Published October 2026 by Courtney Poulos.
I sold my first home in Highland Park around 2011.
At the time, I had no idea that Highland Park would become such an important part of my career, or that the neighborhood itself would change so dramatically over the next 15 years.
I've represented first-time buyers here. I've sold renovation projects. I've helped investors buy homes, rent them and eventually resell them. I've represented the same properties more than once. I've helped sellers decide how far to take a renovation before going to market. I've negotiated off-market purchases.
And I've made mistakes.
Honestly, some of the lessons I remember best are the painful ones.
Today, people know Highland Park as one of Northeast Los Angeles' most recognizable neighborhoods. York and Figueroa have become destinations. Design matters. Buyers understand architecture and materials. And the price point bears very little resemblance to the Highland Park where I was negotiating bank sales over a few thousand dollars.
Having worked through both versions of the neighborhood gives me perspective that you can't really get from looking at this month's comps.
Here are some of the properties that taught me the most.
6225 Saylin Lane: My First Highland Park Lesson Wasn't About Real Estate
6225 Saylin Lane was one of my first Highland Park transactions, if not the first. I represented the buyer.
We stayed in touch. We became Facebook friends. I went to her housewarming. She asked me questions throughout her ownership.
So when I saw the property listed a couple of years later by another company, I called her.
"What happened?"
Her answer hurt.
She thought I was only a buyer's agent.
Of course I knew I listed houses. I assumed she knew that too.
She didn't.
That was a very useful lesson early in my career: your clients don't automatically understand your business just because you do.
This was before real estate teams became what they are today, but consumers were already encountering teams where one person handled buyers and another handled listings.
From then on, I became much more intentional about staying in front of past clients and showing them the complete picture of what I do.
It's funny that one of my earliest Highland Park lessons had very little to do with Highland Park.
It was about communication.
5153 Irvington: When the Economics of Renovating Highland Park Were Completely Different
5153 Irvington came from another era of Los Angeles real estate.
The property was purchased as a bank sale for approximately $280,000.
I remember negotiating with the bank over two or three thousand dollars and thinking the entire transaction might fall apart over what now seems like a relatively small amount of money.
But that was the market.
The home eventually resold for around $530,000.
It was also one of my first resales for Better Shelter, which became a significant part of my business and helped teach me the renovation-resale business.
And I don't mean "flipping."
There is a difference between renovating a property thoughtfully for resale and throwing inexpensive finishes into a house because somebody told you gray floors were trending.
Buyers can see the difference.
Back then, a purchase around $280,000 and a resale around $530,000 could leave enough room for acquisition costs, renovation, carrying costs and profit.
Today, that same spread would be extremely difficult.
Labor costs more. Materials cost more. Financing costs more. And the acquisition price of a house that needs substantial work in Highland Park is obviously nowhere near $280,000.
That doesn't mean renovation opportunities don't exist.
It means the math has to be much smarter.
What an early Highland Park renovation taught me about the business.
5415 Monterey Road: A Busy Street Has a Price
5415 Monterey Road is technically in Hermon, directly across the 110 from Highland Park. It shares the 90042 ZIP code and is part of the same broader Northeast Los Angeles real estate ecosystem.
This house taught me something I've used ever since:
A busy road has a price.
In my experience, the discount can easily reach six figures and, depending on the property, market and location, I've seen differences in the $150,000 to $200,000 range.
That isn't a formula. Real estate doesn't work that way.
But buyers react to traffic, noise and the experience of pulling out of the driveway every day.
You can't value the exact same house on a quiet interior street and on a major road as though location within the neighborhood doesn't matter.
That sounds obvious.
You would be surprised how often it gets ignored.
The house itself was beautiful. But part of my job is understanding not only what buyers will love about a property, but what they're going to object to—and pricing accordingly.
6235 Annan Way: Sometimes the Best Real Estate Strategy Takes Years
I helped a client purchase 6235 Annan Way as an investment.
It became a rental.
Eventually, we sold it.
Those are some of my favorite client relationships because real estate doesn't always have to be a single transaction.
Someone can buy a house and live in it for a few years. Their life changes. Instead of immediately selling, maybe it makes sense to rent it.
Later, market conditions or their financial plans change again, and that's when selling makes sense.
I've helped clients through all of those stages.
The answer isn't always "sell."
Sometimes keeping a property is the smartest decision.
1041 Milwaukee Avenue: I Love Selling the Same House Twice
1041 Milwaukee is another property I had the opportunity to represent more than once.
I love this.
When I come back to a property years later, I get to see what the owners did with it. What they changed. What they preserved. How they actually lived in the space.
Homes aren't static assets.
People personalize them, improve them, sometimes make strange choices, sometimes make brilliant ones, and then eventually hand them to someone else.
That history matters when you're preparing the property for its next sale.
6150 Burwood: When Design Became Part of the Brokerage
6150 Burwood was one of those renovations where everything clicked.
Our in-house design team worked on the design pro forma and exterior guidance. The finished house was thoughtful, cohesive and very clearly not a generic flip.
We listed it at $1,299,000.
It sold for $1,775,000.
That transaction helped reinforce something I had believed for years:
The way a house is designed and the way a house is marketed should not be completely separate conversations.
The design decisions affect the buyer.
The buyer affects the marketing.
The marketing affects the perceived value.
It's all connected.
That thinking became a major part of ACME's DNA.
4730 San Rafael: The Upper End Changed Too
Fast-forward to 4730 San Rafael Avenue.
The property sits on the Mount Washington side of the broader Highland Park/90042 ecosystem and sold for $3,150,000.
Think about the contrast.
One of my early renovation resales in the area was around $530,000.
Years later, I'm representing a highly designed $3.15 million home nearby.
That tells you something about what happened to Northeast Los Angeles.
But it also tells you something about buyers.
At the upper end of this market, buyers aren't simply paying for bedrooms and bathrooms.
They're buying architecture, landscaping, privacy, materials, views, indoor-outdoor living and a point of view.
Generic doesn't command the same response.
1107 Le Gray: Sometimes the Best Listing Is the One That Isn't Listed
More recently, I represented a buyer looking for a high-end rental property.
We identified 1107 Le Gray.
It wasn't an easy transaction.
The seller initially had a price expectation that we didn't think made sense.
So we worked on it.
And worked on it.
Over the course of several weeks, we negotiated the seller toward a number that worked for my buyer and ultimately supported the appraisal.
That's one of the misconceptions about "off-market" real estate.
Off-market doesn't necessarily mean secret bargain.
Sometimes it means identifying an opportunity before the normal market process, opening a conversation and then doing the work required to create a transaction where there wasn't one before.
What I Tell Buyers and Sellers About Highland Park Today
After roughly 15 years of doing this, one of the biggest things I've learned is that there really isn't one Highland Park real estate market.
There are quiet residential streets and busy streets.
Hillside homes and flatter lots.
Tiny bungalows and substantial design properties.
Renovated homes and serious projects.
Properties close to York, properties closer to Figueroa, and homes that feel almost removed from the commercial parts of the neighborhood.
That's why price-per-square-foot analysis alone can get very stupid very quickly here.
You have to understand the house and the micro-location.
The best comparable isn't always the house that's geographically closest.
It's the house buyers would have considered as an alternative.
That's an important distinction.
Frequently Asked Questions About Highland Park Real Estate
Is Highland Park a good place to buy a home in Los Angeles?
Highland Park remains one of the most interesting residential markets in Northeast Los Angeles because the housing stock and individual micro-locations vary so much.
You'll find Craftsman homes, California bungalows, hillside properties, renovation opportunities and increasingly sophisticated design-driven homes.
But I wouldn't tell someone to buy a house simply because it's in Highland Park.
The right purchase depends heavily on the particular street, property, condition, price and buyer.
How much does the street affect a home's value in Highland Park?
A lot.
In my experience selling throughout Highland Park and Northeast Los Angeles, two similar houses can have meaningfully different values depending on traffic, noise, views, walkability, slope, access and even their position on a particular street.
I've seen a busy-road location create a six-figure difference in what buyers are willing to pay.
That's why I don't like valuing Highland Park homes by price per square foot alone.
Should I renovate my Highland Park home before selling it?
Not automatically.
Some improvements can materially change how buyers experience a property. Others simply spend money choosing finishes the next owner may replace.
I look at the specific house, likely buyer, expected return and how the property currently presents before recommending significant pre-sale renovation.
Sometimes the answer is a substantial design intervention.
Sometimes it's paint, landscaping, editing and great staging.
And sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave it alone.
Is Highland Park still a good neighborhood for renovation projects?
It can be, but the economics are dramatically different from when I began working here.
Acquisition prices, construction costs, financing and buyer expectations have all increased substantially.
I would evaluate a renovation based on today's acquisition cost, realistic construction budget, carrying costs and likely resale buyer—not assume that the margins investors achieved in an earlier Highland Park market will repeat themselves.
Can you find off-market homes in Highland Park?
Yes, although "off-market" doesn't necessarily mean discounted.
I've represented Highland Park buyers by proactively approaching owners and agents when the right property wasn't publicly listed.
Sometimes finding the house is the easy part.
The real work is creating a transaction at a price that makes sense for both sides.
Should I sell my Highland Park home or keep it as a rental?
It depends.
I've helped clients buy properties, live in them, convert them to rentals and eventually resell them years later.
I want to understand the realistic rent, carrying costs, condition of the property, owner's equity position, future plans and whether that person actually wants to be a landlord.
The answer isn't always "sell."
For financial and tax implications, I also want clients talking to the appropriate CPA, lender or financial advisor rather than relying solely on their real estate agent.
Are there luxury homes in Highland Park?
Yes, although I think Highland Park's diversity is more interesting than simply labeling part of it "luxury."
The broader Highland Park, Mount Washington and Northeast Los Angeles market now includes sophisticated design-driven properties capable of commanding multimillion-dollar prices alongside smaller bungalows, renovation opportunities and more traditional homes.
At the upper end, buyers tend to place substantial value on things that are difficult to reproduce: architecture, mature landscaping, views, privacy, special lots and thoughtful indoor-outdoor living.
How do I choose a real estate agent in Highland Park?
Ask them about actual transactions.
Not just how many homes they've sold.
Ask what they learned from them.
Ask how a busy street affects value.
Ask what they think is over-renovated.
Ask where Highland Park buyers push back.
Ask how they would position your specific house.
Ask them about a transaction that didn't go according to plan.
A neighborhood specialist should be able to talk about individual streets, houses, mistakes, negotiations and buyer behavior—not just recite market statistics.
I've been working in and around Highland Park for roughly 15 years.
The neighborhood has changed enormously.
The most valuable part of that experience isn't being able to say I've been here a long time.
It's having watched those changes happen one house at a time.
Thinking About Buying or Selling in Highland Park?
If you're considering buying, selling, renovating or holding a property in Highland Park or Northeast Los Angeles, I'd be happy to talk through the property and the strategy with you.
Sometimes the right answer is to sell.
Sometimes it isn't.
That's the conversation worth having.
