Ranco LLC acquired the class C multifamily holdings from San Francisco's Bay Equity. The buyer turned around proceeds from a land sale in the northeast to take the deeds to the 197-unit Ivanhoe Apartments at 8900 Park Lane in Dallas and the 102-unit Sandy Oaks at 1525 Sandy Lane in Fort Worth.

Pete J. Hartnett, vice president of Grubb & Ellis Co.'s multifamily team in Dallas, tells GlobeSt.com that the 31-year-old Ivanhoe complex baited four offers on the first day it came to market to deliver the full list price of $6.1 million to the seller. Its attraction was due in part to its "pristine condition," he says.

Bay Equity bought the property two years ago and used the time to boost occupancy to 99%. The northeast Dallas complex in the Vickery submarket has not been under 97% occupancy for a year. Ivanhoe's developer built the project primarily to provide housing to students at the nearby Dallas Seminary, offering discounted rents then and now. Today, about 40% of its tenants are theology students, according to Hartnett.

The average unit size is 817 sf, bringing in a rent of $561 per month. There are nine efficiencies, 94 one-bedroom units, 88 two-bedroom designs and six three-bedroom apartments.

Hartnett was the sole broker on the deal as was Nita Stewart of CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Dallas office, who sold Bay Equity's Sandy Oaks to Ranco. The 100%-occupied complex, situated in east Fort Worth, has an average unit size of 988 sf and rents for 58 cents per sf.

The 33-year-old Sandy Oaks carried an asking price of $3.6 million. But, Stewart confides, "the offer was aggressive enough to circumvent marketing." It too came without any deferred maintenance. Bay Equity owned Sandy Oaks less than four years.

Stewart says Ranco came looking in North Texas when it needed to satisfy a 1031 Exchange. "They previously owned properties here and they were very comfortable with the market," she says, noting that for now the buying is done.

Steve Whitehead, assistant vice president and producer for Minneapolis-based NorthMarq Capital's Dallas office, arranged about $6.6 million in financing for the double purchase, securing a 10-year loan at 30-year amortization for 5.75% interest.

Seller Bay Equity, who uses Hartnett primarily to broker its Texas deals, has another Dallas-Fort Worth property in escrow and two more on the market, all part of the normal turnover driven by a two- to four-year hold strategy.