Sell Your Commercial Property In Richmond, VA

Who rents in Richmond, VA

Renters occupy 56.5% of Richmond's 104,321 occupied homes, according to the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Virginia's renter share was 32.7% in that release. Richmond counts 58,914 renter households, against 48,794 in Henrico County and 32,617 in Chesterfield County.

Richmond is an independent city, so it is its own county-equivalent in Census geography and carries GEO id 0500000US51760. City and county-equivalent figures are identical here, so comparisons on this page use Henrico County, Chesterfield County and Virginia.

Richmond's population was 229,359 in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Virginia Commonwealth University enrolled 29,288 students and employed 2,464 full-time faculty, per VCU's published quick facts. Richmond is Virginia's state capital, and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership counts a Greater Richmond workforce of 1.3 million residents.

Rents and affordability in Richmond

Richmond's median gross rent was $1,372 a month in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Henrico County's median was $1,541, Chesterfield County's $1,629 and Virginia's $1,579 in the same release. Richmond's median household income was $64,587, against $93,170 statewide.

Richmond renter households spending 30% or more of income on rent total 52.0% in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Those spending 50% or more total 27.9%. Virginia's 30%-or-more share was 48.5%. Both Richmond shares cover the 56,527 renter households with a reported rent-to-income ratio.

HUD's FY2027 fair market rents set the two-bedroom standard covering Richmond city at $1,651 a month. Richmond city belongs to the Richmond, VA HUD Metro FMR Area, which spans 16 county-equivalents including Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties and Petersburg city.

Richmond's FY2027 two-bedroom standard of $1,651 runs $279 above the city's $1,372 all-unit median gross rent. Voucher-backed leases therefore price competitively against market rent in Richmond.

Richmond's apartment stock and building age

Richmond has 40,214 housing units in buildings of five or more units, 35.2% of the city's 114,293 total units in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. The comparable share is 20.4% in Henrico County, 12.1% in Chesterfield County and 18.6% across Virginia.

Richmond's smallest apartment tier is the deepest by building count: 8,751 units sit in 5-to-9-unit properties and 6,743 in properties of 10 to 19 units. Richmond buildings of 20 to 49 units account for 7,453 units, and those of 50 or more account for 17,267. A further 13,666 Richmond units sit in 2-to-4-unit properties.

Richmond's median housing unit was built in 1959, against 1985 in Henrico County, 1990 in Chesterfield County and 1984 statewide. Units built before 1980 make up 70.9% of Richmond's stock, or 81,051 units. Units built in 2010 or later number 12,606, and 2,268 of those date from 2020 or later.

Richmond's vacancy rate was 8.7%, or 9,972 of 114,293 units, in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. A 1959 median build year is why, when owners sell commercial real estate in Richmond, VA, buyers price wiring, waste lines and roof covering before the rent roll.

Property taxes on Richmond, VA apartment buildings

Richmond taxes real estate at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value, per the City of Richmond Department of Finance. The Code of Virginia requires assessments at 100% of fair market value, and the Assessor of Real Estate sets that value.

Va. Code § 58.1-3250 calls for a general reassessment of real estate every two years in Virginia cities and permits the annual method instead. Richmond's Assessor is responsible for the annual reassessment of all city real estate, so a new owner's assessment arrives on the same yearly cycle as every other parcel.

Richmond mails reassessment notices on or about July 1, the effective date of value. An office review appeal is due within 30 days of the notice date. Board of Equalization applications are due November 30, and hearings begin the following January. An owner may instead petition the Richmond Circuit Court within three years of the assessment year.

On a $2 million assessed value, Richmond's $1.20 rate produces $24,000 of city real estate tax a year. Virginia's state recordation tax under § 58.1-801 is 25 cents per $100, or $5,000 on a $2 million deed. The grantor tax under § 58.1-802 is 50 cents per $500, or $2,000 on that sale.

Va. Code § 58.1-814 also lets a Virginia city add a local recordation tax equal to one-third of the state tax. Anyone preparing to sell commercial property in Richmond, VA should pull the current assessment and the July notice first.

Landlord rules in Richmond and Virginia

Virginia law keeps rent regulation out of Richmond's hands. Va. Code § 55.1-1201 provides that the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act may not be waived or modified by any locality's governing body. The same section supersedes local ordinances concerning the leasing of residential property, and Va. Code § 1-248 makes Commonwealth law supreme over local ordinances.

Virginia caps a residential security deposit at two months' periodic rent under § 55.1-1226. That section requires a written, itemized deposit disposition within 45 days after the tenancy ends or the tenant vacates, whichever comes last.

Virginia nonpayment notices run 14 days under § 55.1-1245. Under § 55.1-1253, either party may end a month-to-month tenancy by serving written notice at least 30 days before the next rent due date. That section also sets 60 days' notice when a multifamily owner declines to renew 20 or more month-to-month tenancies inside 30 days. Late fees are capped at 10% under § 55.1-1204.

Va. Code § 36-105.1:1 lets a Virginia locality inspect rental units inside a rental inspection district. Those inspections sample 2% to 10% of units in developments above 10 units, and one may follow a sale. Richmond separately requires registration of a building vacant 12 months or longer, at $100 a year.

Selling commercial property in Richmond: what owners weigh first

Three Richmond figures set the price of an apartment building here. Renters hold 56.5% of occupied homes, the city rate is $1.20 per $100 of assessed value, and 70.9% of the housing stock predates 1980. Owners who want to sell commercial property in Richmond, VA should settle those three before settling on a cap rate.

Skyline Capital Investments reviews 5-to-100-unit Richmond properties in The Fan, Southside Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield, whether stabilized or badly deferred. To sell multifamily property in Richmond, test your figures in our cap rate calculator, read our breakdown of Richmond, VA apartment property taxes, then send the building details through our seller page.