Topanga, CA 90290 · APN 4440-006-017
UNITS
3
BUILDING SF
3,108
SF / UNIT
1,036
YEAR BUILT
1905
BEDROOMS
5
BATHROOMS
3
USE · CODE 0300
TRIPLEX
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.
Outside LA RSO coverage on these records — most California multifamily over 15 years old falls under the AB 1482 statewide cap of 5% plus CPI, never more than 10% per year.
PRICES ESTIMATED FROM ASSESSOR REASSESSMENT AT SALE (ASSESSED VALUE DEFLATED 2%/YR) — NOT VERIFIED CLOSING PRICES.
Outside LA RSO coverage on these records — most California multifamily over 15 years old falls under the AB 1482 statewide cap of 5% plus CPI, never more than 10% per year. 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 3 units at 1491 N Topanga Canyon Blvd, No 1, classified as triplex across 3,108 square feet of building area, averaging about 1,036 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 1905, 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 August 2020. 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 $897,946 ($724,158 land, $173,788 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 23 years.
Possibly. A base year going back roughly 23 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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FREE, CONFIDENTIAL VALUATION FROM CLOSED COMPS — 48H TURNAROUND.
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