I often joke on this blog that you should never sell apartment buildings. The main reason is that the transaction costs of selling real estate are high (brokerage commission, transfer tax, etc.). Also, in CA, there’s a major benefit to holding on as your rents increase, because your NOI margin increases (see here for more … Continue reading “Why would I sell real estate?”
Category: Selling
The right strategy for selling
There are two basic strategies for selling property: Price it high and wait; or Price it low and have a bidding war The second one is much, much better. To understand why, let’s take a look at both. 1. Price it high and wait The theory behind price is high and wait is that, eventually, … Continue reading “The right strategy for selling”
How to choose a broker to sell your property
First things first. Don’t sell property if you can avoid it! But, if you must sell, use a broker. Choosing a broker and figuring out how to work with him* successfully is the most important part of any sale process. (*Note I’m using “he” and “him” here, but many of the best brokers are female. Just a … Continue reading “How to choose a broker to sell your property”
Forgive me for venting
It’s really not that hard to update the MLS on the status of your listings. It takes about five seconds to tell them to switch your property from “active” (in other words, available for someone to buy) to “pending” (in other words, under contract to be sold). And yet a small but non-zero number of … Continue reading “Forgive me for venting”
1031 Exchange 101
The 1031 Exchange is one of the better things about investing in apartment buildings. It’s a section of the tax code which allows investors in investment property to defer capital gains taxes on property sold in exchange for re-investing the proceeds in more property. To understand why it’s such a powerful tax loophole, we need … Continue reading “1031 Exchange 101”
Silver Lake Income Properties In High Demand
We’ve just completed a review of the data for sales of 2-4 unit income properties in Silver Lake over the past six months. For more on the methodology, please see below. Meanwhile, here are the headline numbers: Median estimated gross rent multiple: 12.7x annual rents Median estimated CAP rate: 5.5% Median sale price as % … Continue reading “Silver Lake Income Properties In High Demand”