Rebecca Picciotto
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
It's a combination of factors. A big reason is that it's actually quite expensive to hold onto these destroyed homes for your average homeowner. It could mean paying for both temporary housing and a mortgage for years. while also fielding the costs of the rebuild. So some homeowners are doing this calculation in their head and realizing that they simply can't afford the years-long carrying costs.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
But there are a few other reasons. Some other homeowners may have received insurance payouts well below what they expected and are coming to terms with the exorbitant out-of-pocket costs that it might take to rebuild. Others have young kids who just want to get resettled quickly.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
And not to mention, there are also homeowners who had already been thinking about moving out and the fires just sped up their timeline.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
So far, a lot of the purchasing bids are coming from small to midsize investors primarily who might either flip the vacant lots once they appreciate in value or they might plan to rebuild the single family homes themselves and sell them off later. Ultimately, the bulk of the value in any property is in the land.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
What these investors are really looking at is prime real estate, prime land plots in a place that they expect to rebuild and be fireproofed potentially better than previously.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
It's likely too soon to say whether this turnover in ownership is actually changing the demographics composition of these areas right now. After all, the numbers of sales and listings that we've seen are still a very small portion of the thousands of homes that ultimately burned. But the fact that many of these homes are getting mostly bids from investors, that's certainly raising alarm.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
Altadena is a historically Black neighborhood. Black homeownership is a major feature of the neighborhood. And so residents are concerned that
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
As the rebuild gets underway, people who have been living in their homes for decades or who might have inherited their homes from family members, that they might get priced out of the rebuild and that that might change the composition of and character of these neighborhoods that they love.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
In Altadena, you can walk down the streets and see all of these yard signs outside of homes that say, Altadena not for sale. And this is part of this broader movement to fend off predatory investor bids and ultimately try to preserve the character of the area.
WSJ What’s News
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Go Into Effect at Midnight, Trump Says
Thank you for having me.