Dozens of lots burned in the Eaton and Palisades fires are up for sale.
Some Altadena homeowners are intent on rebuilding their destroyed homes, planting signs in their front yards that read “Altadena is not for sale.” But two months after the Eaton Fire razed the area, the first burned-out lot has been sold to a builder.
“There's some criticism among owners in Altadena that, you know, Altadena is not for sale and that we’ve got to keep these lots from quote-unquote falling into the hands of developers,” said realtor Brock Harris, who sold the lot. “But the fact is, professional home builders are going to be building all these homes anyway, and the faster they get rebuilt and sold or rented to a new resident, I think that's the important part.”
Harris said some people, particularly the elderly, people with small children, and landlords, are ready to move on or can’t undertake the time and cost of rebuilding.
But Steve and Lisa Hausler, Pasadena realtors who lost two homes in the Eaton Fire, are urging people to think long and hard before selling.
“We're just counseling that, particularly as we wait for the phase two cleanup to be complete, there's a lot of unknowns, and that impacts value,” Lisa said. “And so to us, it makes sense to potentially wait and see what happens after that time.”
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The burned lots are on the market for $500,000 to $600,000.
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