I was recently surveying the LA office space market to see what was out there.

So I hit up my friend who is the listing broker on a Class-A highrise in Downtown LA.

30 seconds into the conversation, he says “Don’t come to Downtown.”

He told me that the amenity package in…

Investor #1's Acquisition Criteria

- 1960s Vintage or Newer
- 10+ Units
- Prefer 2 and 3 Bedroom floor plans
- Located in these 5 specific zip codes
- At least x% Cap Rate going-in
- 35%+ upside in rents
- ADU potential great but not a must

Investor #2's Acquisition Criteria

-…

There is a prominent LA apartment owner who owns 1,500 units with another 500 under development. His buildings are in utter disrepair & borderline uninhabitable. 20 deaths have occurred at just one of his properties, and he filed over 70 evictions in a 2 year span.

Yet this is…

Property managers are generally not incentivized to cooperate during a sale process when one of their fee-managed properties is being sold, particularly for their clients who only own 1 property. Many times, they end up losing the account to the Buyer's existing manager or…

It is incredible just how wide the gap has become between renting and owning in LA. I have friends who rent in prime areas, but are unwilling to sacrifice location on a purchase.

One pays $4,500/mo rent for a nice place in Weho. To purchase a modest home in the same area would…

I know a gal who makes 200K/year as an accountant and pays $1,400/month for a 2-Bedroom in West LA.

I also know a recent grad who makes 45K/year as an advertising coordinator and pays $1,950/month for a Studio - also in West LA.

Both have LA rent control to thank for this.

I interviewed a brokerage candidate the other day and the next day he sent me an incredible follow up thank you email. We met for lunch a week later and I mentioned what a great job ChatGPT did writing that follow up email for him. I was not wrong.

Truth be told, Moses has one of the most efficient and dialed-in physical due diligence processes that I have seen in the LA market.

I saw this for myself in 2017 when I was listing an apartment building in the Central LA area. It was a competitive deal and we were conducting…

Spoke with an owner of about 60 Units in South LA. We touched on a few of the headwinds facing today's market.

Rents Softening? Doesn't care. All of the properties are rent-controlled, the tenants are under market & have been there for years. Last vacancy was 4 years ago.…

In 2019, I sold this 6-Unit building in Arlington Heights, Los Angeles.  Charming 1930s construction, huge units & well located.  The Buyer significantly renovated the property with the intention of selling each unit to 6 separate Buyers, as a TIC deal (Tenants in Common).  This…

We just closed a 7 Property 94-Unit Portfolio located the LA submarkets of Mar Vista, Palms, Koreatown and Hollywood! 

All 1960s dingbat-style properties with heavy Capex needed and ~66% upside in rents from current to market. The portfolio traded at blended metrics of…

Checked out a few of the 350+ homes in Pasadena & El Sereno being auctioned by Caltrans currently.

They bought them in the 50s via eminent domain to extend the 710 Fwy to Pasadena, but never did.

Many have been vacant & boarded up for decades, but are still absolute stunners.

Good, bad or ugly - Here are the LA County 5+ unit multifamily sales stats for Q1 & Q2 YTD vs the same period last year, per data from CoStar.

565 Sales - Down 51.5%

$2.9B in Sales Volume - Down 64.1%

$287K Avg Price per Unit - Down 21.8%

4.5% Avg Cap Rate - Up 50 bps

LA Multifamily and it's not close.

Here's why:

- 25,000+ licensed RE agents in Los Angeles
- 425,000 + licensed RE agents in California
- Some LA multi owners report 3-5+ broker calls per day

LA may be the only market where you compete with 6 brokers for a 4-unit engagement.

There's an unscrupulous property manager in LA who was managing an unlevered property for an 80 year old owner bordering dementia.

Manager convinced her 2 buildings was better than 1.

Refi'd her existing building, purchased another & did not put her name on title. True story.

Driving up Fairfax Ave, I’m reminded why it’s my favorite street in LA. In a 4 mile stretch, you pass West Adams, Little Ethiopia, historic homes, iconic museums, The Grove, high-end restaurants, LA’s streetwear hub, & end in West Hollywood. Eclectic & amazing

I have made tens of thousands of cold calls to LA apartment owners over the years. To this day, the best interest generator which yields the most responses is: “Your building is on fire.”