Celeb Realtor Josh Altman Says Most Displaced Palisades Residents Won’t Return

UNKNOWN: “What’s the vibe like? Obviously, you said you’ve lost — you’ve had friends that have lost homes in the Palisades.”

ALTMAN: “Yeah.”

UNKNOWN: “What’s the vibe like? Do they want to move back to the Palisades? Are they considering moving elsewhere? Do they —“

ALTMAN: “Yeah. So, that’s a great question. Look, this is hard to say. I strongly believe that 50 percent of the people who lived in the Palisades are not going to be moving back to the Palisades.”

UNKNOWN: “Why?”

ALTMAN: “Yeah. And honestly, that number wasn’t as big last week in my mind, but after the phone calls that I’ve been getting, people who are moving to Brentwood, Santa Monica, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, those are going to be the markets that are going to go up. Because people want to be as close to normalcy as possible. And those are those towns right around the Palisades, those are going to go up, that market, that’s where they’re going to move. It’s going to be too long. You got to realize, Palisades is the all-American town, right? The families running around, it’s like what you picture towns in movies that we used to watch. These kids that are five years old right now that live in the Palisades and go to school, there’s a chance that if things don’t move fast, it could be four to five years before they’re back there. These kids are now 10. They’re going to different schools, different lives now, you know, so it’s — it’s tough. Because, picture you living on a street, you’re the first house to finish, and every other house on the street is in construction. Think about that. You don’t want to do that. You want to wake up every single morning and be reminded of that?”

UNKNOWN: “Right. It’s traumatic.”

ALTMAN: “I’m negotiating almost a dozen deals right now on land in the Palisades, much faster than I ever thought I would be doing. People are already trying to sell their dirt, knowing that they’re not going to go back there, to home builders that will then build their house and either keep it or sell it.”

UNKNOWN: “So, who’s — because obviously some people with the Woolsey Fire, this is, this could be their second time rebuilding with Malibu and stuff like that.”

ALTMAN: “It’s just hard.”

UNKNOWN: “Who’s going to move to the Palisades? Or are we going to see that city kind of end?”

ALTMAN: “The calls that I’ve got have been across the board of, I’m 70 years old, I just evacuated for my last time. I’m out. I’m never going back.”

UNKNOWN: “Where are they going?”

ALTMAN: “Ok, that was the Palisades. So they, they’re either going locally or because of, you know, they’re fed up with the regulations and government, they’re out.”

UNKNOWN: “Of California?”

ALTMAN: “California. And if they’re not and they’re out of L.A., they’re going down to Newport Beach. I’m getting a huge amount of calls from people want to move down to Orange County.”

UNKNOWN: “Really?”

ALTMAN: “Yeah. Majority of the people, unfortunately, because I’ve been on the phone with my insurance agent for hours every day, majority of the people were heavily uninsured and that’s an issue. And that’s why they’re not going to go back to the Palisades, because in order to recreate the house that they lived in, their dream house, they’re not going to be able to afford it, and that’s just a horrible thing.”