The Diverse Home Styles in North East Los Angeles

Northeast Los Angeles represents a vast range of culture, from its diverse population of people to the wide offering of various styles of homes available for purchase.

Character homes can be found in dense and scattered populations throughout Northeast Los Angeles (NELA). The eclectic tastes and styles of various cultures and eras throughout the last century have birthed five popular home styles that are still loved, appreciated and lived in today.

Victorian homes were the first unique style to sprout in NELA during the Victorian Era between 1860 and 1910. This era began when British inspired architects from the east coast took root in NELA and raised the bar on 19th century domestic living. These luxury homes were the first to have electric lighting and indoor plumbing. This was the beginning of fully functioning kitchens which had small bedrooms conjoined for the help. These party houses wowed guests with grand, artistic dining rooms and rooms that contained pocket doors so tea parties and cigar circles could happen simultaneously and independently. The downside of these early legends was the lack of effective insulation and heating capabilities. Communities typified bythe Victorian style include homes in Highland Park and Angelino Heights.

Between the years of 1890 and 1920 the Turn of the Century era became the founder of “Los Angeles Suburbia” containing several home styles including the California Bungalow, California Craftsman and the Spanish Revival, prominent in Pasadena homes. Craftsman and Bungalow homes share many similarities and differ only in their arts and crafts features. Bungalows are often found in clusters to provide the owners privacy from the objecting views of people in taller buildings. These one-story homes will sometimes contain an elevated basement to provide the owners more opportunities for entertainment rooms. For an increase in comfort, Bungalows have a substantial veranda on the front with strategically placed eaves that will bring light in during the cold winter and keep the sun out during hot summers. Craftsman homes were ideal for families who couldn’t afford the help. Their kitchens had space built in for dinner tables and the walls had built in shelves and cabinets. These two story homes contained open floor plans with fireplaces and tile to solve the heating issues found in Victorian style homes.

The exotic beauty of Spanish Colonial Revival homes was first noted in the unique Spanish Missions that began to appear down the coast of California. These homes were built with open passageways and courtyards to avoid the heat of intense weather in Spain, North Africa and Mexico. Spanish homes were built with stucco walls and flat tile roofs of terra cotta. They had grand archways at the front entry and windows lined with wood.

As the California and Spanish style homes continued to develop and improve, the Period Revival movement between 1920-1940 became the birth of the Tudor Revival. Los Angeles became most diverse city in America with the widest range of Period Style homes. Tudor homes had exceptionally tall chimneys and windows with roofs on a steep incline. Their spacious living rooms and warm fireplaces gave these mansions a simple layout and a rustic feel. These expensive homes are found in bulk between Altadena and Pasadena.

During the Period Revival era, the Early Modern Era erupted between 1920-1945. This produced a slue of Mid-Century Modern homes, which drew people in with their symmetrical, geometric shapes and lines. This style was being praised throughout the world, but their full glass window walls seem to reflect perfectly in the warm California climate. Both the exterior and interior of the house sparkled with a sleek style consisting of stone and wood. The roofs were usually flat or slightly raised and they had open floor plans, which provided a smooth energy flow throughout the house. These single story homes became the setting of many TV shows during the 60s and 70s. To this day Mid-Century Moderns thrive throughout the Eagle Rock, Altadena and Pasadena communities. Homes in Glassell Park and Mount Washington are also known for their mid-century styling.

When the Post-World War II Era between 1945-1965 rolled around, the citizens of NELA were busy improving these styles of housing, making the architecture more simple and the houses more efficient. As people and society continue to grow and develop, our homes reflect the changes in order to make life more comfortable, more convenient and more luxurious.

Northeast Los Angeles Real Estate: Information Overload!

We are in the Information Age to end all Information Ages. Not just when it comes to buying and selling real estate but in all matters of “life”. We are bombarded by all kinds of information all the time thanks to the Internet, hundreds of TV channels, and social media. It’s a new world, for sure, and it’s exciting, fun, and overwhelming.

This applies to the real estate world in a major way. We can look up a Zestimate of what homes in Glassell Park might be worth by just typing in its address on our phone app. We can see the sales history of homes in Hermon, CA from the beginning of its recorded history. We can watch a video of the inside of the sewer line or chimney of a fixer in Highland Park. We can see how designers are remodeling Highland Park houses on blogs, and how homebuyers are finding their homes on television shows.

These are all things that simply were not available to prospective homebuyers 15 years ago. It’s really wonderful that we can know so much about what we could only guess at before. But with all the information comes information overload.

Today, many real estate offices are paperless, but there is even more “paperwork” (and information) to understand than ever before. Every year, the number of disclosures and disclaimers grows, the inspections become more detailed, and the number of articles on “what to pay attention to when buying a home” triples.

What is a buyer supposed to conclude from all this information? Many buyers today do what they always have–they ask their friends and family what they should do. Only now, their friends and family may be thousands of Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram buddies.

Caught up in a multiple offer contest, both buyers and sellers feel exuberant. But when the dust settles and escrow is opened with that magic buyer who loves your house more than anyone else, the inspection period begins. And they discover that no house is perfect.

This is the crux of the matter: Buyers today often feel like they are paying so much for a home that it should be perfect–it should be just like what they see on HGTV inside and out. In 2002, people didn’t have access to the technology and information available today. And like today, in 2002-2006, there was little inventory and prices were racing up. But there was no Pinterest, no Instagram, no Facebook posts inviting everyone you know to comment. But what does all of this information, advice, and opinion really mean?

Just like diagnosing your aches and pains on WebMD, there comes the time when you need to consult a professional. We need deeper, more personal knowledge than a website can give us. Buyers and sellers today need to work with knowledgeable professionals who can help them make sense of their data as well.

A History of the Northeast LA Real Estate Market

When it comes to the housing market, it’s been a wild ride for Northeast Los Angeles real estate and nearby communities like Mt. Washington, Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Pasadena. Real estate prices in NELA peaked in 2005-2007, dropped into the valley in 2008-2012, and recovered in 2013-2015. This was fueled by the “irrational exuberance” of the market back in the mid-2000s: flexible lending practices that included lots of 95-100% financing, super-low introductory adjustable rate mortgages, and lots of “stated income” loans (Liar Loans). People bought million-dollar homes based on what their lender made up on their loan application. Prices were going up so fast, you could buy a home with practically no money down and refinance within 6 months to finance your way out of the hefty interest rate increase.

Beginning in spring 2008, the bubble burst and prices dropped as much as 30-40% in 15 months. Experts said we’d never see such high home sale prices again–ever! We met many people at open houses for years that said, “I think prices are going to go down more, I’ll wait a little longer to buy.”

If you wanted to sell your home in a declining market but you didn’t have to, what would you do? You would keep your home off the market and wait it out. What goes down eventually goes up, right? So, unnoticed by most people, inventory started to disappear and prices began to rise a little in 2012.

In 2013, the inventory of homes available for sale had dropped to just about nothing. Buyers suddenly realized that they had missed the bottom and prices were going up! Dang! They were angry, hostile, and resentful. But everybody has to live somewhere, and if you could afford to buy, waiting would just mean your home would cost more. And interest rates were so low, it wasn’t worth waiting any longer. In fact, with interest rates at historic lows, it was cheaper to own the same priced house as in 2007, and at a fixed rate that would never change!

Still, most people believed that we would never see the peak prices again. But guess what? In 2014, most areas matched their historic highs, some exceeded them, and really good houses far exceeded them.

Now, at the end of 2015, the 3 zip codes of Northeast Los Angeles, 90041, 90042 and 90065 – Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Mount Washington real estate respectively – average 7% above the peak average sale price, and in Eagle Rock, 90041, alone, the peak has been exceeded by 16%! People are now calling this a bubble. This particular bubble has been going on for 3 years, though most people just noticed it a few months ago. But it’s not like the days of 2005-2007 with crazy loans. Today, most loans are 20% or more down, 30-year fixed, full documentation (down practically to listing what you ate for breakfast every morning for the last 2 years). And 15% of home sales in our area sell for cash–and not from foreign investors, but from the entertainment industry and families sharing the equity in their portfolios to help their kids buy a home.

Will there be a correction? The real estate market is cyclical, and influenced by interest rates, the general economy, unemployment, even natural disasters. As to when this will result in a flattening or decline of the market? That’s a question for your fortuneteller.