Where is the best place to find off market 10-50 unit buildings for sale

Question

I have partnered with a small group of investors and we are looking to find off market multi-family properties, preferably 10-50 units. We do not want a place that has already been fixed up and maxed out potential. We want a place that has a good possibility of increasing its value and making it an asset worth having.

Jeff Fisher · Answer

Jimmy nailed the starting point Lew. Pulling county ownership records for 10 to 50 unit buildings and sorting by longest held is exactly where I would start too.

Where a lot of guys get stuck is the next step. A mailing address for an LLC or a trust is not a way to actually talk to a decision maker. When I build a list like that I clean it first, confirm the owner name still matches the deed, check how long they have held it, then skiptrace the owners and managers to get real phone numbers and emails. Look for accuracy on that part, you want verified numbers and more than one number per owner when you can get it, because a lot of these owners are older and the first number is often dead.

Then keep the outreach personal and specific like Matthew said. Call first, letter second, mention that one building and why it fits your buy box. Ten good conversations with long term owners will beat 500 generic mailers almost every time.

Gregory Acs · Answer

For 10–50 unit value-add deals, building relationships with local commercial brokers and owners can be more effective than relying on listings. Are you targeting a particular purchase price or market in Connecticut?

Levi Rawlings · Answer

Lew, the replies cover where to find these owners well. The part I'd add is how to spot upside on a building before you've seen the books, since that decides which owners are worth a letter.

In older New England buildings, the usual signals are a long ownership period, rents that haven't moved in years, and the owner still paying heat on a central boiler. Public records will tell you a lot of that. Assessor cards show the purchase date and unit count, and building permit history shows whether the systems have been updated or left alone. A building with no permits in twenty years is often exactly the kind you're describing, but it also means the capital budget is real money, not a line item.

Before outreach, I'd also agree with your group on how much of that upside you're willing to pay for. Owners of long-held buildings rarely accept a price based only on today's rents, so it helps to decide that number in advance.

Matthew Morrow · Answer

@Lew Calhoun handwritten letters and calls to owners were how I found a lot of my early deals, though mine were smaller buildings. I'd make the approach specific: why that building fits, what work you're prepared to take on, and how you could work around the owner's timing. Before contacting anyone, get your group aligned on who can approve an offer. Finding an owner willing to talk doesn't help if the buyers haven't agreed on what they'll buy.

Ametria Chaney · Answer

Lew, at the 10 to 50 unit size, the honest answer is that the best deals rarely reach a listing — they come through relationships. I'd start with a local commercial broker or an investment-friendly agent who already knows the owners of aging buildings, because tired landlords call someone they trust before they list anything. Property managers are another good source — they know which owners are done managing. Direct mail and driving for dollars work too, but they're slow, so pair them with the relationships. Two things I'd do before you start: agree on your buy box and your proof of funds, so you can move in days when something comes up, and underwrite the value-add honestly — real rents from signed leases, real capex, and a vacancy allowance. The group that can say yes fast, with numbers that hold up, is the one that gets the call.

Jimmy Samaha · Answer

Another angle to add to what Ametria said is the local bank or credit union lenders who do commercial loans. They know which owners have loans coming due or are struggling, and they hear about it before anyone lists. I'd also pull county ownership records for buildings in your size range and sort by who has held the longest, since those owners often have the most equity and the least interest in managing anymore. A short personal letter to those owners tends to beat generic mailers.

Where is the best place to find off market 10-50 unit buildings for sale

Where is the best place to find off market 10-50 unit buildings for sale

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