What It Is Actually Like to Own in Playa del Rey

I work out of an office on Culver Boulevard, so I see Playa del Rey every day. It is the smallest beach town in Los Angeles and most people driving to LAX have no idea it is there.

The town sits in three parts. There is the flats, down by Culver and Pershing, which is where the older duplexes and small apartment buildings are. There is the bluff above it, where you get the ocean views and the 1950s and 60s houses on Rees, Napoleon, Waterview, and Billowvista. And there is the condo stock along Manitoba, Delgany, Falmouth and Tuscany, most of it built in the seventies and eighties, much of it in large complexes with pools.

The flight path

I am going to deal with this first because everyone asks and most agents dance around it. Playa del Rey sits south of the runways. Departures on a west flow go out over the water. Arrivals come in over Westchester, not over most of Playa del Rey. What you get here is noise that is real but intermittent, and it varies enormously block to block.

The only way to know is to stand on the property at different times of day. I tell buyers to go on a weekday morning and again on a Saturday afternoon. If the noise is a problem for you it will be obvious in ten minutes. If it is not, you are buying a beach town at a discount to Manhattan Beach because other people could not get past it.

What people get wrong

They compare the condo stock to Playa Vista and conclude Playa del Rey is dated. Some of it is. But the condos here sit on the water side of Lincoln and many of them have ocean views, and the HOA dues are frequently lower than what you pay in a newer building two miles inland.

The other thing people miss is the lot sizes on the bluff. Some of those parcels are large by Westside standards and a number of them have been sitting with original houses on them since the sixties. If you are looking for something to add square footage to, the bluff is where I would look.

Who lives here

A lot of long-time owners who bought decades ago and never left. Airline crews, because of the proximity. People who work in the Silicon Beach corridor and did not want to pay Venice prices. And a fair number of people who sold something bigger and wanted to be near the water without the Manhattan Beach number.

What sells and what sits

Anything on the bluff with an ocean view sells. Ground floor condos facing the parking lot sit. Renovated units move quickly because so much of the stock has not been touched since it was built, and a buyer who does not want a project will pay a premium to avoid one.

What to ask before you buy here

Get the HOA reserve study on any condo. Several of the larger complexes here are old enough to be facing significant deferred maintenance, and a healthy reserve is the difference between predictable dues and a five figure special assessment.

If you are looking on the bluff, pull the geotechnical history on the parcel. This is a coastal bluff and some of it has movement history.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in Playa del Rey, call me at (310) 861-3459.