LOS ANGELES, CA 90038 · APN 5536-020-002
UNITS
5
BUILDING SF
4,528
SF / UNIT
906
YEAR BUILT
1966
BEDROOMS
10
BATHROOMS
5
USE · CODE 0500
5+ UNITS
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 1966 in the City of Los Angeles with 5 units — pre-October 1978 multifamily inside city limits is generally under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, capping annual increases and restricting evictions.
CAP RATES, GRM, AND $/UNIT FROM CLOSED COMPS →
Built 1966 in the City of Los Angeles with 5 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 5 units at 5553 Romaine St, No 5, classified as 5+ units across 4,528 square feet of building area, averaging about 906 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 1966, 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 September 2016. 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 $223,815 ($54,405 land, $169,410 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 49 years.
Own this building?
FREE, CONFIDENTIAL VALUATION FROM CLOSED COMPS — 48H TURNAROUND.
NOT SELLING? GET DEALS LIKE THIS FIRST →
PRICES ESTIMATED FROM ASSESSOR REASSESSMENT AT SALE (ASSESSED VALUE DEFLATED 2%/YR) — NOT VERIFIED CLOSING PRICES.
Possibly. A base year going back roughly 49 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.
5553 Romaine St, No 5 sits in Hollywood, in Los Angeles. Recorded sale counts, median price per unit, median price per square foot, and the share of rent-control-era stock for the submarket are published and updated as the county roll refreshes — see the Hollywood market page for the current figures rather than a number quoted here.
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.