"This was a very fair deal in today's market," says Jared Levine, an investment consultant with Re/max Commercial Brokers in Woodland Hills, CA, who represented the seller. "We had a real buyer and a real seller who worked together. Both the buyer and seller were realistic in terms of price."

According to Levine, getting the buyer and seller to agree on price is one of the toughest issues facing brokers in today's market. "Volume has decreased significantly," he tells GlobeSt.com. "But even where sales are possible, many sellers till try to hold out for yesterday's prices." Many buyers, on the other hand, are looking for bargain-basement pricing that is not justified by the quality of the asset, he adds.

One of the buildings is 40 years old and the other 45, but Levine says both have been consistently maintained. He says the property's strong rental location, good frontage and desirable unit mix helped smooth the transaction. The deal, which closed escrow in 100 days, had a 6% cap rate and a gross rent multiplier of 9.8. It was 98% occupied at the time of sale, and the broker says the buyer plans no significant improvements.