How the pandemic helped scatter $1-million homes across L.A.

[Demovictory9]

At the same time, the proliferation of million-dollar homes shows that the price point is not a stretch for a growing share of Californians. It still requires financial strength to purchase such a home, but a surging stock market, rising incomes and historically low borrowing costs have made the $1-million house more common than ever.

That convergence of factors during the pandemic has reinforced the inequality of life in America: High earners are making, or at least saving, more money while grounded and working from home as millions of households are behind on rent.

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A data analysis showed the spread of homes valued at or more than $1 million across a geographic span. As of July, there were 55 cities and unincorporated areas in Los Angeles and Orange counties where the “typical” value of a single-family home was $1 million or more, according to a formula devised by online real estate company Zillow.

Alec Zopf and Dee Foster beat out 27 offers and 15 counteroffers — three of them all cash — for their new home in Highland Park. They ended up paying nearly $280,000 more than the original list price. A heartfelt letter accompanied their $1.175-million bid, to make it stand out from the crowd.


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“I don’t even have two bathrooms,” said Alan Torres, a 35-year-old software engineer, who along with his wife, Vanya, recently paid $1.04 million for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Echo Park.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-09-21/covid-changed-la-real-estate-making-one-million-homes-common-place

[spooky3]

1. Realtors are not supposed to convey "heartfelt letters" because they often contain info

that could be used as a basis for illegal discrimination, such as how many children one has. This is their own professional association rule. I guess some buyers may not use Realtors.

A million dollar house in LA is probably like one costing less than half that much in most big cities.

[Demovictory9]

2. everytime there is a housing bubble, people start writing "heartfelt letters". it's sickening

[spooky3]

3. agree nt

[Demovictory9]

4. a million dollar home in LA might cost $350,000 somewhere else.

[PoliticAverse]

5. Or just be condemned...

An 'uninhabitable' shack in San Francisco that's missing a wall just sold for $2 million, and it showcases the real value of land in the Bay Area
https://www.businessinsider.com/shack-in-san-francisco-asking-nearly-two-million-dollars-2019-12?op=1

[Demovictory9]

6. true... or a small apt in NYC

[PoliticAverse]

7. In the area I live about half the home sales result in the old house being torn down...

and something twice as big built in its place.

[Demovictory9]

8. That happened to a beautiful neighborhood near me. When it was over

Every house was a mcmansion that filled the lot.

[hunter]

9. Three and four generations of my family have lived in homes now worth millions.

Usually they've been sold long before they're considered especially valuable.

My great great grandparent's home in San Francisco, built in the 1890s, is looking better than it ever did, with a fancy paint job, carefully restored decoration, the works. It's San Francisco postcard perfect. Years ago it sold for $1.6 million dollars.

When my great grandma and her sister sold it, it was just an ordinary old house they'd been renting out.

The San Francisco house my grandma and her sister grew up in has been subdivided into several apartments. Homes in that neighborhood sell for $1.6 million dollars and are being converted back into single family homes that sell for over $2 million. When my great grandma sold the house it really wasn't anything special.

I think most of my childhood homes are selling for a million dollars or more, but my parents have always made a habit of moving just as soon as a place begins to gentrify. They're artists who who much prefer likable quirky neighbors over property values.

Mostly I don't think about how much the home my wife and I own is worth. We couldn't trade it for anything better without leaving "liberal" California. One of our children has left California, largely because of housing costs.