JTL Properties LLC was one of 16 offers on the table for the entire portfolio, David Wylie, a vice president with Apartment Realty Advisors' local office, tells GlobeSt.com. Six other investors, he says, made offers on individual properties. He and colleagues Jeffrey L. Patterson and David K. Oelfke marketed the portfolio for the Richmond, VA-based United Dominion. "They're selling their older assets and trading up to newer class A assets," Wylie says.

Industry experts say it's hard to speculate how much JTL Properties paid for the properties since they are located in such disparate submarkets. Comparable assets inside the city line have traded for $35,000 to $40,000 per unit while the Riverway area is getting less than $15,000 per apartment. Sellers in other suburbs are garnering $25,000 to $30,000 per unit for comparable product. Experts familiar with Houston's sales history say the portfolio most likely traded for $35 million to $38 million.

JTL Properties now owns and operates 13 apartment complexes in the region. "JTL Properties likes Houston and the assets," Wylie says. "While the status quo buyers are chasing five caps in other markets, there are deals in Houston--like this one--that actually make sense."

The properties, with occupancies exceeding 90%, rent on average for 80 cents per sf. According to Wylie, the buyer believes the portfolio has upside through entrepreneurial management and rehabbing. He estimates the new owner will spend $2 million to $3 million to reposition the complexes. Possible renovations include parking lot repairs, exterior building and landscaping upgrades and amenity improvements.

Wylie says JTL Properties, paying cash for the portfolio, ran into a bit of trouble in acquiring the portfolio when 12 units burned to the ground two weeks before closing. Insurance and repair work had to be evaluated before the deal could close.

The portfolio consists of the 272-unit Breakers at 8801 Monticello Dr. in Texas City; 90-unit Clear Lake Falls at 15240 Galveston Rd. in Webster; 152-unit Riverway at 1909 Hamman Rd. in Bay City; and the 80-unit Briar Park at 10401 Bammel N., 101-unit Gallery at 6220 Fairdale, 106-unit Nantucket Square at 2218 Place Rebecca Lane and 210-unit Park Trails at 15215 Blue Ash Dr., all in Houston.