Fires burn through LA neighborhoods as agents mobilize

Shelton Wilder of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California and her family packed up three cars Tuesday evening and left their Brentwood home.

Wanting to avoid the early morning evacuation that occurred during 2019’s devastating Getty Fire, Wilder and her family are now staying at a friend’s condo elsewhere in the neighborhood.

“It’s really apocalyptic out there. It looks like Armageddon or a bomb went off,” she said.

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Wind gusts of up to 100 miles per hour swept through to fuel a fire that began Tuesday morning in the Pacific Palisades. By Wednesday afternoon, the Palisades Fire had burned through nearly 12,000 acres, according to the L.A. County Fire Department. That includes public and private schools, commercial structures and homes as thousands have been forced to evacuate. 

Firefighters are also battling the Eaton Fire near Altadena and Pasadena that has burned through nearly 11,000 acres and the Hurst Fire in Sylmar that ripped through 700 acres. All three were 0 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.

An early estimate Wednesday pegged total damages from the wildfires to be between $52 billion and $57 billion, according to weather forecasting company AccuWeather. That does not account for the Sunset Fire, which erupted Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills.

Movie producer and real estate developer Anita Verma-Lallian and her family could only watch from their home’s security camera as the smoke billowed into their Palisades neighborhood and flames erupted across the street. Verma-Lallian bought the former home of actor Matthew Perry in the Palisades as a second residence in October 2023. She had been in L.A. up until Sunday before heading back to Phoenix. 

“We definitely knew there were fires in the area,” she said. “We did see firefighters on our street as well, which was comforting. So, we hope they were able to kind of settle things down, but then our video camera stopped working probably around 3:30 or 4:00 [in the afternoon] and we have no idea since then. All our neighbors had to evacuate.”

Yaniv Nehemia, a residential spec developer in the Palisades, had just gotten off a flight and was uncertain of the state of his properties when reached by The Real Deal Wednesday morning.

Nehemia’s JNY Investments built and sold the Palisades’ priciest home in July, located on Chautauqua Boulevard. He has two home projects he’s building on Via De Las Olas, along with Toyopa Drive and Ocampo Drive, all located in the Palisades.

Working together

Wilder is part of a network of about 25 agents in the area who created a Google Docs list of furnished properties available for lease. She has six clients she’s currently working with to help them find housing.

Pardee Properties is also utilizing its network to locate available staged or furnished homes available for short-term leases, in addition to offering transportation, food, clothing and other essential items.

“We’ve had a problem with insurance. We’ve had a problem with the ULA tax and we’ve had a problem with the low inventory,” Wilder said. “I really just don’t know how this is all — there’s so much unknown and it’s just very, very unsettling. For so many people that lost their homes, people are in shock, and we don’t know what to do.”

Michael Nourmand, president of Beverly Hills-based boutique Nourmand & Associates, said he too is assisting clients and others in his network with temporary housing. Like Wilder, he said the fires add another unknown into a mix of challenges that have confronted the residential market.

“It’s heartbreaking what’s happening right now;  it’s very sad,” Nourmand said. “ULA, homelessness, crime, interest rates, property insurance and now you throw this in. It just seems that our great city felt like it was rebounding in a good way, improving public perception and desirability. I think this is definitely the worst natural disaster of my lifetime.”

Local offices

Brokerages with local offices in the affected areas have closed those locations. 

That includes Coldwell Banker Realty’s Palisades office, a spokesperson confirmed. Compass’ Malibu, Calabasas, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica on Montana Avenue offices are also closed, a spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Compass’ Santa Monica location on Main Street and surrounding offices are available for work or refuge to its agents impacted by the fires.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and remain committed to supporting the affected members of the Compass family,” Compass Regional Vice President of Southern California and Hawaii Parker Beatty said.

The Agency’s leadership called an emergency meeting Wednesday to coordinate how to advise clients, agents and the community more broadly. That includes help with short-term housing through developers and available leases.

“These fires have impacted everyone in some way — friends, colleagues and even business partners have suffered significant losses,” CEO and co-founder Mauricio Umansky said. “The Agency is actively reaching out to our community to provide support where we can.”

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