Selling a residential portfolio: what the price really depends on

What buyers look at first

The rent roll, and not its total. Its structure: how many units sit how far below market, what fluctuation looked like over three years, how many leases are indexed or stepped. Every buyer builds a reversion model from that, and the model sets the price.

Deferred maintenance comes next. A technical report with a credible ten-year CapEx forecast removes the buyer's strongest argument for a discount. Without it, he prices the worst case and deducts it.

• Rent roll consistent, current, lease type shown per unit
• Modernisation surcharges documented and correctly applied
• Vacancy split into fluctuation, refurbishment and structural vacancy

Value drivers you can still capture before a sale

Twelve months of lead time achieves a surprising amount. Push through rent increases to the local comparable level, finish part-completed modernisations, re-let vacant units before marketing rather than selling them as potential. Potential is always bought at a discount; realised rent is paid at the full multiple.

Service-charge reconciliations are the underrated item. Three clean years shorten due diligence noticeably. Missing years end in a retention discussion.

Structure and buyer universe

Above roughly EUR 30m the market splits: institutional holders, family offices with a long horizon and unit-by-unit sellers all price differently. The last group pays most but depends on financing conditions and local rules — conversion restrictions cut them out of the bidder group in many locations.

We therefore approach all three groups in parallel and let the market decide rather than committing to one buyer type upfront.