For a 'weird thrill', visit a Los Angeles mega-mansion. This is how it's done, even without money

For a 'weird thrill', visit a Los Angeles mega-mansion. This is how it's done, even without money

For a 'weird thrill', visit a Los Angeles mega-mansion. This is how it's done, even without money

Nile Niami's “The One” mega-mansion is finally on the market for $225 million. But you will never be able to enter.For a 'weird thrill', visit a Los Angeles mega-mansion. Here's how to do it, even without money For a 'weird thrill,' visit an LA mega-mansion. Here's how to do it, even without money

Unless you can produce a bank account with more zeros than the GDP of a small country, you'll never enter the halls of this 105,000-square-foot fortress of glass and marble. Unless you get representation from one of LA's own famous real estate agents, you'll never get a glimpse of the nightclub, or the moat, or the six-hole golf course, or the golf simulator. , nor to the bowling alley, nor to the candy room, nor to the regular-sized cinema.

The One and its myriad extravaganzas are reserved for sheiks and nobles, celebrities as well as CEOs. But that doesn't mean you can't spend this weekend touring some of the other Los Angeles mansions on the market.

At any given time in Southern California, hundreds of stellar properties are for sale. And every weekend, dozens of these homes open up to the masses, letting potential buyers—or just bored folks on a Sunday afternoon—experience the opulence supposedly reserved for billionaires.

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From a high-end real-estate reporter who lives with roommates: There's a strange thrill that comes from walking into spaces meant for those who are far more wealthy than you. If developers insist on cramming huge houses onto tiny lots, replacing the few empty hills that L.A. For huge monuments to opulence and excess, why shouldn't the general public at least be able to witness such properties?

The voyeurism of online photo galleries is great, but it's much more surreal in person. The views are better. The cavern plans, set up to attract a deep-pocketed buyer, are more impressive.

For a 'weird thrill', visit an LA mega-mansion. Here's how to do it, even with no money

Typically, open houses for properties $10 million or more are by appointment only or exclusively for other realtors, but the sheer number of mansions on the market in Southern California means there are dozens open to the public every weekend.

Finding them couldn't be easier: just click this link, which automatically searches the Redfin real estate database for open houses showing this weekend in Los Angeles County and sorts them from largest to lower price. For example, this weekend anyone can drop by to visit a $34 million modern mansion in Beverly Hills, a $22.5 million resort in Holmby Hills and a $17.4 million retreat above the Sunset Strip.

As of Thursday, there were eight properties with open houses this weekend, with prices of $10 million or more. Getting in is as easy as driving up, putting on a mask, and writing your name on the sign-in sheet.

Douglas Elliman's Marcy Roth is co-listing the $22.5 million resort in Holmby Hills, saying she doesn't normally host open houses for such high-priced properties, but after more than 100 runners turned out to a recent agent-only showing, he wanted the general public to have a chance to see the place.

“For a while, we could only do virtual tours or private appointments because of the pandemic,” Roth said. “But people prefer open houses because they can show up whenever they want and explore at their own pace.”

Roth added that high-end real estate typically attracts a mix of serious buyers and casual passers-by simply looking for design ideas.

But at his last open house for a $13 million property, he received three offers and struck a deal in less than a week. He expects to get a few more offers on Sunday, when the open house is held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The home is 13,000 square feet and features custom details such as a three-story wall of water and hand-poured concrete sinks. There's also a movie theater, gym, elevator, pet spa, and six fire pits.

John Giddins of Sotheby's International Realty, which is listing a $17.4 million home above the Sunset Strip, usually sets the limit for homes open to the public at around $10 million, but decided to do one on the home from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

He stays busy with his listings, holding agent events twice a month and open houses once every thirty days, as well as doing private showings for serious buyers. At their latest expo, the Beignet Box food truck arrived to offer beignets and coffee.

“We are working at full capacity,” Giddins explained. “The open houses were a challenge during the pandemic as only a few people were allowed in at a time, but now it is wide open.”

Giddins is aware that among the 60 or so people who usually attend open houses there are some “peepers”—people who are just there to take a look with no intention of buying—but he doesn't care as long as everyone Behave. Open house horror stories include such occurrences as surprise squatters and children jumping on the bed with dirty shoes.

“I always tell clients to hide their jewelry before an open house. I once had one in Cheviot Hills where the seller's watch was stolen,” Giddins said.

Compass agent Lucas Cintra doesn't bother with casual onlookers; he welcomes them. He is hosting an open house on Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. for a brand new three-story mansion in Brentwood, you're expecting as big a crowd as possible.

“You never know who you're going to tell or who that person knows,” she said. “Also, if I lived in a neighborhood where I was able to witness construction work on a house for the past three years, I would be curious to visit it as well.”

To read this note in English click here

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