What Will And Won’t Get You Paid When You Sell Your Duplex

When I talk with Minneapolis and St Paul duplex sellers, I am often surprised by the features and benefits they believe make their property worth more than others in the neighborhood, without having seen those properties in person.

Things buyers won’t pay for

• Your dreams. Buyers won’t pay extra for your vision of what a duplex could be, that you think it’s a grand idea to add a unit to the basement, or that you could turn it into a single family property. All of that costs money. Their money. Odds are high that they have their own ideas.
• Sloppy or investor‑grade “lipstick” (cheap flooring, bad paint jobs) that looks like it will need to be redone, since most buyers assume they are paying again to fix it properly.​
• Highly personal upgrades (bright paint, unusual tile, bold countertops, luxury fixtures) that do not improve rent or appraised value, because investors underwrite on rent and owner‑occupants on livability, not on your taste.​

Condition issues they will discount instead

• Deferred maintenance like old roofs, cracked sewer lines,  old plumbing or electrical, and exterior rot, which buyers treat as major upcoming capital expenses and subtract from the price, often with a cushion above true cost for risk.​
• Safety or code concerns. Think  Federal Pacific electrical panels, knob and tube wiring, cracked sewer lines, unsafe decks, loose railings, missing GFCIs, which can affect insurability and financing. Buyers expect a discount for the entire cost of these repairs, not just part.
• “As‑is” condition. In real estate, this doesn’t mean the buyer can’t negotiate. Rather, it means the seller can’t state with legal certainty when something happened at the property. “As is” implies “caveat emptor”, not “I’m not fixing anything” and usually costs a seller more than  with obvious problems, where buyers typically knock 10–20% off what the property would fetch in good condition rather than paying close to market plus in addition to doing the work.​

Duplex‑specific things buyers don’t reward

• Poor tenant quality or problem leases; buyers often assume headaches and price the property as if they will have to endure or buy out those tenants.​
• Shared heat and/or electric, or unclear agreements on lawn care, snow removal or parking, which investors see as future conflict.​
• Layouts or finishes that make one unit clearly worse than the other. This caps what’s possible to charge in rent, and in turn, what buyers will pay for the building.​

What to focus on instead

• Structural and major systems (roof, foundation, sewer, HVAC, plumbing, electrical). Make sure they are in good order and if the insurance industry has deemed them hazardous, replaced.
• Clean, neutral, durable finishes that photograph well and appeal to a broad tenant base, which helps support realistic rent increases without scaring off would-be owner‑occupants.​
• Clear, written leases at market or near‑market rent, plus organized income/expense records, because duplex buyers often pay more when the numbers are transparent and believable.​
• Owner occupants are not only looking for a good investment, they are looking for a nice place to live. As a result, they will often pay a bit more for a property than an investor will. Their lender will want them to live in the property within 60 days of closing, so make sure you have at least one unit on a month-to-month lease or vacant.

In short, focus on improving what is, not what could be in order to maximize your return when it comes time to sell your duplex.