Los Feliz Hills · Trading Up
Trading Up to a Luxury Home in the Los Feliz Hills
Buy first or sell first, decided with your numbers, so the sale and the purchase move as one plan.
What does trading up to a luxury home in the Los Feliz Hills mean?
Trading up to a luxury home in the Los Feliz Hills means selling the home you own now and buying a hillside house above Los Feliz Boulevard, with both escrows run as one plan. On this site, luxury starts at about $2 million. The hill adds one more layer to the usual trade-up math. You are moving from one kind of lot to another, and the new lot has a grade, a view and a City record attached to it.
The move is a change of setting as much as a change of size. In 1921 the advertisements for this hill sold three things: the hillside setting, the panoramic city views and easy access to Hollywood or downtown. A century later those are still the reasons a homeowner trades up onto Cromwell Avenue or Chislehurst Drive. What they give up is a flat lot and a straight driveway.
About the name. Los Feliz Hills is the name this site uses. The City of Los Angeles knows the heart of this slope as the Los Feliz Heights Residential Historic District in its SurveyLA report. The district runs between Nottingham Avenue and Vermont Avenue and climbs from Los Feliz Boulevard to the edge of Griffith Park. Rooster Homes uses the everyday name and the City's name side by side, because a trade-up buyer will meet both.
What are you trading up into on this hill?
A house designed for its lot. The district was built lot by lot from 1920 to 1949. Each owner hired an architect for that one site, and SurveyLA names Paul R. Williams, Milton J. Black, Gordon Kaufmann and Wallace Neff among those who worked here. The result is that "more house" on this hill usually means a different house, not a bigger version of the one you have.
A street that curves. The streets follow the contours of the foothills. Sidewalks are concrete without parkways. Cedar and carob trees have had a century to mature, and period street lights still stand. Several public stairways cut between the streets, and the 1924 Los Feliz Heights Steps along Cromwell Avenue, Bonvue Avenue and Glencairn Road are City Historic-Cultural Monument #657.
A record with the City. Of the 317 properties in the district, 232 are contributors. The hill also holds individual landmarks. On Glendower Avenue the Ennis House is HCM #149 and the Wirin House is HCM #812. On Cromwell Avenue the Blackburn Residence is HCM #913. East of Vermont Avenue, which sits outside the survey district, Dundee Drive holds the Lovell House (HCM #123). A trade-up buyer who has never owned a house with a City status needs to understand what that status means for future changes. We walk through it before the offer.
A view and what protects it. Some lots look out over the whole city. Nothing in the City's survey record says how those views are protected, so we ask about each one house by house.
Our post comparing The Oaks and the Los Feliz Hills helps if you are choosing between the two hillsides.
How does Rooster Homes run a trade-up onto the hill?
Rooster Homes is a Los Feliz, Los Angeles real estate team led by Brandon and Sarah Arlington (DRE #02051216). One team handles your sale and your purchase so the two calendars stay in sync.
On the sale. Your current home gets the full four-pillar method. The price is built from comparable sales and explained in full, which is the Equity pillar. Within hours of signing, escrow, HOA documents and disclosures start moving. We shoot the Matterport 3D tour with our own camera. After every showing and open house you get a real, specific update with the buyer feedback and what it means for the next step. That update is what lets you time the purchase side with confidence.
On the purchase. Before the first showing on the hill you sign a written buyer representation agreement with us, and we recommend a lender's pre-approval that reflects your equity position. We look up each address on the SurveyLA property list and the City's Historic-Cultural Monuments list before you tour. If a Mills Act contract is attached, we ask for it early, because it passes to you at closing. That preparation is the Educated pillar of how we help you buy.
On the contract. The order you choose goes into the offer. A contingent purchase, closings timed close together or a rent-back on your current home are all written terms. Brandon typically writes an inspection period of 7 to 10 days. On a 1920s hillside house that window covers the inspectors and the disclosures. It also covers the permits and the historic paperwork. Once the seller accepts, an initial deposit of about 3% of the price goes to the escrow company. Purchases in Los Angeles close through escrow and title companies.
Brandon holds the Accredited Buyer's Representative designation. Sarah gives every buyer an in-depth consultation that covers goals and decisions as well as contracts and escrow. For a trade-up, that consultation is where the order gets chosen.
This section explains how the process generally works. It is not legal, tax or lending advice. For your own situation, talk with your lender and your CPA or attorney as well.
What are the steps to trading up into the Los Feliz Hills?
- Estimate your equity. We build a value range for your current home from comparable sales. You subtract what you owe and your expected costs of sale.
- Talk with your lender. Ask what you can buy on the hill before your sale closes and after it closes. Get the pre-approval in writing.
- Pick the sequence. Sell first or buy first. Or use a contingent offer, closings timed together or a rent-back. Choose a backup as well.
- Learn the hill before you tour. Know which streets sit inside the Los Feliz Heights district and which sit east of Vermont Avenue outside it. Know what a contributor is and what a landmark is.
- Tour with the lot in mind. On each street we look at the driveway grade and where guests park. We look at whether a public stairway runs along the property and where the view opens.
- Prepare your current home early. Repairs and disclosures start before you need them, so the home can launch when the timing calls for it.
- Write the offer to your plan. The contingency or rent-back terms go in the contract with the inspection period and the closing date.
- Run both escrows together. We keep the dates on both sides in view and adjust with you if one moves.
What is the next step?
Bring us the address of the home you own and the street you are hoping for. We will start with your equity range and the City's record on the house you have in mind. The wider trade-up method is on trading up to a Los Feliz luxury home. The hill itself is on our Los Feliz Hills page, and our guide to buying a luxury home in the Los Feliz Hills covers the checks in more detail. If you are also considering the hillside to the north of the boulevard in Los Feliz Estates, see trading up in Los Feliz Estates.
When you are ready, talk with Rooster Homes and let us know what works best for you. We will coordinate our schedule around yours. You can also call (323) 201-2724.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does moving from a flat lot to a Los Feliz Hills lot change the inspection plan?
Yes. The streets here follow the contours of the foothills and the houses were built lot by lot between 1920 and 1949. The 7 to 10 day inspection period Brandon typically writes covers the inspectors and the disclosures along with the permits and any historic paperwork. We book the inspectors the day the seller accepts.
Can I trade up into a landmark house on Glendower Avenue or Dundee Drive?
You can. Glendower Avenue holds the Ennis House (HCM #149) and the Wirin House (HCM #812), and Dundee Drive holds the Lovell House (HCM #123). A City Historic-Cultural Monument leads to a different conversation about future changes, and any Mills Act contract passes to the new owner at closing. We read that paperwork with you before the offer.
Which streets count as the Los Feliz Hills when I search?
Inside the City's Los Feliz Heights district the streets include Glendower Avenue and Cromwell Avenue. Bonvue Avenue and Chislehurst Drive are inside it too, along with Glencairn Road and Nottingham Avenue. East of Vermont Avenue, streets like Aberdeen Avenue and Dundee Drive sit outside the district. On this site they are all the Los Feliz Hills.
Los Feliz Hills
What trading up looks like in Los Feliz Hills
The Los Feliz Hills rise below the Observatory with 1920s curving streets, public stairways and period revival homes.
The Los Feliz Hills are the hillside above Los Feliz Boulevard, rising north toward Griffith Park on the south slope of Mt. Hollywood.
- The homes
- Period revival homes built lot by lot from 1920 to 1949 in American Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean and Tudor Revival styles. Landmarks include the Ennis House and the Lovell House.
- Getting around
- Curving hillside streets follow the contours of the foothills, with several public stairways including the Los Feliz Heights Steps (HCM #657).
- Nearby
- Griffith Park, the Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theatre and Fern Dell sit directly north. The Oaks and Laughlin Park are the neighboring enclaves.
- The trade-off
- Curving hillside streets and public stairways come with the slope. The reward on some lots is an expansive city view.
The method
How we do it in Los Feliz Hills
Trading Up: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Rooster Homes?