VALUE NAVIGATOR™ · FREE VALUE RANGE
What is your apartment building worth?
Get a realistic value range, not a guess. Three numbers, built the way a lender, a buyer, and a broker each price the same building, with the assumptions written out. Clarity before you refinance or sell.
- A three-number value range: conservative, base, and optimistic
- A normalized NOI review, the figure buyers and lenders actually price
- A refinance versus sale reality check, with DSCR sensitivity
- The one or two moves that would raise value the most
- An optional 15-minute walkthrough call
Takes about three minutes. Clear next step either way. For owners of small and mid-sized apartment buildings in Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Prepared by Shafiq Hirani, CCIM, MBA, PE, broker in all three.
You are all set, .
Shafiq will review your information and prepare a conservative, base, and optimistic value range built on lender and buyer underwriting standards.
One thing speeds it up. Email your rent roll and trailing 12 months now, or reply to the confirmation when it arrives. Whatever you have is enough to start.
Download the Value Range Worksheet (PDF)Want a number tonight? Run the NOI Quick Check. Want the conversation first? Book the free 15-minute walkthrough.
Who this is for
- Just curious
Understand your baseline and your options before anyone else prices them.
- Refinancing
Avoid surprises before you talk to a lender. The range shows where the haircut lands.
- Considering a sale
Price strategically and plan the timing. Buyers pay for certainty and discount the rest.
Why your building has a range, not a price
A lender applies conservative expense assumptions and asks whether the building still services the loan when things go slightly wrong. A buyer underwrites the upside, what the building becomes in year three. A broker prices off comparable sales and today’s cap rates. All three numbers are defensible.
All three start from the same figure: net operating income. Gross rents of $800,000 with vacancy, normalized expenses, a management fee, and a capital reserve totalling $300,000 leave $500,000 of NOI. At a 5 percent cap rate that is a $10 million building. At 6 percent, $8.33 million. Move either input and the value moves with it.
This is why an automated home-value estimate is meaningless for an apartment building. Those tools price what the house next door sold for. Apartment value is income performance. The full arithmetic is inWhat Is My Apartment Building Worth?and, for DC cap rates and prices per unit by neighborhood,the DC branch.
The haircut, and why your number drops at the lender
A lender or a buyer rebuilds your numbers before pricing them, and normalization almost always reduces income. Five adjustments come up again and again:
- Under-market rents stay at the number on the lease.
- One-time income spikes are stripped out as noise.
- A management fee is added even when you self-manage.
- Understated expenses are corrected upward where maintenance was deferred.
- A capital reserve is funded on paper when yours is low or missing.
One owner saw a loan come back more than $400,000 below expectation for exactly these reasons. Because the gap surfaced early, he improved income first and refinanced six months later in a stronger position. The worksheet you receive on submit runs the same five adjustments on your own building.
Get my value rangeHow it works
- Send what you have
The address and the unit count on this page. Then reply to the confirmation with your rent roll and trailing 12 months, or whatever you have. Imperfect numbers are fine; the range states its confidence.
- Shafiq normalizes NOI and reads the value drivers
Vacancy, a management fee even if you self-manage, reserves, one-time income removed, expenses corrected to what a building like yours costs to run.
- You receive the range and a recommendation
Three numbers, the assumptions behind them, the refinance and sale lens, and the next step the numbers point to: refinance readiness, improve NOI first, prepare for sale, or hold and revisit.
The range is free. So is the walkthrough call. Any engagement after it is scoped and quoted in writing before work starts.
What owners say
I didn't think there was much room to improve, but the Blueprint uncovered six actionable items I'd overlooked for years.
Priya M., Owner, 18-unit boutique buildingOur vacancy days dropped from 32 to 14 after implementing the turn-time system. That alone added $50K annually.
David R., Owner, 64-unit mid-riseBefore working with Shafiq, I had no idea how much we were losing to auto-renewed vendor contracts. Never again.
Sandra K., Owner, 34-unit value-add
What the work produced
Three owners, three buildings, three outcomes, as reported to Shafiq. Names withheld until each owner agrees in writing to be named.
- Rents tripled, NOI roughly quadrupled, building still heldFour-unit apartment building, Washington DC. Owner met through a mailed package, about nine years ago."Doing well" and "performing to potential" are two different things.
- Five offers at one open house, sold at $2.2M with minimal contingenciesTwo connected brownstones a block from Dupont Circle, Washington DC, run for years as a bed-and-breakfast.Price the outcome the owners need, not the building they happen to own.
- Six offers in seven days, above the seller’s own expectation, no contingenciesFour-unit apartment building, Dupont, Washington DC. Owner met through a mailed package.A buyer pays for income he can see, not for flexibility he has to imagine.
Who reads your numbers
Shafiq Hirani advises owners of small and mid-sized apartment buildings in Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland. CCIM, MBA, Professional Engineer, licensed broker in all three, with RE/MAX Distinctive Commercial. He works three problems: raising NOI, positioning for a refinance, and preparing for a sale. The range tells you which one you have.
Frequently asked questions
Is this an appraisal?
No. It is an advisory value range built the way lenders and buyers underwrite, to guide a decision. A formal valuation requires a licensed appraiser or a broker opinion of value prepared for the specific property. Shafiq tells you which of those you need, and when.
Why a range and not one number?
Three parties price the same building three ways. A lender applies conservative expenses and tests debt coverage. A buyer underwrites the upside. A broker prices off comparable sales and current cap rates. All three numbers are defensible, and knowing the range before you call any of them changes how you negotiate.
Do my numbers need to be perfect?
No. Send what you have. The range states its confidence level and names what matters most. A rent roll and the last twelve months of operating statements are enough for a first read; the worksheet on this page shows the arithmetic Shafiq runs on them.
Will you try to sell me something?
You get clarity first. The range comes with a recommended next step, which may be to hold and revisit. Any engagement after that, including a listing, is scoped and quoted in writing before work starts. The first call is free.
The three paths the range points to
Improve NOI first, get refinance-ready, or prepare for a sale. Same review, same underwriting, one advisor.
Know your range before anyone else prices it
Three numbers, the assumptions behind them, and the next step they point to.
Get my value rangeWant a number tonight? Run the free NOI Quick Check.