After the owner of a Brentwood apartment building on Darlington Avenue passed away, a professional trustee was brought in to help the family decide what came next. The beneficiaries were leaning toward selling, and the trustee called us.
Our first advice was to slow down. A building on Darlington in Brentwood, outside rent control, is the kind of property that rarely comes up, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. We wanted the family to understand what they’d be giving up before they made a decision they couldn’t undo.
The trustee appreciated the honesty, but the full picture still pointed toward a sale. The family would get a step-up in basis, which meant selling now carried very little tax cost, and the building needed significant capital work that none of the beneficiaries wanted to take on. Selling was the right call for them, and once they’d made it, our job was to get it done well.
The property drew strong interest. We ran about 15 tours, received seven offers, and went under contract. Then, during due diligence, the buyer found significant water damage inside the building, and the moisture it had caused was more than they were prepared to take on. They walked.
Losing a buyer mid-escrow can stall a sale, but we used what we’d learned. On the second round, we disclosed the water damage up front so no buyer would be surprised. Before accepting any offer, we sat down with each serious buyer and asked how they’d handle the repairs and how they planned to finance the purchase. We weren’t looking for the highest number on paper. We were looking for the buyer who would actually close.
We found one. The buyer came in with no contingencies, and the sale closed cleanly, giving the family a clean finish to an estate that could easily have dragged on.
Transaction Snapshot
- Asset: 9-unit apartment building, Darlington Ave
- Market: Brentwood, Los Angeles
- Ownership: Inherited, sold through trust
- Circumstance: Step-up in basis, significant capital needs
- Interest: ~15 tours, 7 offers
- Outcome: Re-marketed after a failed escrow, closed with no contingencies
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