals last year. One this year.

    • Lender · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2026 · 55 posts · 17 votes
      1mo

      From the lending side, I'll add a data point to what you're already seeing: a lot of long-term owners don't actually need to choose between "sell" and "ride it out" -- the option that gets skipped over is a cash-out refi that pulls the embedded equity out without a taxable event, using the property's current (even if under-market) rents to qualify. That's usually the move for owners who like the asset and the depreciation schedule but want liquidity for another deal or just want some chips off the table.

      What tends to actually move someone off the fence isn't the broker's pitch, it's a concrete number: a real refi/sale-proceeds comparison run against their actual debt, current rents, and current rates -- not a generic "your building is worth X" conversation. Most owners have a rough sense their equity is huge; they don't have a clear sense of what it nets them after a decision, which is what keeps a lot of "should probably do something" situations frozen for years.

    • West Covina, Los Angeles County · Member since 2021 · 18 posts · 8 votes
      1mo

      Thank you everyone! I love all of the detailed insights to this topic. 

      I get it, owners get a million market reports and it is time someone actually give them something worth hearing, not just another listing presentation. 

      Trying my best to be a better broker and partner and keep the client's best interest at top instead of just making more $$ and seeing them fail later.

      I do see how California brings a lot of problems for sellers so that is where I see a lot of exits. 

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