Max Berger · Los Angeles Multifamily Broker
Whether it’s your first 1031 exchange or your fifth, we help you sell your apartment building, defer your capital gains, and land the right upleg on time.
to identify your upleg
to close, no extensions
Valuation + net-proceeds & tax-deferral analysis, within 48 hours.
Multifamily sales closed in LA
List-to-close success rate
Apartment Buildings Sold
How the program works
The Max Berger 1031 Exchange Program runs your sale and your replacement purchase as one transaction under IRS Section 1031: 45 days to identify your upleg, 180 days to close, a qualified intermediary holding your funds, and no extensions on either deadline.
Before you list, we model exactly what you’ll keep after all closing costs, including Measure ULA, so your replacement budget is real from day one.
Your upleg criteria are written, and sourcing starts when you list, not when you close, taking the 45-day panic out of your exchange.
We use every slot the IRS allows, a primary and two live backups, so one failed escrow never kills your exchange.
Sale terms, qualified-intermediary coordination, and your purchase through funding are handled by one team with one point of accountability.
The clock you're racing
The IRS clock starts the day your sale closes and both windows run concurrently. Our program is built to stay ahead of it.
Your downleg funds. The qualified intermediary holds the proceeds, you never touch them.
Three properties named: a primary plus two live backups. Miss this and the exchange fails.
Both escrows managed to secure funding. The full window is 180 days from close; no exceptions.
Exchange strategies we run
Most of our exchange clients stay in apartments, consolidating small buildings into one larger asset, trading into a stronger submarket, or moving into newer construction. We source uplegs from on-market inventory and an off-market owner network built over 75+ LA transactions, with depth in Northeast LA, Hollywood, and South Los Angeles.
The most requested exchange in our practice right now. Pre-1978 City of LA buildings face rent increases capped at 4% annually per the LA Housing Department, while post-1978 product runs under more flexible statewide rules. The 1031 is the cleanest exit: sell the RSO building, defer the full gain, and redeploy into newer product or a non-rent-controlled jurisdiction.
For owners done with California regulation entirely, we run the LA side, the sale, ULA planning, QI coordination, and the deadlines, where most of the risk lives, and coordinate your purchase with vetted brokers in landlord-favorable states. One point of accountability while your capital moves where you want it.
Start to finish
Free valuation plus a net-proceeds and tax-deferral analysis, so you see exactly what the exchange saves versus a straight sale.
We define your ideal replacement property in writing before your building hits the market, so your upleg search commences earlier.
We execute your building sale with ULA-aware pricing and exchange-friendly escrow terms protecting your timeline and net proceeds.
We pair you with an established QI and complete the exchange documentation before your sale closes.
One primary target plus two solid fallbacks, all identified in writing inside your critical 45 days.
We write your offers, underwrite the rent rolls, and manage both escrows to funding inside the 180 days.
Success stories
We sold our Venice Beach multifamily property a few years ago with him about a year ago. The whole process took 42 days, and I was thrilled with how smooth everything went from start to finish. Max Berger and his team were incredible throughout, tough, thoughtful negotiators, all while staying professional and moving forward.
I had a great experience working with Max Berger. I live a San Fransisco and he helped me sell an inherited multifamily property in Echo Park and made the entire process smooth from start to finish. He delivered exactly what he promised and achieved the pricing he told me he could get. I truly appreciate his honesty, professionalism.
Max Berger executed the sale and 1031 exchange of my apartment building to perfection. There were a couple of times during escrow when the deal began to go sideways and looked like it wasn't going to close. I thankfully do not own anymore apartments in Los Angeles but if I did, i would absolutely use Max again to represent me.
About three years ago, we hired Max Berger to sell one of our three apartment buildings in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. He got exactly what we were asking for, quickly, and handled everything very professionally. He sold both buildings in the same professional manner. I would definitely recommend Max Berger!
Max Berger handled the sale of my apartment building in Century City. Max handled them all very well and with a very positive attitude. Max worked very hard to make sure that the property closed even though there were so many problems that we ran into. I would recommend Max Berger for anyone who wants to buy or sell property in LA County.
Los Angeles multifamily market data
Median price per unit, LA submarkets
Median Cap Rate Across Submarket
Median Days On Active Market
Multifamily sales, trailing 12 months
Data: CoStar, multifamily 5+ units.
FAQs
No. The exchange defers capital gains tax, but ULA is a transfer tax due at closing regardless of where your proceeds go. We budget it into your replacement math from day one.
Per the IRS: 45 days from your sale closing to identify replacement property in writing, and 180 days total to close on it. Both clocks run concurrently and neither can be extended.
Yes. Any proceeds you keep, called boot, are taxable in the year of sale, while the reinvested balance still qualifies for deferral. We model the tax cost of any cash-out before you commit.
Yes. Section 1031 covers like-kind investment real estate anywhere in the United States, and out-of-state trades are a growing share of our exchange practice.
If it happens inside your 45-day window, we move to your backup identifications, which is why we always identify three properties. After day 45, you can only close on what you identified, so the backups are your insurance.
Free · No obligation
I’m Max Berger, a multifamily broker at Compass in Los Angeles. Every exchange in this program starts with two numbers: what your building is worth today, and what you’ll actually have to reinvest after every tax and cost.
Get your free property valuation. Max responds personally.
