“After a disaster, there’s intense attention and focus for about a month, and then it completely disappears. The real challenge is the recovery period that follows,”says Sara Skelton, Realtor at EXP Realty and host of The LA Real Estate Podcast.
When the devastating Altadena fire swept through Northeast Los Angeles, Skelton found herself in a unique position to help. At a taco party she had hosted earlier in the year, 12 of the attendees would later lose their homes to the blaze. This personal connection transformed her approach to real estate and client education in one of America’s most competitive housing markets.
Skelton’s path to real estate was anything but conventional. A Canadian transplant, she initially moved to Los Angeles to attend the Musicians Institute to pursue her dream of becoming a professional drummer.
“It was amazing, and I got to tour and do all the fun things,” Skelton recalls. But life took a turn when she and her husband (also a drummer) decided to start a family and purchase a home.
“Rents in Los Angeles, even then, were really expensive. We had a little bit of money for a down payment, and we decided to buy a house and live with roommates,” she explains. “Five years later, we were able to completely renovate the house with that additional income coming in.”
This experience sparked a passion for real estate as an investment vehicle. “I absolutely fell in love with the idea of real estate as an investment and how it sets you up financially for the rest of your life, and how far behind people are who were renting,” Skelton says.
Her own real estate agent recognized this passion and suggested she get her license. Shortly after having her first son, Skelton did just that, launching a career that would eventually lead her to specialize in helping first-time homebuyers navigate the challenging Los Angeles market.
“I get significant satisfaction from helping people get their first home,”she says. “I become friends with my clients. I get very connected to them, very emotionally attached to them, and going on that journey with them—buying a home in Los Angeles is not easy.”
When the Altadena fire tore through Northeast Los Angeles, it hit particularly close to home for Skelton. Altadena had been one of her specialty areas, a neighborhood she frequently recommended to clients who were priced out of Highland Park, Mount Washington, and Silver Lake.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood, very diverse, but affordable in comparison to many other areas,”Skelton explains. “It features beautiful, old character homes, lovely established neighborhoods, parks, views, it’s just a gorgeous area.”
The fire’s aftermath revealed critical lessons about disaster preparedness and recovery that Skelton now shares through her podcast and with clients:
1. Be First in Line
“The biggest takeaway after talking with many of my clients was you can’t wait for anything when you’re in a situation where there’s a natural disaster,” Skelton emphasizes. “You have to be the first in line to call your insurance company, to file your claim, to find temporary housing, to submit your documents.”
She observed a stark difference between clients who immediately contacted their insurance companies and those who delayed. “When you have thousands of claims, you want to be at the top of the pile, not the bottom.”
2. Document Everything Before Disaster Strikes
One of the most valuable pieces of advice Skelton now gives clients is to regularly document their possessions: “Walk through every single room, open every drawer, open every closet, and videotape every single item in your house twice a year.”
This documentation becomes invaluable when filing insurance claims. “If you have a full loss, your insurance company expects you to do a spreadsheet of every single item in your home. You don’t write ’10 pairs of socks.’ They want to know what size the socks are, when you bought them, what the brand is… and approximate value.”
She points out that seemingly insignificant items add up: “A roll of stamps is $100, your key fobs are $500 each. All these little items turn into thousands of dollars.”
3. Have an Emergency Evacuation Plan
“You need a list in your house somewhere that’s easy to access with your top 10 things that you want to grab in an emergency if you’re evacuated,”Skelton advises.
This preparation is crucial because “when somebody is evacuated, they always assume they’re coming back, but you have to go with a mindset that you are not coming back.”
Every client she spoke with expressed regrets about what they grabbed versus what they left behind. “I wish I wouldn’t have spent the 10 minutes grabbing my sneakers and 30 pairs of underwear… I wish that I would have remembered my wedding photo album, my parents’ wedding photo album, and just irreplaceable items.”
Months after the media spotlight has moved on, Skelton’s affected clients are still navigating a complex recovery process. All are currently renting, with none having purchased new homes yet.
“Our loss of use coverage runs out in a year and a half. Where are we going to go? Our house is going to take almost three years to be rebuilt,”one client told her.
The rebuilding process involves numerous challenges:
– Getting quotes and finding contractors
– Avoiding scams targeting fire victims
– Clearing environmental hazards from lots
– Navigating strict California building codes
– Dealing with insurance adjusters
“The insurance company’s goal is to pay out as little as possible, and your goal is to get them to pay out as much as possible,”Skelton notes, explaining why some clients have hired lawyers or insurance adjustment consultants.
Skelton warns that disaster victims are particularly vulnerable to scams. “Fire victims are frequently targeted, which is devastating,”she says.
These scams take various forms:
– People offering to help with insurance claims for a fee
– Individuals promising to submit or redo documents
– Unlicensed contractors offering rebuilding services
– Predatory buyers going door-to-door offering to purchase lots for below market value
“It’s essential that people vet anyone they hire to help… make sure that they’re licensed, check the licensing board, because there are opportunists who will appear, and they can be very manipulative,”Skelton advises.
Beyond disaster recovery, Skelton offers insights into the broader Los Angeles real estate market, which she describes as “very unusual right now.”
“We have very low inventory. I think we have about a month and a half of inventory right now in my personal zip code,”she says, noting that a balanced market typically has six months of inventory. “Currently, it’s very much a seller’s market.”
Despite the seller-favorable conditions, some properties are sitting longer than expected. “People are listing their homes for very high prices. So we are seeing some price drops in our area.”
The key factor? Pricing. “If things are priced well, they will sell immediately in multiple offers. But if they’re overpriced, they’ll sit and then end up chasing down the market.”
Aesthetics also play a crucial role in the image-conscious Los Angeles market: “We like pretty things. People like beautiful things, beautiful people, beautiful homes. So a house that’s dated and cosmetically not nice will not sell anywhere as fast as a beautifully staged pretty home.”
For both fire victims and first-time homebuyers, insurance has become a major concern. “We are all concerned about our insurance premiums now,”Skelton admits.
Her own experience reflects the trend: “My policy went up $1,000 in the last 12 months, which is less than I was expecting.”
For first-time homebuyers, Skelton emphasizes the importance of factoring insurance into budgets: “When we’re writing offers now, equally important to make sure that you are also getting insurance quotes during your inspection condition, making sure the house is insurable and making sure that you know what your premium is going to be.”
For those affected by the Altadena fire, the path forward remains challenging. Building codes in California are extremely strict, and despite government efforts to cut red tape, the rebuilding process is expected to take years.
“Building a hillside home typically takes two to three years, and that’s without thousands of other people trying to do the same thing simultaneously,”Skelton explains.
Her advice to those rebuilding: make quick decisions and avoid changes. “When sourcing materials, you should know what you want, have a first, second, and third choice, and only order things that are in stock. Don’t order custom items, because that will delay everything further.”
Through her real estate practice and podcast, Skelton continues to educate clients about disaster preparedness, ensuring that even when media attention fades, the lessons learned remain relevant.
“It’s a lot of hurry up and wait,”she concludes, capturing the frustrating reality for those rebuilding their lives after disaster. But with proper preparation, future homeowners can be better positioned to navigate challenges in the dynamic Los Angeles real estate market.
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