Selling an Apartment Building in Pasadena

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

Pasadena: What Sellers Should Know

Pasadena is an independent charter city. Measure H, now Article XVIII of the city charter, created rent control and just-cause protections administered by the Pasadena Rental Housing Board. Los Angeles rent rules and Measure ULA do not apply.

A sale does not end a tenancy here. The city states that a sale or change of ownership is not just cause for eviction, so buyers underwrite a Pasadena building with its tenants in place.

Local Rules That Affect a Sale in Pasadena

Rent control under Measure H

  • Covers multi-unit properties built before February 1, 1995. Condominiums, single-family homes and newer units are exempt from the rent cap.
  • The annual increase is 2.5% for October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The formula is 75% of the change in the Los Angeles-area CPI. One increase is allowed per 12 months, with no banking.
  • For tenancies that began on or before May 17, 2021, the base rent is the rent on that date. A new tenancy can start at any rent.

Rental registry

  • Covered units must be registered every year. The fee is $236.54 per unit for fiscal year 2026-27 and cannot be passed on to tenants.
  • No rent increase is allowed on a unit that is unregistered or has an unpaid fee.
  • A new owner must register or update the registry within 30 days of a change of ownership.

Just cause, relocation and buyouts

  • Just-cause protections apply to nearly all rentals, including condominiums and single-family homes.
  • No-fault terminations require a Notice of Intent filed at least 30 days before the notice is served. For October 2026 through September 2027, relocation is $7,935 to $25,833 depending on unit size and length of tenancy, plus a moving allowance.
  • Tenant buyout agreements require the Board's disclosure form and give the tenant 45 days to cancel.

Transfer tax

  • Pasadena'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.

Soft-story retrofit, inspections and historic review

  • The soft-story ordinance covers wood-frame buildings permitted on or before November 12, 1976 with soft, weak or open-front ground floors. Parcels with four or fewer units are excluded.
  • Notices went out between December 2019 and March 2021, with construction due seven years after notice. That puts completion deadlines between December 2026 and March 2028.
  • Rental properties with three or more units are inspected every four years, and major alterations to historic resources or buildings in landmark districts go through historic review.

What Buyers Will Ask For

  • Rental registry status and proof the annual fee is paid for every covered unit
  • Base rent history for each unit back to May 17, 2021
  • The soft-story notice and the status of plans, permits and construction
  • The most recent quadrennial inspection record
  • Any buyout agreements, termination notices or Notices of Intent filed with the city
  • Whether the building is a designated historic resource or in a landmark district

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.