Hot Property newsletter: Navigating the real estate slopes
How do you sell a house during a stay-at-home order? The spread of the novel coronavirus has forced Los Angeles’ top real estate brokerages to get creative now that agents are relegated to working remotely. Virtual tours have replaced walk-throughs while meetups between agents and clients are now done strictly over Facetime. In other words, social distancing has effectively killed the open house.
But “life... finds a way,” to borrow from Jeff Goldblum’s character in the 1993 film “Jurassic Park.” This week’s celebrity fodder includes a former skiing champion, a Dodgers all-star and a designer-to-the-stars. Our Home of the Week is a Beverly Hills Post Office-area contemporary with medical-grade air purifiers and a two-room pantry suite that comes stocked with a six-month supply of food. The roughly half-acre property is listed for $9.995 million.
Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.
— Neal Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale
Chuting for $3 million
Count Winter Olympics medalist Lindsey Vonn among those looking to deal during the ongoing pandemic. The former alpine skiing champion, who retired last year, has listed her Sherman Oaks home of three years. The two-story contemporary, which can still be shown by appointment only, boasts an open-concept floor plan, high ceilings and walls of glass that blend indoor-outdoor spaces. Asking price: $2,999,999.
Ready to go another inning
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen has put his Redondo Beach home back up for sale at $2.15 million, down from the 2018 price of $2.35 million. A mix of Craftsman and traditional styles, the two-story house sits about five blocks from the beach and features a covered patio and an outdoor kitchen. Dark hardwood floors and eye-catching fixtures are among the features of the four-bedroom house. The master suite opens to a private balcony.
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Ending a long run in Brentwood
“Sex and the City” actress Kristin Davis cut a tie this week in Brentwood, selling her home of more than two decades for $2.45 million. Davis paid just $690,000 for the property, which sits on a leafy lot with canyon and city views. An updated main house and an accessory dwelling combine for more than 4,000 square feet of space with four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Rear balconies and decking extend the living space outdoors.
Interior designer seeks a sale
The Topanga compound of interior designer LM Pagano, whose clients include Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage, has come up for sale at $4.5 million. Set on six acres with ocean and canyon views, the compound centers on a cubist-style home of more than 3,600 square feet. Gardens and fruit trees surround the property, which also has an infinity-edge swimming pool. Winding trails and a seasonal brook lie elsewhere.
From the archives
Thirty years ago, fresh off her co-starring role in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” actress Faye Dunaway paid about $2.5 million for a farmhouse-style home in the Beverly Hills Post Office area. The three-story residence, built in 1937, was described as “a perfect, stone Connecticut farmhouse” in the listing and had a swimming pool and a two-story guesthouse. She would later lease the property to actor Val Kilmer.
Twenty years ago, Latin music superstar Juan Gabriel listed his Malibu home on six landscaped acres for sale at $6.75 million. The estate, which included six bedrooms plus a guesthouse and an infinity pool, was built in 1991. It was a quick sale for Gabriel, who sold the property roughly a month later for about the asking price.
It was a decade ago when Ashley Olsen of “Full House” fame sold her Hancock Park home for $1.399 million. Olsen, then 23, took a slight loss on the property, which she purchased in 2007 for $1.575 million. More recently, the San Francisco Victorian-style home used to portray the “Full House” family home has come back up for sale at $5.499 million.
What we’re reading
How do the rich prepare for the coronavirus? Hot Property reporter Jack Flemming looks into the growing bunker market and the amounts some are willing to pay for high-end disaster shelters.
Apparently buying the most expensive home ever sold in California wasn’t enough for Jeff Bezos. The New York Post reports that the Amazon founder and world’s richest man is on the hunt for a new compound in Miami Beach, Fla.
Real estate company Compass is among a number of startups to slash jobs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The layoffs occurred despite raising more than $1.5 billion through valuation rounds since its inception in 2012, according to GeekWire. The New York-based brokerage laid off 15% of its staff, or about 375 employees.
