Social media dragged the buyer of multiple Malibu lots through the mud after the deals were first reported back in August.
Catcalls over the would-be builder’s bulk buys, and mistaken presumptions of the ethnicity, wasn’t the response El Segundo-based Zuru Tech US, expected.
“I think what the general public doesn’t understand is the difficulties in going from an empty lot to a livable house,” Zuru Tech U.S. operations director Marcel Fontijn said. “Rebuilding is not for everyone.”
Design times, selecting contractors, permit pulls and then the actual construction has led some residents in the fire-impacted areas to sell.
For Zuru Tech, the lots they grabbed up — 15 at last count — will make for nice case studies for its technology. The company, founded by brothers Nick and Mat Mowbray, makes design and manufacturing software that’s used to power robotic factories owned by its parent Zuru Group of Hong Kong.
After a bit of phone tag with Fontijn, The Real Deal snagged time with the executive to find out more about the company’s lot purchases as part of a broader story on the state of the rebuilding (stay tuned for the November issue of TRD’s magazine).
“For us, we have a research project that focuses on factory-built homes, and we saw an opportunity,” Fontijn said. “If you imagine there being rebuilding efforts on 300 houses that burned down in terms of how many contractors, how many framers [and] how many roofers, where are you going to pack all these people? And that’s where we really saw that we can provide a solution to a problem.”
Zuru Tech’s homes take between two to three months to install, with the company estimating work on the first of those structures to begin a year from now.
Fuzzy on the numbers
Data sets can always be picked apart.
That doesn’t help if you’re an agent in the burn areas looking for market comparables. That was made more challenging when, immediately following the fires, some lot sales were being entered into the Multiple Listing Service as standing, single-family homes. Chalk some of that up to certain software that didn’t upload land contracts. It made for skewed stats in the beginning, but that’s since been ironed out, according to Compass Altadena broker Teresa Fuller.
Fuller told TRD recently MLS fines cracked down on the problem, making for improved numbers for those such as herself closely tracking the market.
Last year, over 350 homes were sold in Altadena. This year, there have been 69, Fuller said. Prices per square foot for standing structures dropped to as low as $738 a foot in May, and have since risen to $771.
“It’s much more hopeful. We’re seeing housing starts if you drive around Altadena now,” Fuller said. “You see framing going up. Not a lot, but some. And I think as people are more and more comfortable with what’s being rebuilt, and people begin to trust more that Altadena will once again be the gorgeous mountain town that it was, prices will go back up.”
More from the interview with Fuller will appear in the November issue of the magazine.
Missed deadline
After an Oct. 2 deadline to clear fire debris came and went, a Palisades mansion featured in HBO’s “Succession”, and seven other properties were deemed public nuisances.
The properties include single-family homes, apartments and commercial real estate, per a report from the Los Angeles Times.
If the property owners can’t get rid of the toxic rubble, the city will step in to handle the cleanup. The owners, however, will have to pay up for the service.
New record
It’s been a while since the San Diego County residential market turned heads.
This past week, the Del Mar home at 2920 Camino Del Mar traded for $50 million to make for the county’s priciest-ever sale.
That edges past a $47 million deal that closed this year, about 11 miles south of Del Mar in San Diego’s La Jolla neighborhood.
Falling apart
Sometimes you just have to walk away. At least, that’s what an increasing number of homebuyers are doing.
August saw the highest share ever, or 15.1 percent, of signed contracts nationally falling out of escrow, according to Redfin data. The company’s data goes back to 2017.
For Los Angeles, specifically, 14.9 percent of sales fell out of contract in August, which is down from 15 percent in the year-ago period.
The biggest stated reason for buyers saying good-bye: inspection or repair issues.
Read more
Unmasked in Malibu: Buyer of multiple burned lots tied to Mowbray brothers
Austin Russell’s “Succession” mansion among burned Pacific Palisades properties declared public nuisance
$50M beach mansion sale sets San Diego record
