Los Angeles, CA 90046 · APN 5525-003-021
UNITS
2
BUILDING SF
2,201
SF / UNIT
1,101
YEAR BUILT
1938
BEDROOMS
3
BATHROOMS
2
USE · CODE 0200
DUPLEX
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.
Built 1938 in the City of Los Angeles with 2 units — pre-October 1978 multifamily inside city limits is generally under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, capping annual increases and restricting evictions.
PRICES ESTIMATED FROM ASSESSOR REASSESSMENT AT SALE (ASSESSED VALUE DEFLATED 2%/YR) — NOT VERIFIED CLOSING PRICES.
Built 1938 in the City of Los Angeles with 2 units — pre-October 1978 multifamily inside city limits is generally under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, capping annual increases and restricting evictions. This is an inference from public assessor records, not a determination — confirm the certificate of occupancy date with the LA Housing Department or ZIMAS before you rely on it for pricing or notices.
County records list 2 units at 852 N Formosa Ave, classified as duplex across 2,201 square feet of building area, averaging about 1,101 square feet per unit. Unit counts on the roll can lag permitted conversions and unpermitted additions in both directions.
The assessor roll gives a build year of 1938, which puts it in the pre-1979 stock that the LA Rent Stabilization Ordinance generally covers inside city limits. Age drives more than character here: it sets rent-cap exposure, seismic retrofit obligations, and what a lender will underwrite.
The most recent transfer on the roll was recorded January 2013. 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.
The current assessed value is $108,789 ($65,426 land, $43,363 improvements). 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.
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.
Public records give you the frame — units, size, age, assessed value, 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.
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