Escape the hustle and retreat to this gorgeous 1930s Spanish beauty.

Located on a wide, tree lined street, the undulating hills give each home a private feel.

Drive past the lush landscaping, pull into the charming porte cochere and enter a home with both the classic Spanish details you dream of and the quintessential sunny SoCal vibe you crave.

Ample gated parking is your chance to add that classic car to your collection! The large garage is an opportunity for a private ADU. Solar panels save energy and the garage is pre-wired for your electric car. The multi-level backyard is ready for entertaining with it's own firepit and it's even wired for a hot tub!

Features include: smooth-coated stucco exterior, newer roofing, hardwood floors, master suite with private bath, Bosch appliances, HVAC with Nest, quartz counters, and stackable w/d. 

Local favorites ‪Simply Wholesome‬, ‪Orleans & York‬, and Hilltop Coffee are just blocks away. And you're only 15 min from Culver City!

More info and open house times at http://www.30sSpanish.com

Bicycling, running, kayaking, beer tasting at Frogtown Brewery, taco eating at Salazar, sandwich enjoying at Wax Paper, coffee drinking at La Colombe, Dinner at Spoke Cafe...the list of fun around this Elysian Valley condo is endless!

Just past the relaxing fountain is a private gate to the bike path! Walk next door to beautiful Marsh Park overlooking the LA River's wildlife or enjoy the skate park. 

Just beyond your front door is a gorgeous lounge area with two-sided fireplace, BBQ area, and multiple areas to gather and chat. Or stay in, enjoying your spacious private patio while cooking up a storm in your gourmet kitchen.

Enjoy your airy high ceilings, Washer/dryer in unit, gated underground parking, extra storage space, EV charging stations and guest parking complete the conveniences.

Groceries are close, it's just 5 minutes to 365 Whole Foods in Silver Lake.

Your dream of a vibrant urban neighborhood with all your favorite things has come true! Welcome home!

Wait, what? $600,000? You can buy a house for $600,000 in Los Angeles? In an are that has massive growth and potential  increased property value coming due to the stadium and metro line construction? Best of all, there's a 3.51% loan that it's eligible for, with up to $7,000 in closing costs paid! By a very reputable bank  - message me at samira@theartofhouses.com for more info.

Yes! And it's open Saturday February 23th 1-3 pm and Sunday February 24th 1-4 pm.

Come see what it's like to live in an Instagram dream house! An affordable one! More details at www.spanishbungalow.com

Photography by S/wiley interior photography - Stephanie Wiley

Bootstrapping your first home renovation:

Start by trading perfection for progress, and trading your dream home for the home you'll build your dreams in. Invest in real estate, and start living!

Almost 10 years ago I missed out on this house.

What I ended up with was far better than I could have dreamt, but I had to take a leap of faith to get there.

I've been in your shoes.

I've made those compromises.

I'm here to say... it was worth it.

Back in 2008, I was very much inspired by a friend who had purchased a simple bungalow in Eagle Rock, just steps from Occidental College. The house needed some work, but the bones were good: Simple white paint and floor refinishing changed the house so much!

Having long pored over the huge renos trumpeted in Dwell and Domino magazines, this simple renovation, that created a very livable space, opened my eyes.

I saw the possibilities offered by doing the bare minimum, moving in, then approaching the home as a living, breathing design-in-progress experiment.

The approachability of this technique blew my mind. I could buy a house that was affordable at the moment and save up to fix it up, little by little. As the property value and my income went up over the years, I could do more, and eventually use a home equity line to do major renovations.

It was a few years before I could embark on my own home search, but when the opportunity came, it came fast and furious. My best friend had found out and gotten pre approved for a renovation loan and the monthly payment seemed infinitely affordable -- and just a little more than my rent! Those torn out magazine decor ideas could actually come to fruition!

I found the home pictured above and drove by - it was PERFECT. I got pre-approved as fast as my little hands could send those documents to the mortgage broker. Sadly, the house went pending before I had the pre-approval in my hands. I did find another home, but by then, the commute to Highland Park seemed like too much of a trek from my job in West LA. I focused my search closer to the Mid-Wilshire area.

When a foreclosure out of my price range hit the market just a week later, I drove by before work and set up a showing later that day. The bones were great, but the inside was a mess: The kitchen had been inexplicably cut in half, with walls were missing drywall and wires hanging freely to the ground. A toilet was sitting in the middle of the bathroom.

Knowing the potential even basic renovations offered, I was inspired. The floors could be refinished, the walls repaired & given a fresh coat of white paint, and, the kitchen replaced. The rest could wait until I had the budget.

The day I closed on the property, I headed to the house and started pulling up the ugly scalloped garden stones. I finally owned my own little piece of real estate, and the possibilities were endless!

My first six months after closing were exhausting, exhilarating and enlightening. I had to give up my apartment after a month in order to have more money for the renovation; the next few months were spent either sleeping on my boyfriend's mom's living room floor, then in the one livable room in the house while the rest of it was torn up. There was a two week period spent showering at the gym while my bathroom was unusable. There may even have been a time I took an impromptu ice cold shower with the garden hose behind my car in the driveway. It was tiring, but absolutely worth it to have my own home.

My tight budget forced me to be creative with my designs and figure out how to make things happen. When money wouldn’t stretch to a full kitchen renovation, I figured out that lower cabinets from Ikea would look great with simple shelving to hold my plates and glasses. I found a vendor on craigslist who had Caesarstone remnants, and got the countertops done for $1,200. IKEA Billy shelving sufficed as pantry shelving until I had more savings (and a generous gift from my folks!) the following year. Furniture was thrifted and painted to make it serviceable. I found some great low cost ideas at open houses for chic flipped properties, such as drilling wood onto my existing wrought iron fencing instead of starting from scratch.

Slowly, this house became my home

It's now been almost a decade, and my home is worth over three times what I bought and renovated it for. There are still some projects I would love to get to, but my family wholeheartedly enjoys living here. This is the house I brought my daughter home from the hospital to. This is the house where I brought our first dog home to, and also the place he passed away in, in my arms. This is the house where so many dreams came true and where even more dreams were formed. It's not perfect. It's not huge. But it's ours.

I would love to work with you to find your first home and give you the benefit of my experience and creative design ideas. In this age of Instagram and Pinterest-perfect properties, please give the house that needs a little love a chance, and I’m happy to help.

Consider the ugly duckling property, and imagine the difference some paint and simple cosmetic changes can make:

1. Look into a rehab loan to fund the majority of your renovation. Learn how I did it.
2. Set some money aside for a cool-yet-affordable IKEA kitchen (I'm a wizard at manipulating their kitchen design tool!).
3. Look at open box items at appliance stores to save money.
4. Hunt for Amazon Warehouse deals for faucets, light fixtures, door handles and more
5. Browse Craigslist for budget and remnant building materials.
6. Visit Habitat for Humanity (Re)Stores for furniture, tile, bathroom fixtures, and more.

In the startup world, we call this:

Bootstrapping: Starting a business (a dream!) with very little money and resources, focusing on simplicity and function.

Such successfully launched startups are characterized by the tenacity and grit of their founders. The same can be said of a simple, bootstrapped renovation,  making a house livable with the bare minimum and using that foundation to keep building on your dream.

Think about the equity you're building and what your end goal is. Know that this may not be your forever home, but it is nonetheless a valuable stepping stone.

We can make this happen. Together.

P.S. I'll be writing an article soon on how Real Estate Entrepreneurs have taken over Start-up Founders as the new rockstars. Watch this space for more details!

Step back into 1936 and experience a bygone era

6 BED | 4 BATH | 3,699 SQ FT | 5,920 SQ FT LOT

Offered at $1,850,000

The year is 1936 and you've stepped into a stunning Spanish Art Deco masterpiece. The ornate arches beckon you to explore further, along peg hardwood floors into the gracious living room with bow window, high tray ceilings and fireplace. The breakfast area features charming built-ins and a view that spans to the hills. The vintage tiled bathrooms are unique beyond compare.  Two double garages and backyard entertaining space. Period details and updated copper plumbing, roof and foundation plus central heating/air - what a find! The lower unit is equally as charming.

Head over to Memorial Library to enjoy books and sunshine in the playground and park. Or enjoy the tennis courts at Queen Anne Park. Coffee, lunch, grocery shopping, Ulta and Lowes are just blocks away, with the new Sprouts/Target on La Brea coming soon. The incomparable location south of Hancock Park sets you 10 minutes from the Beverly Center, 7 minutes from the Grove and in the middle of everything fun!  

Open houses :

Sunday October 7 : 2-5 pm

Tuesday October 9: 11-2 pm

Sunday October 14 : 2-5 pm

Refreshments served.

4345 W 59th Place

Los Angeles CA 90043

Offered at $750,000

3 bedrooms | 2 bathrooms | 1,346 sq ft | 5,430 sq ft lot

Open houses:

Sunday September 9th 2 pm - 5 pm - Refreshments served

Tuesday September 11th 11 am - 2 pm - Lunch served

Imagine a neighborhood with wide tree-lined streets, undulating hills and friendly neighbors. Enjoy the bike trail (soon to the beach!) or hike your dog along the lake in hilly 400 acre Kenneth Hahn Park. Stroll to hip local Hilltop Coffee, restaurants and shops just three blocks north in View Park-Windsor Hills. Or hop over to blocks-away Googie architecture landmark Simply Wholesome to pick up salads and entertain in your spacious backyard. Best of all, you're only 20 min from Playa Vista, 15 min from Trader Joe's/Sprouts and 17 min from LAX, with quick access via the 90/405.

This remodeled 1929 Spanish style home has charming original features such as beautiful windows, coved ceilings and hardwood floors. Updated systems, foundation bolting and newer kitchen/bathrooms complete this home. Storage space galore, with the large garage having ADU potential. This home is ready to enjoy on day one! With one neighbor to the east, the large lot is a relaxing private sanctuary. Welcome home.

There's even a bonus room to use as your heart desires!

Interested? If you're an unrepresented buyer, I would love to help you see this home and make an offer if you love it!

Call me at 310-299-2110 or email me at samira@theartofhouses.com

Interested in buying a house in West Adams, Leimert Park, View Park, Windsor Hills, Highland Park, El Sereno or other Los Angeles areas but worried about schools? One of the first questions I get from new househunters is asking where to buy a house in order to get their child (or future child) into a "good" school. While many may limit their definition of a "good" school to one with a high Great Schools rating, doing your research may show that you have many more options than you think, which opens you up to more neighborhoods. 

Let's go through the main options so that you understand the basics when you research public schools in your target area.

1. Your home school

Each Los Angeles neighborhood has it's home school that your child is assigned to. Tanya Anton from Gomamaguide.com encouraged us to visit our local schools to see how our child would fit into that environment. Perhaps that Great Schools 10-rated school drills the kids to boost test scores and your child would not respond to such tactics. Look into the students learning English stat on Great Schools, are there a majority of students learning English? This may account for the low test scores, as language learning may affect all subject matter.

On a personal note, I volunteered in LAUSD Schools for many years with my certified therapy dog Chili to work with kids to improve their reading skills. Improving reading skills gives children confidence and increases their performance across all subjects. While some of these schools may have had Great Schools 2 ratings at the time, the teachers and staff were incredibly engaged and supportive of all of the children.

Go visit your local school and then form an opinion. Talk to local parents who send their kids there - online reviews may not tell the whole story and may be missing nuances. Discount the "hearsay" of local parents who have not personally visited the school. In the group Tanya Anton was advised, the mom that mentioned the local school was "awful" actually had never visited the school, didn't understand the rating program and had indeed spoken with a local parent who's child loves it there. Dig deeper when you get information.

Also understand that parents may have different expectations and needs, so a school that work for someone else, may not work for your child. Tanya Anton from Gomama advised our group that at the very least you know your home schools and what it's like if you have to use it as a home base for one year before you switch to one of the other schools you applied for.

Unhappy with the performance of your local school? A group of local moms has banded together to send all of their kids to the local school and volunteer in order to help the school improve their programs. How great to get involved in your community in order to improve it!

2. Magnet Schools

Magnet schools are public schools that were established to promote diversity in areas where there was none. It was intended to be a program where kids were "bussed" in from other areas to achieve this result. In order to attract those kids and parents, various interesting programs were started. Many specialize in STEAM (science, tech, engineering, art and math), dramatic arts or other speciality programs. Perhaps your child has a talent that would be perfect for a magnet school with that speciality?

Magnet schools do have that points system for entry into the lottery to admit students into the school, and the book from Gomama takes you through it in very clear detail. The author advised us to enter even if we weren't interested at the time, since circumstances may change and then we have some points as a basis. You cannot accumulate points prior to just before the kindergarten year and only a handful of magnet schools in LA have kindergarten. For the others, you may need to be in your home school for kindergarten and then transfer.

3. Charter Schools

Charter schools are a public school alternative that is paid for with public funds. The "charter" is an actual document that lists out the school's mission, information about the program they will offer, how they will figure out performance and how they will assess it. Think of it as a way that a school can use newer philosophies without the overhead of the usual bureaucracy. Charter schools may have a bad rep from some folks since they think it's taking away money from other public schools or have taken classrooms away since schools are obligated to share empty spaces. It all makes sense when you realize that LAUSD is the second largest school system in the country and has an $8 billion dollar budget. That's a lot to fight over!

Many of them have great reputations and therefore there may be a lottery to get your child into the school. 

4. Intra-district permit

This option gives you the ability to transfer to a school that has open spots. Perhaps a school near your office has a majority of residents sending their kids to private schools? Then you may have the option of sending your child to that school through an intra-district permit. Gomamaguide.com has been invaluable resource in figuring out our own options, as our toddler starts growing up.

Bottom line: Even if you are currently pregnant, you have more than 5 years to figure out your plans. Schools can change a lot in 5 years. You have options, don't worry!

Now that you have a good understanding of your school options, let's jump into how to find the best values in housing by discovering new neighborhoods!

Disclaimer: my information is based on my personal experience, information from the amazing Gomamaguide.com author Tanya Anton and her book and research on various websites such as GreatSchools.org. Information may change, so please do your own research and visit these resources.

2331 & 2333 Teviot St Los Angeles CA 90039

Gorgeous Silver Lake duplex with massive amounts of storage space underneath, allowing you to possibly build out a third unit within the footprint of the building (LAR2 zoned lot) or expand each unit to almost double their sizes. The yard even has room for a pool, or create a deck to take advantage of that stunning view (See the Griffith Park Observatory!). Or do both!

Each oversize unit has original hardwood floors, very large windows to take advantage of those views and many original features that add to the charm of these homes. Live in one and rent the other one, what a great opportunity to have a built-in retirement fund on your property.

I love talking to both buyers and sellers about fixing up their houses, and love to share my own experiences. It gives me a perspective on difficulty level, cost and what gives you the most bang for your buck. I've renovated my own home, other investment properties and now this home for my mom. You can read more about how we purchased this home in probate sale here. Enjoy these beautiful photos from the amazing Stephanie Wiley.

Imagine a home that had once been loved but more recently had a lot of deferred maintenance. Sam had lived here since his grandmother had purchased the property and the property transferred to him in the 1970s.

The home had suffered tremendous damage during the Northridge earthquake and was renovated in 1994. The house had fallen off the foundation, so a new foundation was poured and the house was bolted onto the new foundation. The garage had collapsed, so a new one was built in it's place. Sadly, all of the original features of the house had been stripped out during the 90s renovation and all that remained was the original wood plank exterior. 

By the time we got it, the property was in rough shape since it had sat empty for more than a year after Sam was moved into a care facility. There was extensive termite damage to the flooring and some joists, plus there was a water leak around a rear light fixture.

We worked with a local architect and engineer to draw up plans to change around walls in order to make this 2 bedroom and 1 bath home into a comfortable 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom open concept bungalow, all within the existing square footage.

We were lucky that a large back laundry room gave us additional space to work with. Design took about a month, with about three weeks for the permitting process. Sadly the original flooring was damaged behind repair, with extensive water and termite damage throughout most of the main rooms. The joist under the main damaged portion was rotted through, and it was replaced during renovation.

Stove: vintage O'keefe and Merritt from craigslist. Faucet: Delta Trinsic, Amazon open box item.

Kitchen : Ikea, custom sprayed Bjorket doors. Liz's Hardware handles. White Quartz counters : MSI

Guest bedroom

Master bedroom

Master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and closet (closet is behind the door)

Third Bedroom

Main bathroom with washer dryer

Master bathroom with pocket door

Backyard

Love the house? Best of all, you can rent it when you're in Los Angeles. It's available for short and long term stays. Click here to find out more.

Before you go off into the internet to watch cat videos, please enjoy this potato quality photo collage of the before pictures.

Photo credit for all beautiful photos: Stephanie Wiley Interior Photography

List of sources:

Firepit - Lowe's 

"I was so fortunate to find Samira! Not only was she a great realtor, but she is so incredibly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of living in Los Angeles--something that has been totally invaluable to me as a transplant from the east coast. I would absolutely recommend her without hesitation.  She's the best!" - Y. Cardinal, buyer in Hollywood Hills.

If you're moving to Los Angeles, I would love to welcome you to this city and find you the best place for you to buy your new home. I know this city better than any native Angeleno, yet have the perspective of moving here about 20 years ago. Los Angeles is a city made up of small neighborhoods and it can be overwhelming navigating the pros and cons of each area.

While you set up your new life here, I can provide recommendations on restaurants, shopping, vendors for your new home and anything else that you need. Clients consider me a mix of a real estate life coach and an incredibly connected concierge, making your move here smooth and rewarding.

And if you decide to move out of Los Angeles, I also have an incredibly connected network of amazing Realtors in other parts of the country.

Let's talk about how I can help you find your new home in the sun.