Any buyer can give you a number from an address and a unit count. That number is an estimate — and estimates tend to get "adjusted" during inspections, after you've already made plans around the sale. The surest way to get a price that holds is to give the buyer what it takes to underwrite the building properly, before the letter of intent.
Here is what we ask owners for, roughly in order of importance, and why each item matters.
1. The rent roll
A unit-by-unit list: unit number and type, current rent, lease start and end dates, security deposit, and anything unusual — concessions, rent owed, month-to-month tenants, units used by the owner or a manager.
It's the starting point for income. Lease expirations show how quickly rents can move toward market, and deposits matter because they're credited to the buyer at closing.
2. Twelve months of income and expenses
A trailing twelve-month statement — a "T-12" — ideally month by month. If you don't keep one, last year's tax schedule for the property is a good substitute.
The rent roll shows what tenants are supposed to pay. The T-12 shows what was actually collected and what it cost to run the building: utilities the owner pays, repairs, management, insurance and taxes. The gap between the two is often where a price is won or lost.
3. Insurance
The current declarations page — premium, coverages and deductibles — and the building's most recent wind-mitigation inspection, if it has one.
In South Florida, insurance has become one of the largest line items for older buildings. A buyer will price the building at what insurance will cost them. Documented roof, opening protection and wind features can make that number better.
4. The property tax bill
Your current bill is useful, but expect the buyer to estimate taxes after the sale rather than use yours. In Florida, the cap that limits annual assessment increases on non-homestead property resets when ownership changes, so a long-held building is usually reassessed closer to its sale price. That higher tax figure is part of every serious buyer's math — better to see it coming than to be surprised by it.
5. Capital work: what's been done, and what's due
A simple list with dates: roof, plumbing or re-piping, electrical panels and service, windows and impact protection, air conditioning, water heaters, parking and paving — with permits where they exist.
This is the difference between a buyer assuming the worst and a buyer pricing what is actually there.
6. Recertification, permits and violations
Older buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties go through periodic structural and electrical safety recertification. If yours has been through it, or has a deadline coming, have the reports and any letters from the building department ready — along with anything you know about open permits or code cases.
None of these is a reason not to sell. They are things a buyer will find in diligence; sharing them up front means they're priced once, at the start, instead of renegotiated at the end.
7. Leases and contracts
For commercial tenants, the full leases with every amendment. For any building, contracts that would continue after a sale: laundry, cable or internet, maintenance and management agreements.
8. Survey, title and site information
An existing survey or title policy saves time. For properties where the land may be worth more than the building, lot size and zoning details matter as much as the rent roll.
You don't need everything to start
A rent roll and a T-12 are enough for an informed first conversation and a realistic range. The rest firms that range into a number you can rely on. Whatever form your records are in — spreadsheets, bank statements, a shoebox of leases — is fine; part of a buyer's job is to make sense of them.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. For decisions about your sale, talk with your attorney and CPA.