Holiday Client Appreciation Dinner - Thankful for Great Clients and Successful Year

Darren and Joe celebrated with over 50 clients past, present and future at the annual client appreciation dinner, December 9, 2017. Held at the new Pollen restaurant(formerly FIX Coffee), guests dined to mediterranean fare and toasted to good times at this fabulous new spot for the neighborhood. Music was provided by The Po Boys -a local New Orleans jazz and funk 4-piece composed of banjo, tuba, flugelhorn, and drums.  

As a fundraiser for the CCAC - Central City Action Committee, the group raised $820 dollars and 10 bags of food donations for local families in need. CCAC is also part of the city's anti-graffiti campaign and creates youth programs for the area. Overall, it was a wonderful event simply based on two words - thank you. We all have so much to be grateful for and it was great to give back to others for the night. 

We're working on a video to capture the night. Stay tuned.

Darren and Joe with Maryanne Hayashi, CCAC - Central City Action Committee in Echo Park

Our Client Launches Found Coffee in Eagle Rock - Go!

In addition to finding a great property for
Ben and Katie, Darren reconnected with a past client who happens to be the owner of
Found Coffee on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. It was great to connect with Annie and hear about her success. Her place is fantastic and much needed in this pocket. Stop by and
say hi. Better yet, buy a coffee. 

1355 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock, CA 90041

Northeast Los Angeles seeing a surge in trendy small-lot developments

An LA Times article published this week focuses on the surge of developers taking advantage of small lot ordinances by building trendy homes and condos in the hot areas of Northeast Los Angeles, particularly Silver Lake and Echo Park. These new builds are smaller, very rectangular, typically three levels, and are targeted toward the younger home buyers who want to live near cafes and other hot spots.

Quoting an LA architect, the article summarizes it well with: “It’s sort of the iPhone or Prius of homes.” It’s hip, it’s cool, it’s what is becoming available in these areas where options limited, from the more expensive traditional craftsman homes of Echo Park and Silver Lake areas to high rises of downtown.

There isn’t a lot of inventory in the area, but there is quite a bit of density already. Developers are building multiple units with small footprints and no yards (and in a lot of cases, no parking) on these small lots, fitting as little as seven units as in one case on Douglas Street in Echo Park, or 70 units slated for the Echo Park/Silver Lake border this year.

Some see these developments as a positive, providing more homes to accommodate the increase in population these neighborhoods are experiencing, and where there's little inventory to buy. Some are worried the lack of single family homes being built will forever change the hillsides and overall landscape of the neighborhood.

In the next year and a half, according to the article, there will be 250 small-lot homes in Northeast Los Angeles (a lot of those in Silver Lake and Echo Park) that may go for between $500,000 and $800,000 each.

When it comes to buying a home in Northeast Los Angeles, you need a great realtor to represent you. Call me today for more information on these new homes!