If you own a fourplex in Tacoma and are considering selling, one of the biggest questions is where to price it.

Price too low and you risk leaving money on the table. Price too high and the property can sit on the market, eventually forcing you to reduce the price anyway.

I recently analyzed 26 closed Tacoma fourplex sales over the last 12 months. The data gives us a good picture of where buyers are active, how long properties are taking to sell, and what happens when a fourplex doesn't sell within the first few weeks.

Tacoma Fourplex Sales at a Glance

Over the last 12 months:

  • 26 fourplexes sold

  • Median sale price: $914,750

  • Average sale price: $931,710

  • Middle 50% of sales: $791,250–$1,123,000

  • Median price per square foot: $259

  • Average price per square foot: $256

  • Median days on market: 37 days

  • Average days on market: 87 days

  • Median sale-to-final-list-price: 98.1%

  • 12 of 26 sales sold within 30 days

  • 9 of 26 sold within 14 days

The difference between the 37-day median and 87-day average is significant. Several properties sat on the market for a long time and pulled the average substantially higher.

Where Tacoma Fourplex Buyers Are Most Active

Fourplex values varied considerably:

Sale Price Number of Sales
Under $600,000 1
$600,000–$699,999 4
$700,000–$799,999 3
$800,000–$899,999 5
$900,000–$999,999 3
$1,000,000+ 10

Unlike Tacoma duplexes, the fourplex market has substantial activity above $1 million.

10 of the 26 sales — approximately 38% — sold for $1 million or more.

The middle 50% of the entire market sold between approximately $791,000 and $1.123 million, giving owners a useful starting point when evaluating where their property fits.

Of course, price alone doesn't tell the whole story. Rents, condition, unit mix, location, expenses, vacancy and development potential can create significant differences in fourplex values.

Financing Shows a Mix of Investors and Owner-Occupants

Financing on the 26 sales included:

  • 12 conventional

  • 4 cash

  • 4 other

  • 3 VA

  • 1 FHA

  • 1 deed of trust

  • 1 not disclosed

At least four properties were purchased using FHA or VA financing.

That is important because fourplexes occupy an interesting part of the multifamily market. They can appeal to traditional investors while still qualifying as residential properties for certain owner-occupant financing programs.

For the right property, having a unit available for an owner-occupant can potentially expand the buyer pool beyond investors evaluating the property primarily on income and return.

What Happens When a Tacoma Fourplex Doesn't Sell Quickly?

This is where the data gets particularly interesting.

Of the 26 fourplex sales, 9 had a lower final listing price than their original listing price.

That's 34.6% of all sales.

Among the properties that reduced their price:

  • Median price reduction: $53,000

  • Average price reduction: $109,894

  • Median percentage reduction: 6.7%

  • Average percentage reduction: 9.8%

  • Largest reduction: $351,000, or 28.1%

The average reduction is substantially higher than the median because a few properties made very large adjustments.

But the more important story is what happens as days on market increase.

Price Reductions Increase With Days on Market

Days on Market Sales Reduced Price % That Reduced
0–30 days 12 0 0%
31–60 days 5 2 40%
61–90 days 0 — —
91+ days 9 7 77.8%
Total 26 9 34.6%

The pattern is pretty clear.

Of the 12 fourplexes that sold within 30 days, not a single one required a price reduction.

Once properties took between 31 and 60 days to sell, 40% had reduced their price.

And among properties that were on the market for more than 90 days, 7 of 9 — nearly 78% — had reduced their price before selling.

Looking at it another way:

14 Tacoma fourplexes took more than 30 days to sell. Nine of them — 64% — eventually reduced their asking price.

Among the properties that took more than 60 days, **7 of 9 — 78% — eventually reduced.

The Longer a Fourplex Sits, the Bigger the Reduction Can Become

It wasn't just the likelihood of a price reduction that increased.

The size of the reductions increased substantially as well.

For reduced listings that sold within 31–60 days, the median reduction was approximately:

$35,025, or 2.7%.

For reduced properties that took more than 90 days to sell, the median reduction jumped to approximately:

$124,000, or 11.7%.

That's a major difference.

It supports a point I regularly make to sellers: making a meaningful adjustment when the market first tells us we're overpriced can be very different from allowing a property to sit for months and eventually chasing the market down.

Original List Price vs. Final List Price Matters

You'll often hear statistics about properties selling close to asking price.

That can be misleading if we're only looking at the final asking price.

The median Tacoma fourplex sold for approximately 98.1% of its final listing price.

But some sellers had already reduced their asking price substantially before receiving an acceptable offer.

Across all 26 transactions, the median fourplex ultimately sold for approximately 97.3% of its original asking price.

For example, a property could originally be listed at $1,100,000, eventually reduce to $975,000 and then sell close to $975,000.

Technically, that property sold close to asking price.

But that doesn't tell you what happened during the entire listing period.

That's why I look at original list price, final list price and selling price when evaluating the market.

Is the Tacoma Fourplex Market Improving?

Comparing approximately the most recent six months with the preceding six months gives us another interesting picture:

  Prior 6 Months Recent 6 Months
Closed Sales 12 14
Median Sale Price $925,000 $872,250
Median DOM 98.5 18
Median Sale/Final List 97.5% 99.0%
Median $/SF $260 $252

This is an interesting combination.

The median sale price was lower during the more recent period, and price per square foot was also slightly lower.

But liquidity improved dramatically.

Median marketing time dropped from approximately 99 days to just 18 days, while the typical sale moved from approximately 97.5% to 99% of the final asking price.

The number of transactions also increased slightly.

I would characterize the Tacoma fourplex market as active, but very price-sensitive.

Buyers are there. They're simply paying attention to value.

There Are Really Two Fourplex Markets

The data suggests there are two very different experiences for Tacoma fourplex sellers.

When a property is priced correctly and the market sees the value, it can move quickly.

9 of the 26 fourplexes sold within 14 days.

12 of 26 sold within 30 days.

And none of those first-30-day sales required a price reduction.

On the other hand, 9 of the 26 sales took more than 90 days.

Seven of those nine eventually reduced their asking price.

For the reduced 90+ day listings, the median reduction was approximately $124,000.

That's a substantial cost for initially missing the market.

Pricing a Tacoma Fourplex Correctly From the Beginning Matters

There is nothing inherently wrong with testing the upper end of a property's value.

But there is a difference between testing the market and ignoring the market.

Once a fourplex has received several weeks of market exposure, online activity, showings and buyer feedback without producing an acceptable offer, we have considerably more information than we had when we originally established the price.

At that point, the market is telling us something.

The data shows that Tacoma fourplexes selling within the first 30 days generally didn't need price reductions.

Properties that sat considerably longer were much more likely to eventually reduce — and those reductions tended to become larger over time.

That's why I generally prefer a meaningful price adjustment when the market is telling us we're too high rather than making a series of small reductions and chasing the market down.

What Does This Mean for Tacoma Fourplex Owners?

Every fourplex is different.

Current rents, market rents, expenses, condition, location, unit mix, vacancy, parking, financing and future development potential can all have a significant impact on value.

But the last 12 months of Tacoma sales give owners some useful benchmarks:

The median Tacoma fourplex sold for approximately $915,000 and $259 per square foot.

Nearly 40% of all sales exceeded $1 million.

Almost half of the properties sold within 30 days — and none of those required a price reduction.

But among fourplexes that took more than 90 days to sell, nearly 78% eventually reduced their asking price, with a median reduction of approximately $124,000, or 11.7%, among those reduced listings.

For Tacoma fourplex owners considering selling, the goal isn't simply to choose the highest possible asking price.

The goal is to determine the highest price today's market is likely to accept, then position and market the property to maximize competition at that level.

That's the difference between testing the market and chasing it.