For agents assisting clients in the burn zones, the past 10 months have stretched patience levels and service skills to the limit.
Outside of the regular role of helping clients find homes, they’ve done so amid a backdrop of inventory shortages, regulatory changes, insurance challenges, low-ball offers from spec developers, pushes to have the city of Los Angeles pause the Measure United to House L.A. tax and dispelling misinformation.
“There was a lot of shady stuff happening,” Westside Estate Agency JJ Meyers recalled of the price gouging and vultures looking to take advantage of the situation in the months immediately following the Palisades and Eaton fires.
He, like others, credited brokerage leadership for providing the operational support to navigate a constantly shifting environment.
“Closure is the name of the name,” Meyers said. “It’s so strange. I can’t really put it into words. I think that I’m still processing a lot of it. For the last 10 months, I don’t know if I’ve taken more than two days off because every day, I get a call there’s just constantly something and it’s terrible. My focus is ‘How do I make sure this next version of the Palisades or Pasadena or Altadena is not a better version of itself, but the best version of what it was and protecting that.’”
The Real Deal checked in with several players in the fire recovery for the November issue of our magazine, which is rapidly approaching its one-year anniversary. From agents and architects to developers and investors, new stories are emerging.
“I think what people don’t realize is how many people are back in the areas, like half of the Huntington [Palisades neighborhood],” said Carolwood Estates’ Nichole Shanfeld. “There are a lot of people back and choosing to go back willingly…. We need to eliminate this fear of being a dead town. It would be helpful for people to know their neighbors are back.”
Real estate buys into Estate Media
Count Estate Media as a contender in the real estate media landscape.
The content platform started by Compass’ Josh Flagg, CEO Griff O’Brien and Carolwood LP principal Andrew Shanfeld announced $1 million in seed funding.
The round attracted a who’s who of real estate, with investors that include Compass’ Tracy Tutor, Chad Carroll in Miami and the Hudson Advisory team of New York. George Laughton of My Home Group in Arizona also invested.
Estate Media’s stated ambition is to produce everything from original shows for various social media channels to trade-focused educational programs.
From a business standpoint, Estate Media – now two years old – turned profitable in the current quarter. It’s generated $6 million in revenue to date and is set to see 2026 revenue reach eight figures, according to O’Brien.
Hollywood studio with history gets listed
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds just dropped a big slice of music history on the market in Hollywood.
The award-winning producer and singer-songwriter is asking just under $7 million for a two-level studio space at 751 North Highland Avenue. The upstairs, originally designed by Edmonds to be a meditation retreat, functions as a temporary residence with a full bath
for the artists that have worked out of that space.
It’s a long list of big industry names that have come through the space, including Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand and Pharrell Williams.
Rob Lowe lands buyer in Beverly Hills
After more than a year on the market, different listing agents and price cuts, Rob Lowe and his wife, Sheryl Berkoff, sold their Beverly Hills home at the top of Franklin Canyon.
The couple traded the three-bed, five-bath home for $4 million, or $1,347 per square foot. They originally listed it last July for $6.6 million.
Keller Williams Realty Los Feliz’s Lori Harris and Brock Harris, along with Carolwood Estates’ Shana Tavangarian represented the sellers. Meanwhile, Nourmand & Associates’ Rochelle Maize represented the mystery buyer.
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Agents in LA embrace new roles as fire rebuild picks up
Tracy Tutor, Hudson Advisory among latest investors in Josh Flagg’s Estate Media
Babyface’s Hollywood studio with upstairs residence hits market for $7M