Practical guides for small multifamily investors. Permits, taxes, flood zones, debt service, and market-specific research notes.
Indiana trends assessed values every year toward market, but a 2% circuit-breaker cap holds residential rental tax at 2% of gross assessed value. Why that cap is the whole underwriting story in Indianapolis.
St. Louis City and St. Louis County are separate taxing jurisdictions with different rates, and Missouri reassesses multifamily at a 19% ratio every odd year. The St. Louis-specific items to model before you bid.
Kansas City straddles Missouri and Kansas, and the two states assess and tax multifamily very differently. Add Jackson County's 2023 reassessment turmoil, and here's what buyers must model before bidding.
Montgomery County runs some of Ohio's highest effective property tax rates, near 3.1%, on some of its lowest-priced multifamily. Why the tax rate, not the purchase price, decides whether a Dayton deal pencils.
Lucas County taxes 35% of appraised value and does not reset on sale, and Toledo's low per-door pricing hides real operating and capital risk. What multifamily buyers should model before bidding.
Hamilton County taxes 35% of appraised value, does not reset on sale, and recently reappraised. Add older hillside buildings and rental registration, and here's what Cincinnati multifamily buyers should model.
Cuyahoga County's 2024 reappraisal raised residential values about 32%, and many Cleveland-area cities require a point-of-sale inspection before a transfer closes. The two Cleveland-specific items that catch buyers.
Franklin County's 2023 reappraisal raised home values an average of 41%. Ohio taxes 35% of appraised value and does not reset on sale, but HB920 only partly offsets the jump. What Columbus multifamily buyers should model.
Memphis apartments are assessed at Tennessee's 40% commercial ratio, and the City of Memphis plus Shelby County levies push the effective rate above 2%. The Memphis-specific items to model before you bid.
Tennessee assesses 5-plus-unit apartments at the 40% commercial ratio, reappraises Davidson County on a cycle, and does not reset on sale. The Nashville-specific tax mechanics to model before you bid.
Nevada assesses on depreciated replacement cost, caps annual tax increases, and does not reset to your purchase price on sale. How Clark County's system changes multifamily underwriting in Las Vegas.
Colorado reassesses every two years, does not reset your value on sale, and keeps changing the residential assessment rate by statute. Plus the metro districts that add a hidden tax line in newer Denver suburbs.
Oklahoma's 5% assessment cap makes a long-held Tulsa seller's taxes look low, then resets to market value the year you buy. How to underwrite Tulsa multifamily around the reset and Tornado Alley insurance.
Oklahoma caps annual assessment growth at 5%, so a long-held seller's tax bill is artificially low, and it resets to full market value on sale. Why the OKC broker tax line badly understates your year-1 cost.
El Paso runs an effective property tax rate near 2.64%, among the highest in Texas, and the EPISD-vs-Socorro district line changes the number. What to model before you bid on El Paso multifamily.
Travis County reassesses every year and your sale resets the bill, while a record apartment supply wave has softened rents. Underwrite Austin with aggressive taxes and conservative rents.
Bexar County reappraises every year, the SAISD tax stack runs about 2.44%, and your sale price becomes next year's assessment. The San Antonio-specific items to model before you bid.
Twelve things to check before you submit an offer on an apartment building. Public-records-based research that catches what brokers don't disclose and lenders don't bother checking.
The current tax bill on the OM is for the current owner, not for you. Here's how to model the post-sale tax bump in TX, FL, AZ, NC, PA, and other multifamily markets, with worked examples.
Brokers love to advertise 'fully renovated' apartment buildings. Here's how to find out what was actually permitted, and what the seller skipped, before you make an offer.
Miami-Dade has the highest insurance premiums and the most complex regulatory environment of any US multifamily market. Surfside changed everything. Here's how the local rules shape pre-offer underwriting.
Philadelphia multifamily underwriting is unique within Pennsylvania. OPA annual reassessment, L&I rental licensing, ROW certificate, and the 10-year tax abatement program all shape the deal differently than the rest of PA.
Fulton, DeKalb, and Cobb each operate differently on assessments and appeals. The Atlanta-specific items that should drive your pre-offer underwriting, from the property tax appeal freeze to the BeltLine submarket effect.
Houston has the same aggressive Texas property tax reassessment as Dallas, plus the largest floodplain exposure of any major US multifamily market and a deed-restriction system that fills in for the lack of zoning.
Annual reassessment, no income tax, aggressive DCAD after sale, and MUDs in the suburbs. The DFW-specific pre-offer underwriting items that matter most.
Mecklenburg County reappraises every 4 years and your purchase doesn't trigger a reassessment. Here's how to model Charlotte multifamily underwriting around the reappraisal cycle, plus the per-unit solid waste fee that catches buyers off-guard.
Arizona's Limited Property Value system caps annual assessment growth at 5%, which makes Phoenix multifamily underwriting fundamentally different from Texas or Florida. Here's how to model it correctly.
Tampa Bay multifamily underwriting in 2026 is dominated by post-hurricane insurance pricing. Florida's 10% non-homestead assessment cap creates a structural tax escalator. Here's how to model both correctly.
DSCR and debt service stress testing for small multifamily. How to model rate and LTV scenarios pre-offer, what your lender actually wants to see, and the breakeven occupancy that tells you whether the deal really works.
Orlando multifamily underwriting differs from coastal Florida in important ways. Lower hurricane exposure than Tampa or Miami, but the tourism economy concentrates risk in specific submarkets. This is the local context that matters.
Jacksonville offers many of Florida's cash-flow advantages with materially lower hurricane and insurance exposure than South Florida. The Duval-specific underwriting items that matter.
Raleigh multifamily sits in one of the strongest US white-collar growth markets, with Wake County's 4-year reappraisal cycle defining the tax math. Here's what to check before bidding.
FEMA flood zone designation drives your insurance cost, your buyer pool at exit, and in some cases whether a lender will even close. Here's how to check, what the zones mean, and what to do with the result.
Durham County operates on its own reappraisal cycle, separate from Wake. The local pre-offer items that distinguish Durham underwriting from Raleigh, even within the same metro.
Louisville is one of the most cash-flow-friendly multifamily markets in the US, but Kentucky's quadrennial tax cycle and the consolidated Jefferson County government create local underwriting quirks. Here's what to check.
Lexington multifamily is a stable, university-anchored cash-flow market with modest growth and a few local quirks worth knowing before bidding.