Jennie Marie Mahalick Petrini has a great decision in her hands.
For Petrini, the night of January 7 brought a total loss. Eaton's fire He decimated his picturesque house in the northwest corner of Altadena near the village of Jane, reducing his sanctuary to a pile of rubble.
“I have a spiritual connection with that house,” he said. “It was the only place where I felt safe.”
Now, like thousands of others, it is reducing the numbers on whether to sell their burned lot and move on, or stay and rebuild.
For many, it makes more sense to sell. Experts estimate that a reconstruction could take years, and navigate contractors, inspectors and government bureaucracy, all while recovering from a traumatic incident, it simply is not worth the effort. Is the reason why lots are Draw the market daily.
But by Petrini, for emotional and financial reasons, a fusion of head and heart, staying is the only realistic option.
Breaking mathematics
Petrini, 47, bought his home in Altadena, where he lived with his partner and two daughters, for $ 705,000 in 2019. Built in 1925, there are 1,352 square feet with three rooms and two bathrooms in a thin lot of just over 5,300 square feet.
He was able to refinance its loan during the pandemic, reducing the interest rate to 2.75% in a mortgage of $ 450,000. The measure brought its mortgage payments from $ 3,600 to $ 3,000, a relative robbery, and only a little more than the rent of $ 2,800 that you have been paying for a Tujunga apartment from the fire.
The property was assured by the farmers, who went into action after the fire, sending the first of his payments on January 8.
Petrini received $ 380,000 for housing, an additional 20% for prolonged damage equivalent to approximately $ 70,000 and $ 200,000 per personal property. He used the payment of $ 200,000 to cover life expenses, such as a second car, medical invoices and a little savings, and also obtained $ 50,000 for use for reconstruction.
She estimates that even the most attractive reconstruction will cost around $ 700,000, and at this time, she can cover around $ 500,000: the insurance payments of $ 380,000 and $ 70,000, plus $ 50,000 of the personal property payment that met for a reconstruction.
To cover the additional $ 200,000, it received a loan of administration of small businesses of up to $ 500,000 with an interest rate of 2.65%, which can be used for property renewals. Once you start getting out of that loan, you estimate that you will pay around $ 1,000 per month, which, combined with your $ 3,000 mortgage, total approximately $ 4,000.
It is a considerable number, but even much cheaper than selling and starting again.
“I could sell the lot for $ 500,000, take my insurance payment and buy something new, but my house was valued at $ 1.2 million,” he said. “Then, even if I put $ 500,000 in a new house, to get something similar, it would have a mortgage of $ 700,000 with a much higher interest rate.”
As it is, if charged, it would be rented in the foreseeable future in the middle of a housing crisis where rentals and some owners increase the tenants, especially in times of crisis. Price Group He shot when Miles flooded the rental market in January, which led to bidding wars for subvaranral housing. To ensure its Tujunga rental, Petrini, through its insurance, had to pay 18 months of rent in advance, a total of more than $ 50,000.
“It sounds so lucrative: selling the earth, paying my mortgage and being free of debts. But then my children would not have a home,” he said.
Bigger than money
Jennie Marie Mahalick Petrini, on the left, and her daughters, Marli Petrini, 19, and Camille Petrini, 12, look at the lot where her house was before Altadena's fire. It was the first time the daughters reviewed the lot.
(Robert Hanashiro / for the Times)
While mathematics makes sense, Petrini has bigger reasons to stay: it is emotionally linked to the lot, the community and the people within it.
Altadena is a safe shelter for her. She bought her house after escaping a situation of domestic violence in 2017. The seller had greater offers, but ended up selling to Petrini after she wrote a letter explaining her circumstances.
It is also the place where he became sober after abusing stimulants to stay awake and keep things working as a single mother.
“When I was sober, I went for a walk five times a day through the neighborhood,” he said. The trees, animals, flowers, the variety of houses. It was, it is a special place. “
Petrini once worked as Executive Director of Operations in Western College, but took a break in 2023 to concentrate on their children and their health. She and a daughter have type 1 diabetes.
Petrini has not been used since then, and her parents helped her to pay the mortgage before the fire. She acknowledges that she is operating from a place of privilege, but said that accepting help is crucial when she recovers from something.
“Even being unemployed, I knew it would be fine here,” he said. “It would change land for pots with a man who had a Vegan restaurant in exchange for food. You always get what you need here.”
Putting cunning
For Petrini, speed is the name of the game. Experts estimate that reconstruction could take somewhere between three and five years or even more, but hopes to start in August and end next summer.
In addition to non -profit organizations, it is also communicating with manufacturers of appliances and construction companies. The goal is to join a house with what is cheap, or even better, free. Recently he received 2,500 square feet of modern mill coating.
“I'm not looking for a personalized mansion, but I don't want a house in the IKEA exhibition hall,” he said. “My house was 100 years old and I want to rebuild something with the character.”
To help with costs, she also hopes to use Senate bill 9 To divide your lot in half. Then he would sell the other half of the property to his contractor, a friend, for a friendly price of $ 250,000.
Jennie Marie Mahalick Petrini is immersing himself in the complicated process of staying in Altadena and rebuilding her property.
(Robert Hanashiro / for the Times)
To accelerate the process, it is opting for a “similar” reconstruction, structures that reflect whatever they are replacing. For such projects, The County of the is stirring Allow the deadlines to accelerate fire recovery.
Then, Petrini's new house will be exactly the same size as old: 1,352 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She presented plans in early June and hopes to obtain approval by the end of the month.
For design, she turned to Altadena collectivean organization that collaborates with the Stomach Catalog base That is helping to set up the victims in Jane's Village to rebuild the English cabin -style houses for which the neighborhood is known. For personalized architectural plans, project management and structural engineering, Petrini paid $ 33,000, approximately half of what would have paid someone else, he said.
“I go with what is faster and more efficient. If we run out of money, who needs plaster panels,” he said. “I want my house to be the first rebuilt.”
It doesn't have to be perfect. Petrini and his daughters have been compiling cooking boards and bathrooms of their dreams, but she knows that sacrifices will be made.
“It will be a treasure search to do this. We are going to use any material we can find,” he said. “But it will have a story. Like Altadena.”
