Moving to Beverly Hills ? (Los Angeles, Pasadena: for sale, real estate, how much)

[CAguy]

Hi everyone,

I had a question and I thought I would post it to the board. My father is looking to move from the East Coast to Southern California and he wants to buy a luxury home in a premier neighborhood, with a sense of character, community, and family values. But he does not want to live within the city limits of Los Angeles (does not want LA city school district, or LA city services). He's looking in the upper price points. I just moved to Southern California a year ago, so I may not know as much as some of you about neighborhoods out here.

He is thinking about the city of Beverly Hills, primarily in the flat area between Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. (I actually found out that a lot of the area north of Sunset Blvd. which is still called "Beverly Hills, 90210" is really part of the city of LA).

The main problem is that he wants a brand new home. This seems to be difficult because Beverly Hills is completely built-out. So, he would have to probably buy an older property and demolish it to build anew. But in that case, it would take at least about $4 million alone to find a "teardown" property.

Does anyone know more about the city of Beverly Hills? I have heard that the school district is very good.......how is the community feel and how is the diversity? I have heard that Beverly Hills is more politically liberal, and has a large Jewish and Iranian population.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other cities/locations that are comparable to Beverly Hills? Here are a few that I know of --

- Calabasas/ Hidden Hills (a lot of new construction, lack of diversity?)
- San Marino (very little new construction allowed, large Asian population)
- Rancho Palos Verdes/Peninsula
- Newport Beach/ Newport Coast (a lot of new construction, lack of diversity?)


Thanks for your input!

[UB50]

If he wants a brand new home, he better check the building codes before he does anything. Many parts of LA County have cracked down on new "Mansions" being built on properties that formerly had smaller houses.

All the areas you mentioned are nice. The mansions in San Marino are absolutely *to die for* -- just gorgeous homes. I don't know why anyone would want to tear one down and put in a new one. Beverly Hills does have a large Jewish and Iranian population.

There are other areas you might look at too. The area of Pasadena right around the Rose Bowl is extremely high end. Malibu is high end. The gated communities out towards Calabasas, Hidden Hills, etc. have a lot of entertainment people living in them. La Crescenta and La Canada also have many high end homes. There are some beautiful new high end homes in the hills above Burbank too.

There's a lot of places to pick from around here. How much did he want to spend? Even teardowns in inexpensive areas are expensive!

[aween]

Topanga might a thought. There are a bunch of lots for sale to build big beautiful homes with views.

[Perdu]

Beverly Hills, zero problem in demolition and re-build: it's still Ground Zero of tear-down and McMansions despite some newer law-tweaking.

San Marino, your father would be looking in the wrong place to tear down. San Marino believes that interesting, historical archetecture (such as one can have in newer So. Cal) equates with the "character" of a neighborhood that your father describes, and he would not get the permits for demolition of a beautiful older estate, and rightly so. For tear-downs, look for neighborhoods of new rich, not old rich. Sounds like O.C. is perfect.

[TheRealAngelion]

[quote]

Originally Posted by CAguy

Hi everyone, I had a question and I thought I would post it to the board. My father is looking to move from the East Coast to Southern California and he wants to buy a luxury home in a premier neighborhood, with a sense of character, community, and family values. But he does not want to live within the city limits of Los Angeles (does not want LA city school district, or LA city services).

Many of the premier neighborhoods of Southern California are in Los Angeles actually. Residential areas in LA such as Pacfic Palisades, Santa Monica Canyon, Brentwood, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Little Holmby (Westwood), Hancock Park, Windsor Square, etc.--all contain some of the most beautiful luxury homes in America. Before he rules out LA proper he should consult with a reputable luxury real estate agent to get better informed. Two I recommend are Hilton & Hyland and Westside Estate Agency.

http://www.hiltonhyland.com/
http://www.w-e-agency.com/index.php (broken link)

Also, the people with children who live in these areas mostly send their kids to private school, so I don't know why he would care about LAUSD.

[quote]

Originally Posted by CAguy

(I actually found out that a lot of the area north of Sunset Blvd. which is still called "Beverly Hills, 90210" is really part of the city of LA).

This is true. However, 90210 is the most desirable and most elite zip code of Beverly Hills. Also, the most exclusive neighborhood in "Beverly Hills 90210" is Beverly Park which is technically in LA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Park

[quote]

Originally Posted by CAguy

The main problem is that he wants a brand new home. This seems to be difficult because Beverly Hills is completely built-out. So, he would have to probably buy an older property and demolish it to build anew. But in that case, it would take at least about $4 million alone to find a "teardown" property.

There are still plenty of tear downs to be had in Beverly Hills, but buying an older home, tearing it down, and building a new one would be the more expensive course of action. Most of the newer luxury homes on the Westside are within LA city limits. Again a ruptable real esate agent can expose you to these newer communities.

[quote]

Originally Posted by CAguy

I have heard that Beverly Hills is more politically liberal, and has a large Jewish and Iranian population.

This is true. By the way, the Iranians prefer to be called Persians.

[quote]

Originally Posted by CAguy

Does anyone have any suggestions for other cities/locations that are comparable to Beverly Hills?

There is also:
Pasadena
La Canada
Santa Monica (North of Wilshire near San Vicente)
Westlake Village (North Ranch)
Sherwood Country Club (http://www.sherwoodcc.com/index.html)

And numerous others..... There are more than 250,000 millionaires in LA county, the most of any county in the United States, so there are a lot of options.

[BENZBOY15]

For a new estate that he wants to build, try Bel Air. Secluded, yet close to all. What's nice is that you can build your house as big as you want and there are vacant lots that are on the market. I'm not sure what town Bel Air is in, but Bel Air is going to be hard to beat.

If he wants more coastal, try Palos Verdes Estates or Malibu.

[UB50]

[quote=TheRealAngelion;226837]

There are more than 250,000 millionaires in LA county, the most of any county in the United States, so there are a lot of options.

Without knowing how much this person wants to spend, it's hard to advise. $2 million won't buy that much in LA, particularly not compared to other parts of the country. If he wants to spend $6+ million, there is a much larger selection of homes. I don't know how many are "new" though... A lot of people out here like the character of the older homes.

[greggd]

Hello all,

I recently found this forum and thought I'd throw my thoughts out here.


If your father is looking to buy in west los angeles he should seriously re-consider the "brand new home requirement" What is the reasoning behind this? I have seen many out of towners, who want the new home at any cost end up moving to a lower income area to satify that requirement.

Personally, Id rather live in a 40-50 year old home in a great area, fix up to my taste than live in a brand new box 20-30 miles away which is usually a semi-nice area surrounded by marginal areas.

Beverly hills, bel air, brentwood, pacific palisades, malibu and parts of santa monica are land based prices. Most anyone who wants a new home in these areas either buys an old one and tears it down. minimum is 1.2 million for the lot and probably a minimum of $300.00 sq ft to build/not re-build. Or they buy one from a developer who has already done so and pays top dollar. The 3rd alternative is to buy existing and and fix up what is there.

If your father wants brand new and beverly hills/west side. Price should not be a major factor. If it is, he may want to reconsider the brand new idea.

[Need_affordable_home]

Buying an old house to tear down is not an economical solution when you can buy vacent land for much cheaper. You pay for the cost of the house, the demolation permits(if you even get one) pay for someone to bulldoze it and remove the rubbish, pay for a construction permit, draw up the blueprints and pay to get them approved, pay to hire workers to build, pay for the materials(not cheap in CA!) youll end up paying much more than just buying a vacent lot or a lot with a new house already built!

I saw many vacent lots in Beverly hills under a million. One of the lots is over an acre and a half! Plenty of room for a mansion!

[greggd]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Buying an old house to tear down is not an economical solution when you can buy vacent land for much cheaper. You pay for the cost of the house, the demolation permits(if you even get one) pay for someone to bulldoze it and remove the rubbish, pay for a construction permit, draw up the blueprints and pay to get them approved, pay to hire workers to build, pay for the materials(not cheap in CA!) youll end up paying much more than just buying a vacent lot or a lot with a new house already built!

I saw many vacent lots in Beverly hills under a million. One of the lots is over an acre and a half! Plenty of room for a mansion!

Come on man.

There are currently 3 vacant lots in beverly hills for sale on the MLS site.
The cheapest is $ 950,000. Please direct me to a link where you saw this info.

If you have seen vacant land in beverly hills for sale, it must be 1: up by mulholland and on a cliff or steep slope 2: the southern or eastern tip probably 5 blocks outside of beverly hills. The phrase "its 2 blocks east of beverly hills" is very common.

homeowners and developers buy older home and tear them down because there is no land left in west los angeles. Malibu has plenty of land but you have to get an approval by the city and coastal commission to build.