Selling an Apartment Building in Glendale

Selling an apartment building requires property-specific pricing, complete operating records, focused marketing, and careful negotiation through due diligence and closing.

What the Sale Process Covers

  • Property-specific valuation and pricing
  • Offering materials based on verified operating records
  • Direct outreach and marketplace exposure
  • Written comparison of price and material offer terms
  • Due diligence and closing coordination

Glendale: What Sellers Should Know

Glendale is an independent city, so Los Angeles rent stabilization and Measure ULA do not apply. Its multifamily properties range from downtown apartment buildings to lower-density residential complexes.

The Rental Rights Program, in Chapter 9.30 of the Glendale Municipal Code, covers parcels with three or more units. Its obligations pass to a buyer, because the code treats a successor owner as the landlord.

Local Rules That Affect a Sale in Glendale

Rent increases

  • There is no hard local cap. An increase of more than 7% within 12 months lets the tenant choose to move out and receive relocation equal to three times the new rent, doubled for a qualified tenant.
  • That rule does not apply to units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995.
  • The state AB 1482 cap still applies to covered units, at 8.7% for increases beginning August 1, 2026. Rent can be set at market for a new tenancy.

Banked increases

  • Unused increases under the 7% threshold can be banked for up to three years, to a maximum of 21%. When banked increases are used, relocation is triggered above 15%.
  • Banking runs with the land, so it transfers to a new owner.

Just cause and relocation

  • Terminations require one of twelve just-cause grounds.
  • No-fault relocation is three times the greater of current rent or the federal Fair Market Rent, plus $2,000, and is doubled for qualified tenants.
  • Landlords must offer a written one-year lease to prospective tenants and at rent increases. Parcels with four or fewer units are exempt from the lease-offer rule.

Transfer tax

  • Glendale's city transfer tax is the standard half-rate that is credited against the county tax, so the combined rate is $1.10 per $1,000 of price.
  • There is no tiered or "mansion" tax.

Seismic retrofit

  • Glendale had not adopted a mandatory soft-story ordinance as of May 18, 2026, when the city's Building Official publicly urged the council to adopt one.
  • Buyers may still ask about ground-floor parking and price in a future requirement.

What Buyers Will Ask For

  • The rent increase history for each unit over the past three years, which determines the banked amount
  • Copies of leases and of the one-year lease offers made to tenants
  • A rent roll with move-in dates and current rents
  • Certificate of occupancy dates, because of the February 1, 1995 cutoff
  • Any relocation payments made or owed, and twelve months of income and expense records

Review the apartment building valuation methodology used to compare income, expenses, comparable sales, current competition, condition, and regulatory status before a pricing recommendation is made.