Selling a Rental Property in Long Beach

The Statewide Rent Cap Still Applies, Even Without a Local One

Long Beach hasn’t adopted its own rent control ordinance, but that doesn’t mean rents on covered units are unlimited. Civil Code 1947.12, enacted by AB 1482, caps annual rent increases statewide at 5% plus the local Consumer Price Index change, up to a maximum of 10%. For the Los Angeles metro region, that cap is currently set at 8.7% (a 5% base plus a 3.7% CPI adjustment), effective August 1, 2026, for most units built more than 15 years ago that aren’t otherwise exempt. If you’ve been holding a Long Beach rental and weighing whether to keep raising rent or sell, that statewide ceiling is worth factoring into the math either way.

What Long-Held Rentals Carry on the Tax Side

A rental property you’ve owned for years, particularly one in an older neighborhood like Bixby Knolls or California Heights where purchase prices decades ago were a fraction of current value, usually comes with meaningful depreciation recapture and capital gains exposure on sale. Some owners use a 1031 exchange to roll proceeds into another investment property and defer that tax bill; others simply sell and account for the liability with their CPA. Either way, that’s a conversation to have with a tax professional before you sign anything, since the numbers change what a given offer is actually worth to you after tax.

Occupied or Vacant: Your Buyer Pool Changes

List a tenant-occupied rental on the open market and the buyer pool shrinks fast — most retail buyers using financing want to move in themselves, and lenders on owner-occupant loans often require the property be delivered vacant. That leaves cash and investor buyers as the realistic market for an occupied rental, which is exactly the buyer type we are. We evaluate the property with the tenant and lease in place, so you’re not stuck choosing between an expensive, disruptive turnover and an artificially narrow buyer pool.

What We Look At in a Long Beach Rental

Beyond condition, we look at the rent roll against current market rent, deferred maintenance postponed year over year, and permit history — older multi-family buildings in Long Beach, especially converted duplexes and triplexes in the historic bungalow-court neighborhoods, sometimes carry unpermitted units or additions from decades of ownership changes. None of that disqualifies a property from a cash offer; it just factors into the number, and we’re upfront about how.

Long Beach’s Rental Stock Isn’t One Market

A single-family rental near Belmont Shore, a small multi-unit building in a Cambodia Town-adjacent neighborhood, and an inland duplex near the 710 corridor can all be governed by different practical realities even under the same citywide ordinance — different tenant turnover rates, different insurance costs given proximity to the coast, and different buyer appetite depending on whether the unit mix is legally conforming. If you own more than one Long Beach rental and are thinking about exiting the whole portfolio rather than one property at a time, we evaluate each address individually but can structure closings to happen together on one timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sell my rental with tenants still living there?
Yes, that’s the most common way we buy rental property — the lease and tenant simply continue under new ownership.

Will I owe capital gains tax on the sale?
Likely, especially on a property held for years with significant appreciation. Talk to a CPA about your specific basis, depreciation recapture, and whether a 1031 exchange makes sense for you.

Does the statewide rent cap limit what I can charge before I sell?
For most covered units, yes — annual increases are capped under Civil Code 1947.12, currently 8.7% in the LA metro region effective August 1, 2026, even though Long Beach has no local rent control of its own.

What if the property has unpermitted units?
We factor that into our evaluation rather than walking away. A traditional buyer’s lender often won’t.

Can I sell more than one rental property at once?
Yes, we regularly work with owners exiting a small portfolio and can coordinate multiple closings on a single timeline.

This page is for general information only and is not legal or tax advice; consult a CPA or real estate attorney about your specific rental property and tax situation.

Get a written offer on your Long Beach rental within 24 to 48 hours, occupied or vacant, with no showings and no repairs required.