I’m officially calling this month “Fresh Start February” because in real estate (and for a lot of us), this feels like the actual start to the new year. It’s been a tough 2025 for so many, and my hope is that on February 1, we can all turn a fresh page for a new chapter filled with new beginnings.
The real estate market is certainly picking up, and the impacts of the devastating wildfires are still being felt by so many across the Los Angeles. In the spirit of positivity, this week I want to talk about some proactive measures you can take to “fire-harden” your home.
Before we get into that, a quick question: Did you know that California law requires certain disclosures to be made concerning a property’s compliance with fire safety measures? There’s a a mandatory city inspection that must take place, and the fire department comes out to do this inspection, which must be passed to close escrow. The inspection includes making sure there are no tree branches hanging over the roof, no obvious dead trees around the property, and ensuring nothing is present in or around the home that could pose a potential fire hazard.
During a fire, one of the most dangerous elements is actually the embers because they can fly long distances in the wind and ignite your house, even when the fire itself is far away. This is why it’s critically important to stay proactive and “fire-harden” your home as best as possible. The California Association of REALTORS® recently released a helpful list of fire-hardening measures to take, including:
- Potentially re-roofing a roof built with shingles or wood using Class A fire rating materials like composition shingles, tile or steel.
- Covering vents and chimneys with 1/8” mesh to prevent falling embers from getting inside your home.
- Moving combustible items far from the vents, to help prevent a potential fire should an ember enter your home through the vent.
- Potentially remodeling any wooden walls or interior wood elements in your home with fire-resistant material like stucco, brick, steel, fiber cement or fire-retardant-treated wood.
- Covering rain gutters so leaves, which can easily catch fire, are not able to accumulate.
- Cleaning rain gutters regularly so they are free of leaves.
- Removing dead plants and shrubbery from your yard and trimming any branches that are close to your home.
- Cleaning leaves trapped between your deck boards and sweeping your deck so it is free from leaves.
For many, the next steps are all about navigating insurance settlements and finding temporary housing, as it may be several years before evacuees can safely live in their homes again. With the amount of leases on the West Side dwindling down by the day, I’ve seen people begin to spill into other parts of the Valley like Encino and Sherman Oaks, and I’d expect those numbers to increase over time as evacuees figure out what their new beginning will look like. As always, I am here to help however I can, and look forward to stepping into this February 1 start of the “new year” together.
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Andrew Manning • REALTOR® • Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties • DRE: 00941825 • 818-380-2147 • andrew@andrewmanning.com