Looking for a Studio City multifamily broker? Michael Sterman, Senior Managing Director Investments at Marcus & Millichap and founder of the Sterman Multifamily Group, has closed $1.41 billion across 254 Los Angeles apartment building transactions over 14 years — including 3 in Studio City alone. If you own an apartment building in Studio City and are weighing a sale, this is the team that prices it against Studio City's real buyer pool and rules — not a generic LA average.
Studio City is two investment markets separated by Ventura Boulevard. South of Ventura is hillside residential — older courtyard inventory, pre-war and mid-century construction, long-tenure tenants, full LA City RSO exposure on anything pre-1978. North of Ventura, along and through the commercial corridor, inventory skews newer. Mid-rise product from the 1980s and 1990s. Pockets of post-1995 Costa-Hawkins exempt construction. Different buyers. Different underwriting. A Studio City seller's pricing depends more on which side of Ventura the building sits than on the submarket as a whole.
Older residential blocks between Ventura and Mulholland contain the submarket's most regulated inventory. Pre-1978 courtyard buildings carry full LA City RSO exposure, including the December 2025 rewrite effective July 2026. The rent roll structure in south-of-Ventura Studio City is the rent roll structure of long-tenure LA: tenants who moved in in the 1990s and 2000s paying materially below market, in-place-to-market gaps that have compounded for two or three decades, and a regulatory regime that makes closing the gap through allowable increases alone mathematically impractical. The RSO rewrite narrows the path further. Buyers pricing pre-1978 Studio City in 2026 are pricing the widened gap as a durable NOI discount. That is not a theoretical risk — it is showing up in offers this quarter.
Mid-rise product along the corridor and in the newer pockets behind it trades differently. Post-1995 Costa-Hawkins exempt buildings are not covered by LA City RSO. Annual rent adjustments are governed by lease terms, not by municipal caps. Institutional and private equity buyers treat this inventory as the more attractive half of Studio City — and in 2026 they are back at the bidding table aggressively. The mid-1980s to mid-1990s vintage that sits between pre-1978 and Costa-Hawkins exempt is its own third profile. Pre-1978 registration typically doesn't apply, but these buildings often have specific local-ordinance exposure that takes careful documentation to explain to buyers.
Value in Studio City turns on vintage, rent-control status, your in-place rents versus market, and which buyer pool fits your building — not a single neighborhood average. Michael underwrites your specific Studio City building the way a real buyer will, then tells you what it should bring and how to get there. No obligation.
Request a Free Studio City Building Evaluation →On pre-1978 south-of-Ventura: local operators, selective institutional, 1031 exchangers, and family offices with existing Studio City portfolios. The pool is thinner than two years ago. Disciplined underwriting. Quick to walk when diligence surfaces issues. On post-1995 and corridor-adjacent: institutional and private equity on the larger assets. 1031 exchangers on stabilized product. The pool is deeper and more competitive than the pre-1978 pool.
A sample of Studio City apartment buildings Michael Sterman has closed. Each links to the full deal record.
Michael Sterman has spent 14 years specializing exclusively in Los Angeles multifamily, closing 254 transactions worth $1.41 billion. He knows how Studio City buildings are valued, who buys them, and what it takes to get a clean deal closed here. CA DRE License #01911703.
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