Multifamily property in Central Florida
Multifamily in our market runs from a fourplex a block off the beach to a garden community on the mainland to the riverfront assemblage a 294-unit building is going up on. We work in both directions: selling stabilized and value-add buildings for the private owners and partnerships that hold most of the small and mid-size inventory in Volusia and Flagler, and sourcing the land — entitled parcels and assemblages — that the next communities are built on. In downtown Daytona Beach, the principals’ work includes the ±3.5-acre riverfront land assemblage at 400 Beach St, acquired by Framework Group for a 294-unit apartment community.
The buyer for a twelve-unit building and the buyer for a two-hundred-unit community are different people, and the offering memorandum, the outreach and the negotiation are built for the one who will actually close. What does not change is the underwriting: the rent roll, the expenses a new owner will really carry, the capital the building needs and the value of the land under it.
Who we represent
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Owners, partnerships and estates
Families and partnerships selling a building they have held for years, estates and trusts that need a documented price and a clean process, and owners of older beachside and mainland buildings deciding between a sale and a renovation. The work is a broker opinion of value on the buyer’s numbers, an offering memorandum and confidential outreach.
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Investors, exchangers and developers
Private investors buying stabilized or value-add multifamily, 1031 exchange buyers moving from land or a net-lease property into apartments, and developers looking for entitled sites and assemblages for apartments and build-to-rent communities. We source on and off market, underwrite, and manage due diligence to closing.
What drives value
Apartment buyers price the income first, then the cost of keeping it, then the real estate:
- Rents in place against the market. The rent roll, unit by unit, against what comparable units in the submarket collect today, and the turnover history that shows whether those rents hold.
- Expenses a buyer will actually carry. Property taxes reset at the sale price, insurance at this year’s quotes, management, payroll, utilities and a capital reserve — not last year’s bills.
- Condition and capital items. Roofs, plumbing and electrical, windows, HVAC, parking and the cost of the renovation a value-add buyer is underwriting.
- Location and supply. Drive time to the employers and the coast, the schools, and what is delivering in the same submarket over the next two years.
For sites, the drivers are the land drivers: what density the zoning and future land use allow, utility capacity, impact fees, stormwater, and the absorption a developer can expect at the rents the submarket supports. Our land practice handles that analysis.
How we work
- Broker opinion of value Price per unit and cap rate from closed sales of comparable buildings, on net operating income after the expenses a buyer will carry. Not an appraisal, and it may not be relied upon as one (s. 475.612, Fla. Stat.).
- Offering memorandum Rent roll, trailing twelve months, unit mix and floor plans, capital history, site plan, survey, zoning, photographs and the submarket data a buyer’s lender will ask for — assembled before the property goes to market and released under confidentiality.
- Buyer outreach Private investors, exchange buyers on a deadline, regional operators and developers, contacted directly, with a public listing where it serves the seller.
- Offers and negotiation Offers compared on price, deposit, contingencies, financing and ability to perform. Letter of intent and purchase contract negotiated with your attorney.
- Due diligence and closing Unit inspections, financial audit against the bank statements, survey, title, environmental, insurance binding and financing, on a calendar we manage to the closing table.
What we analyze
- Rent roll, unit mix and rents in place against the submarket
- Trailing twelve months and collections history
- Property taxes at reassessment and current insurance quotes
- Management, payroll and utility structure
- Capital items: roofs, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, windows, parking
- Occupancy and turnover history
- Comparable sales per unit and cap rates in the submarket
- New supply delivering in the same submarket
- Flood zone, wind-mitigation features and insurability
- For sites: zoning, density, utilities, impact fees and absorption
Central Florida context
Apartment demand follows population and jobs. The items below are from public sources; each carries its source and date.
- Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford added 37,690 residents between July 2024 and July 2025, the tenth-largest numeric gain among U.S. metros.U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates, March 26, 2026.
- Volusia County grew 9.2% from the 2020 Census to April 1, 2025 (553,543 to 604,533); Flagler County grew 22.0%.University of Florida BEBR, Florida Estimates of Population 2025.
- 400 Beach, downtown Daytona Beach: a 6-story, roughly 294-unit apartment building on 3.5 acres on the Halifax River by Framework Group; construction began in 2024 and the community is now scheduled to open in early 2027.Hometown News Volusia, August 1, 2024; opening date per the community’s website, accessed September 2026.
- Triton Cay – Daytona, 242 units on the oceanfront at 1216 N Atlantic Ave, opened January 9, 2025.Hometown News Volusia, January 2, 2025.
Questions we hear
How are apartment buildings priced?
Two ways at once: a price per unit against recent sales of comparable buildings, and a cap rate on net operating income after the expenses a buyer will actually carry. The most common gap between a seller’s pro forma and a buyer’s underwriting is on the expense side — property taxes reset at the sale price, and the insurance premium is whatever the market quotes this year, not what the current owner has been paying. The broker opinion of value uses the buyer’s numbers so the price holds up in due diligence.
What is build-to-rent, and do you sell sites for it?
Build-to-rent is a community of single-family homes or townhomes built to be operated as rentals under one owner, rather than sold to individual buyers. Developers underwrite the land the way a homebuilder does — zoning, density, utilities, impact fees, lot yield — and then the finished community as an apartment investor would. We sell entitled land and assemblages for these communities through our land practice, and Drake Dickerson spent nearly five years acquiring land for national homebuilders before joining the firm.
Can you sell my building without the residents knowing?
Yes. Multifamily is routinely sold off-market or under confidentiality, with the rent roll and financials released only to qualified buyers who have signed an agreement, and inspections scheduled with the manager so they read as routine. Nothing changes for residents until closing, and how the new owner introduces itself is up to them.
Do you handle small multifamily — a duplex, a fourplex, a twelve-unit building?
Yes, when it is bought or sold as an investment on its income. Small multifamily trades on the same rent roll, expense and comparable-sale analysis as a larger community, just with fewer line items. Single-family homes and residential condominiums, including those bought as rentals, are handled through the brokerage’s residential side, Oceans Luxury Realty.
I am exchanging out of land into apartments. How does that work?
Land and an apartment building are both real property, so they are like-kind for a 1031 exchange. The two clocks start when your land sale closes: 45 days to identify replacement property and 180 days to close on it. We begin sourcing multifamily replacement property before your sale closes so the identification list is real, and we coordinate the calendar with your qualified intermediary and CPA. We are not a qualified intermediary, and an exchange defers tax; it does not eliminate it.
Educational information only — not tax, legal or investment advice. A broker opinion of value is not an appraisal. Lifestyle Group and Oceans Commercial are not qualified intermediaries and do not offer or sell securities; a 1031 exchange defers tax, it does not eliminate it. Consult your own tax advisor, attorney and qualified intermediary.