On the multifamily report card, Bs and Cs mean top marks. That's why Arbors of Arlington and Trinity Oaks, two lower-tier communities, were able to pull in a plethora of offers and big pricing.

Marcus & Millichap national multi housing group associate director Michael Ware nabbed some big deals in addition to this six-foot sailfish. He's here with MLG Capital’s Craig Lashley on SIMC Management’s George Martin’s boat, Mattiduke, in Isla Mujeres a few weeks back. Michael and M&M colleague Will Jarnigan closed two deals in Arlington (200-unit Arbors of Arlington and the 206-unit Trinity Oaks). The duo also has a 280-unit property under contract in Irving. Arbors is a Class-C value-add and the other two are both Class-B assets. (The fish obviously favors Class Sea.)

Michael says the demand for Class-B and -C assets is fueled by population and job growth (DFW is set to add 113,900 jobs this year and increase payroll 3.6%), which will keep absorption high. That offsets all the new supply (19,000 units) coming and keeps rents on the uptick. Debt is still historically cheap and will likely remain so for some time, he tells us. The duo has seen an influx of new buyers and the unsolicited offers are back: telltale signs of a sellers’ market. Oddly enough, there has been a lull in listing activity for Q1, as many owners are concerned about replacing their existing asset and its cash flow in this competitive market if they sell their properties now, even for a record price, Michael says.

Investors are hungry for deals and need to get money out, so the quality product listing is sold pretty quickly. The Arbors had deferred maintenance (brokered twice previously by other brokers unsuccessfully) and hit its full asking price. Trinity Oaks had 27 property tours and 22 qualified offers. It closed quickly in its predicted strike range, too. The deal under contract is expected to close next month. Michael says he and Will have closed 16 out their last 16 deals with the first buyer selected for contract and have been retraded less than $145k on $79M in product sold in the last 12 months.