As two major wildfires continue to raze the Los Angeles area, thousands of displaced residents are searching for housing. Immediately.
Dylan Eckhardt, a top luxury real estate broker whose clients include Justin Bieber and Rihanna, says he has received 36 phone calls in the past 18 hours from people whose homes in Malibu and Pacific Palisades were reduced to ashes. Displaced residents in Altadena are also scrambling to find housing on the other side of town.
“‘I need four bedrooms.’ “Take me to Newport.” “A lot of people ask me about Orange County,” Eckhardt says. “It’s a hot mess right now.” People ride dirt bikes, try to help friends, and throw animals on their backs. The situation today is worse than it was three days ago. Driving through Malibu is like Armageddon.
Eckhart represents 160 off-market homes spanning Los Angeles and Orange County that he is putting on the market to meet the surge in demand. He is giving away his large commission to anyone directly affected by the fires. And it’s not just finding a place to rent or buy in the immediate aftermath of the fires that’s a problem. After the fires are over, rebuilding will be a long and arduous process.
“If that happens, it will take five years, maybe eight to 12 years,” Eckhardt says, referring to the Kafka-style permitting process in the region, particularly in Malibu. “Before the fire, if you didn’t know someone, you were waiting about 18 months to two years to get a permit to even renovate a bedroom in your house. Now, we’re looking at almost five years (before we start construction).”
State and local officials pledged Friday during a news conference about the fire that there would be a massive effort to cut red tape to speed up the region’s recovery. However, in the near term, tens of thousands of residents are now unexpectedly looking for new housing.
A West Side real estate broker who asked to remain anonymous says she has been receiving back-to-back calls from clients affected by the fires. “They think they will come back (after the eviction). “But they are in shock,” the realtor said. “Tuesday night, they grabbed everything they could grab. Wednesday, people were in shock. They couldn’t understand it. Now, people are frantically and madly trying to find a place to live without knowing the future.
The clients, who run the gamut from Hollywood writers to executives, some with young families, are asking for apartments above homes rather than near fire-prone areas that have long been desirable, such as Malibu and Pacific Palisades. The real estate broker adds: “Even if the situation is safe, they will say: I don’t want a house.” “They want an apartment or an apartment. It’s absolute madness there.”
The fires, which have claimed at least 11 lives so far, occurred during a difficult time for the real estate market, where inventory was already low as potential sellers were holding off on putting their properties on the market while they waited to see if interest took hold. Prices rise or fall in the coming months.
Because the fires caused the most damage in the posh Pacific Palisades area and the more economically diverse community of Altadena, north of Pasadena, both affluent and middle-class Angelenos were hit hard. An estimated 80 to 100 IATSE members have lost their homes, including many in Altadena. Rents in Los Angeles are already unsustainably high, especially for entertainment workers affected by last year’s strikes and production slowdowns.
The list of notable names affected continues to grow and includes Anthony Hopkins, Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Milo Ventimiglia, Anna Faris, James Woods, Diane Warren, Steve Guttenberg, Mel Gibson, Tina Knowles, Miles Teller, Cobie Smulders, Melissa Rivers, Jeff Bridges, Eugene Levy, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester.
While Eckhardt’s home in Malibu’s Point Dume neighborhood has survived so far, it has lost more than $63 million from exclusive listings that went up in flames over the past three days. This number is expected to grow.
“No one will ever secure homes here again like this,” he adds. “No one will ever insure a house in Malibu for $15 million again.”
Some homeowners may not be able to recover the value of their destroyed homes now. In July, State Farm dropped coverage for 72,000 homes and apartments in California, including 1,600 in Pacific Palisades alone. Ricardo Lara, the state’s insurance commissioner, pledged Friday that the state would impose a one-year moratorium to prevent homeowners’ insurance from being canceled and not renewed in fire-ravaged areas.
Those whose homes survived the fire but fled because they are in an evacuation zone also face looting. Eckhardt has advised his clients to refrain from posting on social media about their ordeal.
“I call all my high-profile clients — every NBA guy, football player, celebrity — and tell them, ‘You’re stupid.’ Don’t spread your damn house out again because the fire’s three miles away. It’s not going to hit your house. But ‘I’ve Evacuated?” You just told the whole world you were evacuated with your MVP awards, your damn stuff in the house, and your World Series rings (left unattended). It’s like a shiny ring again.”
In a sign that demand for high-end listings will quickly outpace supply, Eckhardt hosted showings Thursday for four rental properties. Home prices range from $15,000 to $45,000 per month. About 55 people viewed the properties.
“We have to start moving people around and get them starting over,” he says. “Shit sucks. The pain will come. The grief and grief will happen. But we have to do the next right thing.”
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