Rick Albert, Dre#01884303

Rick Albert, Dre#01884303 This is all things real estate. Ready for the ride? I know I am.

As a Broker Associate (DRE #01884303) and House Hacker Investor in Los Angeles, we are going to talk about what's important in real estate.

Here is a look at where the LA County market stands right now.Median Price: $920,000Monthly Supply: 4.7 months% of Last ...
08/05/2026

Here is a look at where the LA County market stands right now.

Median Price: $920,000
Monthly Supply: 4.7 months
% of Last List Price: 99.3%
Days on Market: 19

The numbers are telling an interesting story. Buyers had a slight edge last month. Sellers are getting close to asking but not quite there, and homes are sitting just a little longer than we have been used to seeing.

One month does not make a trend. We need to track the full quarter before drawing any big conclusions. But it is worth paying attention to.

What it does mean right now is that both sides need to be more strategic. On the listing side, pricing has to be right and the property needs to be buttoned up. On the buy side, expectations need to be set and you need to be thinking about both short and long term goals.

Real estate is a long term play. It always has been. The people who get into trouble are the ones who treat it like a get rich quick scheme.

Is your experience on the ground matching what these numbers are showing? Drop it in the comments.

Rick Albert | Broker Associate | LAMERICA Real Estate
DRE #01884303

08/03/2026

A credit report is not just a number. It is a financial story and the direction someone is heading matters just as much as where they have been.

Someone with a low credit score because of missed payments years ago but who has been fully caught up ever since tells a very different story than someone actively falling behind right now. As a landlord that context is everything.

But here is the argument I hear from tenants all the time. If I have always paid my rent why should my credit report matter at all?

Here is my honest answer. Because debt does not stay manageable forever. If someone is carrying a heavy load of collections and outstanding debt, at some point the money runs out. And when it does, the rent is usually one of the things that stops getting paid. Especially in a market like Los Angeles where some tenants get free legal services and can milk the system to stay in the property for as long as possible.

There has to be some form of documentation that shows fiscal responsibility. The credit report has historically been that tool.

What do you think? Is there a better way to evaluate a tenant’s financial reliability without a credit report? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

Rick Albert | Broker Associate | LAMERICA Real Estate
DRE #01884303

08/01/2026

The developers who are actually making money building in Los Angeles right now are not who you might expect.

It is not the luxury condo builders. It is the ED1 builders. Those thirty unit seven story buildings with small efficiency units, typically in the affordable or workforce housing space. They are easy to fund because of government backing, and they are easier to get approved because California is pushing hard to add housing supply.

Meanwhile everyone else is sitting on the sidelines trying to make the numbers work on traditional projects.

It raises a real question. Has the market and the regulatory environment in California essentially pushed private developers toward one very specific type of project? And if so, what does that mean for the overall housing stock we are building?

Jason Pietruszka from Jason Pietruszka and I get into this and a lot more on The Key to the City of Angels Podcast EP 75. Watch here: https://youtu.be/qfveSqzuVxE

What are you seeing on the development side right now? Drop it in the comments.

Every successful real estate project needs both. The visionary sees what the property could become. The executor makes s...
07/31/2026

Every successful real estate project needs both.

The visionary sees what the property could become. The executor makes sure it actually gets built. Most deals fall apart because you have one without the other. Or worse, the vision may not match reality and it can’t be executed.

Jason Pietruszka from Jason Pietruszka and I get into this and a lot more on The Key to the City of Angels Podcast EP 75. Link in bio!

Which one are you? Drop it in the comments.

07/31/2026

Nobody talks about how much of a real estate deal the government actually takes.

Think about it this way. You make a million dollars on a house. Measure ULA takes roughly half right off the top depending on the price point. Then you get taxed on what is left. Then California takes another 13 percent. Then the federal government takes their share.

By the end of it you are walking away with maybe a quarter of what you thought you made.

And people wonder why development in Los Angeles is slowing down and outside of Measure ULA, part of the reason we aren’t seeing affordable housing being built. Why would anyone build here when the math works out like that?

This is the conversation that does not get enough attention. Is the tax structure in LA actually killing the incentive to build and invest? I want to hear what you think in the comments.

Jason Pietruszka from Jason Pietruszka and I get into this and a lot more on The Key to the City of Angels Podcast EP 75. Link in bio!

07/30/2026

Staying ahead of the market means keeping a pulse on the data and the details. Here is a quick snapshot of what is happening in the LA real estate investing world right now.

Multifamily sales in LA took a major hit but private investors are finally starting to come back in. The interesting part is that development is still declining, down about 23 percent, mostly because of Measure ULA and rising construction costs. Less new supply coming means rents could tighten again down the road. Worth paying attention to if you are thinking long term.

On the legal side, August 1st is right around the corner. If your property is subject to AB 1482 statewide rent control, the maximum allowable rent increase just went up to 8.7 percent. That is 5 percent base plus CPI of 3.7 percent. But if your property falls under the LA City RSO, statewide law does not override those local rules. Know which framework applies to each of your properties before you send anything out.

And for the general tip, with wildfires continuing to affect LA, some homeowners are looking at prefab and manufactured homes as a faster and sometimes more cost effective rebuild option. I sat down with Trace McGuire from The Home Gallery to break down how this actually works. Watch here: https://youtu.be/LGMBzm7rM2w?si=xPycY9PAbPQRK079

What are you seeing in the multifamily market right now? Are private investors starting to come back in your area too? Drop it in the comments.

Rick Albert | Broker Associate | LAMERICA Real Estate
DRE #01884303

LALandlord

07/29/2026

A lot of tenants make the argument that their credit report should not matter if they have always paid their rent on time. And on the surface that sounds reasonable.

But here is the reality. If you are carrying a lot of debt and a lot of collections, at some point the money runs out. It always does. And as a landlord you are essentially allowing someone to borrow a property that in a market like LA could be worth millions of dollars. The risk calculation matters. What’s also not factored in is timeline. All that debt could have been accrued the last month or so of the tenancy. So of course the tenant has a clean record of paying rent. They weren’t in the same financial position as before.

There is also another issue that does not get talked about enough. Fraudulent rental applications are skyrocketing across the United States. The American Apartment Owners Association put out a report on it. And one of the few documents that cannot be easily forged is a credit report.

So when we start removing credit reporting from the screening process like what’s being considered in NYC, we are not just changing how landlords evaluate tenants. We are also removing one of the last reliable tools to catch fraud.

Where do you stand on this? Should credit history be part of the tenant screening process or not? I want to hear both sides in the comments.

Rick Albert | Broker Associate | LAMERICA Real Estate
DRE #01884303

LALandlord

This is the take on AI that I think more people in creative industries need to hear. It is not about replacing the creat...
07/27/2026

This is the take on AI that I think more people in creative industries need to hear.

It is not about replacing the creative. It is about freeing them up to actually create.

Marija Volkman and I get into this and a lot more on The Key to the City of Angels Podcast EP 74. Link in bio!

Do you think AI makes creative professionals more effective or does it threaten the craft? Drop it in the comments.

archicraftUS

07/27/2026

Architects are wired differently. They are drawn to the profession because they genuinely believe good design can make the world better. Business strategy is usually an afterthought. School does not help either. You spend years pulling all nighters, pouring everything into your craft, and then you graduate and do the same thing at a firm because you care that much about the work.

The result is an entire profession full of incredibly talented people who are chronically undercompensated and overworked.

And here is the part that I think is worth a real conversation. When the people responsible for designing our homes, our neighborhoods, and our cities are not thinking about the business side of things, who ends up filling that gap? Usually developers and investors who are thinking about it very differently.

Does that create a tension between great design and financial reality? I think it does. What do you think?

Marija Volkman and I get into this and a lot more on The Key to the City of Angels Podcast EP 74. Link in bio!

archicraftUS

07/24/2026

Here is a quick snapshot of what is happening in the LA real estate investing world right now.

The median sales price in LA County is sitting somewhere between $900,000 and a million depending on the source. But what is interesting is what is happening on the rental side. Class A apartments are starting to offer concessions because there are simply more options. Downtown LA in particular is seeing elevated vacancy on both the resale and rental side. More supply, more negotiating power for tenants.

On the legal side, California now requires landlords to take timestamped photos of their unit before a tenant moves in. Taking photos was already a best practice. But the timestamp piece was recently amended and that is the part most people are missing. Change your phone settings to show date and time before you document anything.

And for the general tip, cap rates in LA typically range from about 4.5 percent in high end areas like Beverly Hills up to 8 percent in higher risk markets. But here is what I am hearing on the street. Investors are pushing for higher cap rates now because of the added complexity of rent regulations and rising operating costs.

Here is the thing that matters most when you are analyzing a deal. Do not just accept the listing agent’s numbers. Rebuild the income statement yourself using your own vacancy assumptions and realistic rent projections. Once you buy it, it is yours.

What cap rates are you seeing in your market right now? Drop it in the comments.

Rick Albert | Broker Associate | LAMERICA Real Estate
DRE #01884303

LALandlord

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