NYC building owners: sell or refinance? Learn the key drivers—loan maturity, rent status, violations/liens—and how to stop buyers reopening price.
Here’s the Smarter Way to Decide (and Protect Your Price)
If you own a NYC multifamily or mixed-use building, “Sell vs. Refi” isn’t a philosophical question—it’s a timing + leverage + paperwork question.
The owners who get the best outcomes usually do two things early:
- They check the loan clock, and
- They remove gray areas upfront—because gray areas become buyer (or lender) leverage.
Below is the exact framework I use with owners to decide whether selling or refinancing is the smarter move this year.
1) Start Here: When Does Your Loan Mature?
0–18 months changes everything.
If your debt matures within the next year and a half, you’re not just making a “financial” decision—you’re managing optionality.
Why maturity timing matters:
- Lenders get stricter as maturity approaches.
- DSCR / stress tests / reserves can change refi proceeds dramatically.
- If you wait too long, you may lose the ability to choose your path calmly (refi on your terms vs. sell under pressure).
Rule of thumb:
If you’re inside 0–18 months, you should run Sell vs. Refi as a formal underwriting exercise—not a guess.
2) Free Market vs. Stabilized / Mixed: Options vs. Paperwork
This is where NYC is different.
Free market buildings = more flexibility.
More flexibility usually means more lender options, smoother diligence, and fewer “unknowns.”
Stabilized or mixed buildings = paperwork equals value.
Not because rent-stabilized is bad, because certainty is everything.
Rent-status certainty drives price because:
- buyers’ price uncertainty as risk,
- risk becomes a discount, and
- discounts show up late as “we found something” price reopeners.
Clean rent-status documentation isn’t administrative—it’s financial.
It protects value.
3) The Hidden Price Killer: “Gray Areas” (and How to Remove Them)
In NYC, buyers don’t just underwrite NOI—they underwrite risk.
Gray areas commonly include:
- unclear rent-status / missing DHCR history,
- arrears and tenant litigation,
- HPD / DOB / ECB open items,
- property tax delinquencies or liens,
- inconsistent financials (non-itemized expenses, cash gaps, “trust me” numbers),
- title noise / prior claims / unresolved issues.
Here’s the core principle:
Remove gray areas upfront—and you remove the buyer’s leverage to reopen price.
When you give a buyer clean facts, you reduce their ability to “re-underwrite” the deal midstream.
4) What Is a “Re-Trade” (and Why Owners Hate Them)?
A re-trade is when a buyer agrees to a price, then later tries to reopen the economics—usually after diligence—by asking for a reduction or new concessions.
Common re-trade tactics:
- “We found something…”
- “Our lender won’t support the price…”
- “We need a credit for X…”
- “Your rent roll doesn’t match the leases…”
- “Violations are worse than expected…”
Sometimes it’s legitimate. Often, it’s leverage.
The best defense is preemptive clarity:
- clean rent-status proof,
- itemized financials,
- known violations + plan,
- lien clarity,
- organized diligence package.
5) Refi Can Be the Smarter Move If…
Refinancing can be the best decision when:
- You have enough DSCR / coverage to refi cleanly,
- The building’s story is stable (occupancy, collections, expenses),
- You want to hold through a value-creation window (lease-up, renovation, rent growth),
- You have clean documentation and predictable compliance risk,
- You want liquidity without triggering a sale process.
But a refi only works if it’s actually financeable on today’s terms.
That’s why we run the numbers, not vibes.
6) Sell Can Be the Smarter Move If…
Selling is often the better decision when:
- You want certainty and a clean exit (timeline matters),
- You’re facing a maturity wall, capex wave, or regulatory risk,
- Your current lender situation is tight (or getting tighter),
- The building has unresolved “gray areas” you’d rather not carry,
- You want to redeploy capital or simplify your life.
And here’s the key:
If you want a clean sale at a strong price, you need to remove leverage points early.
That means: organized diligence, rent-status certainty, lien clarity, and a controlled buyer process.
7) The “Smarter Move” is the One That Preserves Leverage
The real mistake isn’t choosing sell or refi.
The real mistake is waiting until a lender, buyer, or timeline forces the decision—because forced decisions come with discounts.
If you run Sell vs. Refi early, you:
- choose your timing,
- choose your structure,
- control your narrative,
- and protect your price.
Want Me to Run Your Sell vs. Refi Snapshot?
If you’re a NYC multifamily or mixed-use owner and you’re considering a move this year, I’ll run a confidential Sell vs. Refi snapshot so you can see the best path clearly.
You’ll get:
- a loan maturity + timing read,
- a quick sell value range (as-is vs. cleaned-up),
- a refinance reality check,
- the top “gray areas” to fix first,
- and a recommended action plan.
If selling is the best move, we’ll discuss doing it the right way:
tight process, clean diligence, controlled buyer access—and an exclusive that protects you.
Reply through the site contact form or DM me “SELL OR REFI” and I’ll send the checklist.
Andrew Lichtenstein
LichtensteinRE — The NYC Closing Desk
Multifamily & Mixed-Use • Valuation • Risk • Closings