Los Angeles Seller Exits Texas With Double Trade

The 37-unit Cambridge Terrace Apartments at 701 E. Rogers St. was listed at $875,000 and traded for $885,000 while the 57-apartment Wilshire Manor at 1736 W. Randol Mill Rd. was marketed at $1.51 million and brought slightly more than $1.59 million, Scott Lamontagne with Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Brokerage Co. tells GlobeSt.com. The seller is a Los Angeles attorney who bought the properties a couple years ago and sold both as under-performers in their respective pockets of the city, he adds. Both complexes, set to be managed by their new owners, were on the market less than two weeks.

A Fort Worth investor, climbing the investment ladder with a larger property, picked up the 86%-leased Cambridge, which sits right at the edge of the city's line for eminent domain claims for the Dallas Cowboys' stadium project. Lamontagne says four would-be buyers bid up the listing beyond the ask in hope of securing a complex with upside in vacancy, rent and location. Units average 679 sf for a mix of 23 one- and 14 two-bedrooms. Rents average $498 per month.

The 91%-leased Wilshire Manor sold for more than its list due to repair credits embedded in the sale, according to Lamontagne. He says the acquisition is the first commercial asset for the Arlington buyer, who made the close with an escrow holdback for pool repairs and the going-forward plan. The property, chased by five potential buyers, has upside with improved management, he adds. The efficiencies and one- and two-bedroom units average 932 sf. Monthly rents run 68 cents per sf, on average, or $636 per month.

"Arlington always creates a tremendous amount of demand," Lamontagne says. "If it's priced right, oftentimes we'll get it under contract above the list price."