Listings for land were homes were destroyed in the Los Angeles fires are appearing in droves, and corporations and individuals are snapping them up in hopes of a discount.
In fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades and Altadena, residents are choosing to sell rather than rebuild because of time or money constraints.
Some simply don’t want to return to the area.
But that’s not stopping buyers – with realtors inundated with enquiries. ‘People want to live where they want to live,’ says Fire Damage House Buyer owner Daniel Cabrera, who specializes in purchasing, restoring, and selling fire damaged properties.
Cabrera says many lots will sell for over asking price and that a few burned properties Palisades and Altadena have already sold. Last week, a scorched lot in upscale Pacific Palisades sold for nearly $1.2 million – hundreds of times the asking price.
Typically, he said regular lots are going for between $1 million and $4 million. Owners of bigger, ocean-view pieces of land are not selling as they can afford to rebuild.
More than 16,240 homes and businesses were destroyed overall in areas that – despite the risk of more destruction – is considered prime real estate for many.
The flames forced some 150,000 people to evacuate and many celebrities also lost their homes in the fires, including Sir Anthony Hopkins Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Anna Faris.
Even though demo still needs to happen, buyers are snapping up land where houses sat
Interest in the burnt out properties is starting to gain traction. Owners and even non-specialist realtors are reaching out to Cabrera for help in dumping their property – and he is having investors approach him on the other side to buy them, even though most of the remaining damage has yet to be fully demolished.
Cabrera said: ‘Give it two years, it’s going be fully built. The demand is there, so people want to live there, right? I was talking to somebody the other day, saying people still live in Oklahoma.