Sale Price $625,000 (25K Above Ask)
In Los Angeles, some properties do not just change hands. They change chapters. When someone has owned a building since 1966, the sale is rarely about chasing a peak price or timing a headline. It is usually about relief, clarity, and a family finally deciding what they want the next decade to look like.
That is exactly what brought us to 114 E 102nd St. We started working with the owner and her two adult children in early 2024. By the time we met, the property had already given them the full long term owner experience: years of responsibility, periodic surprises, and the kind of management headaches that are uniquely familiar to small Los Angeles housing providers. The owner was ready to simplify. She wanted liquidity, fewer moving parts, and a plan she could feel confident about, not just a quick transaction.
The property itself made the conversation more nuanced, and more interesting. It is a duplex, but it does not behave like a typical duplex. One unit comes from an earlier era of Los Angeles housing and falls under the city’s rent stabilization rules. The other unit was built in 2007 and operates under a different regulatory reality, meaning it is not subject to LA RSO and instead follows the statewide framework that applies to newer construction. Two units, two timelines, two sets of constraints and opportunities. For a smart buyer, that split matters. For a long term owner deciding whether to sell, it matters even more.
Our first job was education. Not in a lecture way, in a decision support way. We walked the family through what buyers would actually underwrite, how rent regulation would be interpreted, and what risks would make certain buyers hesitate. We also spent a meaningful amount of time on the part most broker conversations skip: taxes and exit planning. When a family has held real estate for decades, the sale price is only one line item. We discussed the range of options they could explore, including whether a 1031 exchange might fit, what an exchange process really looks like in practice, and how to pressure test liquidity versus deferral depending on their goals. We were deliberate about making sure they had information, not just opinions, and we encouraged them to validate everything with their tax professionals so their decisions were grounded.
Once the family had clarity, our job shifted from education to execution. With a property like this, the marketing is not about hype. It is about precision. The right buyer is not simply the one with the highest number on day one. It is the buyer who understands the regulatory split, has a realistic plan for operations, and can perform through escrow. We positioned the asset accordingly, framed the story in a way that respected the ownership history, and ran a process designed to create real engagement rather than casual tire kicking.
The outcome reflected that approach. We generated multiple offers, created genuine competition, and negotiated a final sale that landed $25,000 above asking. That number matters, but not because it makes a good screenshot. It matters because it is the byproduct of a clean process: proper positioning, clear buyer education, and a family that was confident enough in the plan to hold their ground when it counted.
If you are a long term owner in Los Angeles, this deal has a simple takeaway. The market rewards clarity. When you understand what you own, how regulation affects it, and what your tax and timing options look like, you stop guessing. You start choosing. If you are thinking about selling a property you have owned for years, and you want a clear plan before you ever pick a list price, reach out. We are happy to walk you through the same decision framework we used here, calmly and without pressure.