Practical, operator-level guides for every stage of an LA multifamily transaction. Written by Michael Sterman — $1.41B / 254 closed deals.
20 guides
How to sell, when to sell, what buyers look for.
Tenant buyouts are one of the most powerful exit tools available to LA multifamily sellers — and one of the most commonly executed incorrectly. LAHD (LA Housing Department)…
LA City RSO caps your annual rent increases at 3% (through June 2026) or 4% (starting July 2026). For most landlords, those caps are absolute. But a provision in the RSO allows…
Rent control reduces your sale price. That's the honest sentence most broker websites avoid because it sounds like bad news for sellers. It's bad news. It's also true, it's…
Every seller asks the same question three weeks before listing: what can I do between now and market day that will add real value?
The sale price of your building is decided in the first three weeks of the process. Not at listing. Not during marketing. Not in negotiation. In the preparation window before…
A broker's opinion of value is the most important document in the pre-listing phase and the most commonly misread. Every broker's BOV looks authoritative. The cover page has a…
There is a moment, three to six months before a landlord calls me, when selling becomes the obvious move. Most landlords miss that moment. The ones who catch it walk away with…
You inherited an apartment building. You are not in the real estate business. Your parent or relative was — they understood the rent roll, the tenants, the capital schedule,…
If you're selling an LA multifamily building priced above $5 million, you owe an additional transfer tax that most sellers don't price into their exit math until escrow opens.…
LA RSO-covered landlords who need to vacate units have two primary tools: a voluntary buyout (tenant agrees, signs agreement, leaves with cash) or a no-fault eviction with…
Most LA multifamily sales that go sideways go sideways for the same reasons. Not unusual reasons. Not market-driven reasons. The same six mistakes, repeating transaction after…
Every generation of LA multifamily buyers rewrites the checklist. What made a building attractive in 2018 is not the same as what makes it attractive in 2026. Interest rates…
Mechanics, traps, deadlines, and replacement strategy.
Most of the 1031 exchanges I've seen go sideways went sideways for reasons that were preventable. Not complicated tax law. Not unusual IRS positions. The same seven mistakes,…
A 1031 exchange has two hard IRS deadlines. Miss either one and the exchange collapses into a taxable sale. The IRS does not grant extensions. Your qualified intermediary…
Most of the 1031 exchanges I have seen go sideways went sideways in the first thirty days. The seller had one hundred eighty days on the clock to close on a replacement. They…
Most 1031 exchanges follow a simple sequence: sell the relinquished property first, then identify and close on a replacement within 45 and 180 days. But the IRS also allows a…
Analyze, underwrite, and close LA multifamily deals.
Sell vs. refinance, hold vs. sell, and other trade-offs.
The state of LA multifamily, submarket-by-submarket.
Most LA multifamily owners think "LA rent control" means one thing. It doesn't. There are at least nine different rent control regimes operating across LA County, each with its…
LA multifamily in 2026 is a tale of two asset classes. The first is firming up. The second is repricing. Understanding which one you own is the first question every seller…
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