A plex sells on its income as much as on its walls. The buyer, whether an investor or a future owner-occupant, looks first at the rents written in the leases, the actual expenses and the condition of the building, then compares the price with similar plexes sold in the area. Preparing these three files before the listing goes on the market is what later lets you defend the price in negotiation, instead of justifying it after the fact.
I bought my own triplex before becoming a broker, to live in it: I live on the ground floor and I rent out the other two units. Before making the offer, I analyzed the rents and expenses, the maintenance history, the work already done and the work still to be done, then the cash flow potential. So when I sell a plex, I prepare the answers to the questions I asked myself as a buyer.
How does a buyer value a plex?
They do two readings, and the sale plays out on the gap between the two.
| Reading | What it measures | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Comparable sales | The price of similar plexes sold recently in the area | Number of units, condition, parking, basement, lot |
| Gross revenue multiplier | The price divided by the annual rents | Below-market rents, a vacant unit, leases ending soon |
| Net income | Rents minus actual expenses: taxes, insurance, energy, maintenance | Heating paid by the owner, deferred work |
A multiplier only makes sense with verifiable rents. That is my judgment as an engineer, and it is the calculation a serious buyer redoes: low rents, frozen by old leases, make the building look expensive on its income when it may not be on the comparables. You then have to show the gap with the rents in the area, with figures to back it up, rather than promise an increase that the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL) regulates.
What documents should you prepare before selling a plex?
Before the first visit, I gather with you:
- the leases in force, the notices of modification already sent and the tenants’ replies;
- a table of the rents, the lease end dates and what each lease includes (heating, appliances, parking);
- the municipal and school tax bills, the insurance premium and, if heating is your responsibility, twelve months of energy bills;
- the invoices for work done and the maintenance history;
- an up-to-date certificate of location, and the OACIQ’s mandatory Seller’s Declarations form, which also asks for the income of an income property, filled out with care.
A complete file does not raise the price on its own. Above all, it keeps the buyer, for lack of information, from protecting themselves by lowering their offer or adding conditions.
How do visits work when the plex is rented?
The lessor must give the tenants 24 hours’ notice to have a dwelling visited by a prospective buyer, and the tenant may refuse a visit before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (articles 1931 and 1932 of the Civil Code). I group the visits into a few time slots, I notify the tenants in writing and I explain to them what the sale changes for them: nothing, as far as their lease is concerned.
What happens to the lease after the sale?
It continues. The buyer becomes the new lessor, on the same terms, and the sale does not allow the leases to be ended. A buyer who wants to live in one of the units must follow the procedure for repossessing a dwelling, with its notices, its timelines and the protections provided for certain tenants. I explain this from the moment the listing goes on the market, because an owner-occupant buyer who discovers it after the offer is a buyer who walks away. The details are in Owner Occupied Plex: Repossessing a Dwelling.
Sources
Consulted on November 4, 2026.
- Civil Code of Québec, articles 1931 and 1932 (access to the dwelling and visits) and 1937 (lease and alienation of the leased property).
- OACIQ, seller’s guide, The Declarations by the seller of the immovable.
