Martin Beck has been specializing in multi-family real estate for the past five years (out of the ten that he’s been with Major Properties).

As most of us are aware, Los Angeles housing is incredibly limited these days. Finding a multi-family property for sale is very competitive, especially one in a good location and priced realistically.

Yet that’s exactly what Marty found himself with back in February. The 22-unit apartment complex had two drawbacks though: it was rent controlled and 100% occupied. However, even though rent control can affect the income of a property on a long-term basis, this wasn’t a deterrent; buyers are still willing to buy rent-controlled buildings at low cap rates and, of course, at good locations.

Marty’s listing caught like wildfire to prospective buyers, who became aware of the listing primarily through a Major Properties email campaign. The hot location, just east of booming Koreatown, was quickly scooped up by a Los Angeles investor aware of the multi-family property drought for $4,250,000.

 

The buyer was well-qualified and owns multiple buildings throughout LA. He was very direct in his goal to acquire good quality apartment units with long-term value. He saw the opportunity and called Marty directly. Their transaction was flexible and straightforward, as that is Marty’s style.

Currently, in the Downtown Los Angeles market, there are 150 mixed-use development projects under construction, with many more in the planning stages. The same holds true for greater Los Angeles, where condos, apartments and affordable housing projects are in the queue to provide living space for the continuing influx of people moving to the sunshine state. California was just ranked the 5th largest economy in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom.

As Major Properties apartment expert, Marty suggests that “the multi-family category is the way to go for small to large investors versus single-family residences. If you have a vacancy, it’s not affecting your entire income for that month or even longer period of time. There is far less risk involved.”