Guess what we get for one bedrooms with no parking on Westmoreland in East Hollywood. Give up?
$1,500 / month.
Here is an ad for the 2 bedroom unit that we have on the market now. We’re asking $2,000 and we’ll definitely get it. [Edit: We got it.]
On a per square foot basis, those rents rival anything landlords get in West Hollywood. How is this possible?
Two things are going on, one any owner can control and one that’s just dumb luck:
1. We have amazing units. We gutted the building when we bought it and completely turned the apartments into little homes that people are proud to live in. A lot of that is just good design; it’s not like we spent a ton of money on high-end appliances or designer tiles. Here’s an example:
2. Location. East Hollywood is very close to Sunset Junction, which is one of the coolest, most walkable parts of LA. It’s not rocket science. Given a choice, most young people with money to spend on rent want to live near enough to bars and restaurants and cafes that they can have a great life without getting DUIs. Here’s where we are relative to Sunset Junction:
So here’s my challenge to my fellow landlords on Westmoreland and all over East Hollywood: Why aren’t you getting the same rents we are? Why not spend a bit of money on your buildings and turn them into the kind of places people actually want to live.
Make them more like this:
And less like this:
