DENVER-Jim Lorenzen and Greg Johnson of Cornerstone Apartment Services Inc. recently sold the Alpine Chalet Apartments at 2930 W. Cornell Ave. Lorenzen and Johnson represented both Peter Burness, the Los Angeles-based buyer, and the sellers, Peter and Jacquelline Schneider, of Redding, CA.

Burness paid $1.03 million, or $57,333 per unit. Although a relatively small deal, it was a 12-month project. The Schneiders first contacted Cornerstone in January 2005 to take over the property management and prepare the property for sale.

"We were able to address the deferred maintenance issues and highlight the strengths of the property," Johnson tells GlobeSt.com. "Cornerstone filled the vacancies, stabilized the property, and then pushed through a rent increase to improve financial performance."

The time upfront to get to know the property and improve it, paid off, Lorenzen tells GlobeSt.com. "Very often, properties are sold at a discount because of their problems," Lorenzen says. "We were able to address those problems before marketing the building, and that resulted in a full-price offer for the seller."