How the number is built
An apartment building is an income stream with a roof on it, and it is priced like one. The model above does four things, in the same order a buyer's lender will:
- Establish the income. Your rents, or market rents for your unit mix and ZIP where I do not have yours, against real occupancy. Not the pro forma. The rent that is actually collected.
- Subtract real Florida expenses. Taxes as they will be reassessed after a sale, roughly 80 percent of the price times your county's millage, not the number on last year's bill. Insurance at what Florida carriers charge now. Management, maintenance, grounds at per-unit costs from operating buildings, not wishes.
- Capitalize what is left. Smaller Florida multifamily generally trades between 7 and 8.5 percent depending on the market tier. The model applies the band your ZIP actually supports, calibrated against recorded closed sales.
- Cross-check per door. If the income answer lands outside the per-door range buildings of your vintage fetch in your market, the model reins it in. A number that ignores what buyers pay per unit is a story, not a valuation.
The full detail, including what the model deliberately does not do, is on the methodology page.
Why most estimates fail at the lender
The most expensive mistake in this market is listing at a number that dies in underwriting. Two lines kill most of them: the tax reassessment that follows every Florida sale, and insurance that has repriced far beyond what long-time owners are paying on legacy policies. A valuation that quietly uses your current tax bill and your current premium produces a price no buyer's debt service can carry. Mine prices the building the way the buyer's bank will, which is why I say the goal is a number that survives the lender, not a number that flatters the seller.
Questions owners ask
How is a Florida apartment building valued?
By its income. Real collected rent, minus real operating expenses at today's costs, divided by the cap rate your market trades at, then checked against price per door from recorded sales. The building is worth what its income supports at a price a lender will finance.
What is price per door?
Sale price divided by units, and the fastest sanity check in multifamily. When the income math and the per-door market disagree, one of the inputs is lying, and the model says so instead of picking the flattering answer.
Why not just use an online estimate?
Because most of them are residential guesses wearing a commercial costume. They do not read your rent roll, they do not reassess your taxes, and they have not met a Florida insurance renewal. The gap between those numbers and closed sales is where deals die.
Is this an appraisal?
No. Under section 475.612(3), Florida Statutes, a broker's opinion of value may never be called an appraisal. If you need one, I will tell you who I would hire.
What does it cost, and what am I committing to?
Nothing, and nothing. The number is yours to keep whether we ever talk. Some owners who run it hire me years later. That trade is the whole business model, and I am happy with it.
More on the numbers behind all of this: how Florida apartment buildings are valued, whether this is the year to sell, and what to do when you are simply done being a landlord.