5538 FERNWOOD AVE.
Los Angeles, CA 90028 · APN 5544-030-039
UNITS
-
BUILDING SF
-
SF / UNIT
-
YEAR BUILT
2000
BEDROOMS
-
BATHROOMS
-
USE · CODE 040V
LAND
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PROP 13 ASSESSED VALUES, USUALLY WELL BELOW MARKET ON LONG-HELD BUILDINGS.
No market sale detected on this parcel since 2021. The last recorded transfer may have been a refinance, trust move, or family transfer that didn't reset the Prop 13 base.
Vacant / unimproved land.
Rent-control rules apply to occupied residential units, not raw land. What matters here is zoning, density programs like TOC and ED1, and what the dirt can carry.
Recent sales nearby.
PRICES ESTIMATED FROM ASSESSOR REASSESSMENT AT SALE (ASSESSED VALUE DEFLATED 2%/YR), NOT VERIFIED CLOSING PRICES.
Buildings like this one.
ON FERNWOOD AVE · ZIP 90028
This building sits in Hollywood.
RECORDED SALES, MEDIAN $/UNIT AND $/SF, RENT-CONTROL COVERAGE →
The short answers.
When was 5538 Fernwood Ave built?
The assessor roll gives a build year of 2000, which is after the 1 October 1978 RSO cutoff. The ordinance turns on the certificate of occupancy rather than the roll's build year, so a building finished either side of that date is worth confirming with LAHD. Age drives more than character here. It sets rent-cap exposure, seismic retrofit obligations, and what a lender will underwrite.
When did 5538 Fernwood Ave last change hands?
The most recent transfer on the roll was recorded December 2016. Not every recorded transfer is a market sale: refinances, trust transfers, and family conveyances all appear in the same field, and those do not reset the assessed value.
What is 5538 Fernwood Ave assessed at, and is that what it is worth?
The current assessed value is $68,367 ($68,367 land). Assessed value is not market value. Under Proposition 13 it resets only on a change of ownership and then climbs about 2% a year, so a long-held building is often assessed far below what it would trade for, and this one has held its base year for roughly 51 years.
Would the owner of 5538 Fernwood Ave face a big tax bill on a sale?
Possibly. A base year going back roughly 51 years usually means a low tax basis, and a low basis means a large taxable gain on a straight sale: capital gains plus depreciation recapture, with California taxing gains at ordinary income rates. It is also why long-held buildings so often sell through a 1031 exchange instead, or pass through an estate for the step-up in basis.
What is the Hollywood apartment market doing?
5538 Fernwood Ave sits in Hollywood, in Los Angeles. Recorded sale counts, median price per unit, median price per square foot, and the share of rent-control-era stock for the submarket are published and updated as the county roll refreshes. See the Hollywood market page for the current figures rather than a number quoted here.
How do I find out what 5538 Fernwood Ave would sell for today?
Public records give you the frame, units, size, age, assessed value, and when it last traded, but pricing needs in-place rents, expenses, and the condition of the units, none of which appear in county data. A broker valuation puts closed comps and a rent survey against the actual rent roll. Shaya Lowenstein does that free for LA multifamily owners, typically within 48 hours, with no obligation to list.
Leave an email and I'll come back with what it is worth and whether the owner is likely to trade. It does not have to be for sale, and it does not have to be my listing.
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