We Buy Small Multifamily Properties for Cash

Commercial underwriting changes the buyer pool

A five-plus-unit building is underwritten on its income. Lenders look at actual collected rent, expenses, and a debt service coverage ratio, and they discount optimistic numbers. A building with high vacancy, tenants in arrears, or major deferred capital items may not support a loan at all, which shrinks the buyer pool to cash.

That is why small multifamily properties sit. The owner knows what the building could produce; a lender only funds what it does produce.

What we review

• The actual rent roll, unit by unit, with payment history
• Leases, renewals, and any subsidised tenancies
• Security deposits held and how they are accounted for
• Vacancy, down units, and units taken out of service
• Roof, foundation, plumbing stacks, electrical service, and boilers
• Deferred capital items and any engineering reports
• Code cases, open permits, fire marshal orders, and municipal liens
• Zoning and legal unit count, especially where units were added over time

Legal unit count is worth checking

Buildings accumulate units. A basement apartment, a converted attic, a unit carved out of common space — all of it can be unpermitted, which affects legal use, insurance, and a lender's view of the property. Occasionally the legal count is lower than the actual count, and that is a material fact.

We buy in that situation. You do not have to legalise or remove anything first, but tell us what you know so the number holds.

How the sale works

Leases and deposits transfer at closing, so the tenancies continue and no evictions are needed. There is no appraisal contingency and no lender conditions to satisfy.

Bring the rent roll, the leases, the deposit ledger, and any recent inspection or engineering reports. A rent roll that turns out to be aspirational is the single most common reason a multifamily purchase gets renegotiated late, and we would rather price the real one.

Frequently asked questions