A week ago, the Los Angeles Controller’s Office released what it called the “Top 100 Rental Properties” list in LA. As I started going through the addresses, I noticed something interesting. I recognized many of the properties not because I was involved in them, but because a surprisingly significant number of them have traded over the past few years. Roughly 16% of the buildings on the list have sold within the last 4 years. That raises a bigger issue. Instead of focusing on

The ADU Parking Tradeoff in LA Multifamily A lot of LA multifamily owners are adding ADUs right now, but there’s no clear consensus on the best strategy. I’m seeing two very different approaches: Some owners are eliminating parking entirely to maximize unit count Others are adding a few ADUs while preserving most of their existing parking There’s no “right” answer. It’s a classic short-term vs. long-term tradeoff. Short term: Units without parking are generally harder to leas

One thing I don't think enough people are talking about: The buyer pool for LA multifamily may be considerably bigger in the next 6 to 18 months. Once the lock-up periods expire and liquidity events occur at companies like SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, there will be a massive amount of new wealth created, especially here in California. If you're a tech employee who suddenly has a few million dollars of liquid net worth, LA multifamily starts to look pretty attractive. You ca

The biggest risk in LA multifamily today isn’t interest rates, rent control, or new supply. It’s habitability claims. The tough part is this: There doesn’t even need to be a real habitability issue to get pulled into a sizable lawsuit. We’re seeing more tenant attorneys actively targeting buildings, finding small issues, and turning them into leverage. Most owners don’t realize how exposed they are until they’re already dealing with it. This is no longer just a legal issue. I

100% of the time I only sell Los Angeles apartment buildings. I don’t try to cover other product types, and I don’t try to cover other markets outside of Los Angeles. In LA where every deal is hyper local and constantly shifting, being fully focused matters. I get calls all the time to sell office, retail, or assets outside of Los Angeles and I say no. Not because I can’t do it, but because my clients are better served when I stay focused on what I actually specialize in. Bei

A new construction multifamily investor came into my office this week to hear our marketing pitch on the value of one of his Hollywood buildings. After I shared the valuation, he pulled up ChatGPT and said: “Chat told me cap rates are between 4–5%, not 6% for new product.” What I took from that: Chat and any AI model is only as good as the data you give it. With no real inputs, it can actually hurt valuations and underwriting. Especially in a market like LA where everything i

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