Jennie Marie Mahalick Petrini must make a significant choice.
The night of January 7 was a complete defeat for Petrini.Her haven was reduced to a heap of debris when the Eaton fire destroyed her charming house in the northwest part of Altadena, close to Jane’s Village.
She said, “I have a spiritual connection to that house.” It was the only location where I felt secure.
Like thousands of others, she is currently calculating the pros and cons of staying and rebuilding or selling her charred lot and moving on.
Selling makes more sense for many. Rebuilding might take years, according to experts, and dealing with contractors, inspectors, and government red tape while recuperating from a traumatic event isn’t worth the effort. Many are reaching the market every day because of it.
However, for Petrini, a combination of heart and head is the only practical solution for both financial and emotional reasons.
Breaking down the math
In 2019, 47-year-old Petrini paid $705,000 for her Altadena house, where she resided with her spouse and two daughters. It was constructed in 1925 and occupies 1,352 square feet on a slender lot that is slightly larger than 5,300 square feet. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
During the epidemic, she was able to restructure her loan, resulting in a $450,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 2.75%. Her mortgage payments dropped from $3,600 to $3,000 as a result of the transfer, which is a relative steal and just marginally higher than the $2,800 rent she has been paying for an apartment in Tujunga since the fire.
Farmers, the property’s insurance provider, jumped into action after the fire and sent out her first compensation on January 8.
Petrini was paid $380,000 for the house, an additional 20% for more extensive damage, which came to about $70,000, and $200,000 for personal belongings. She put $50,000 aside for rebuilding and used the $200,000 settlement to pay for living needs including a second car, medical bills, and some savings.
Even the cheapest reconstruction, according to her, will cost about $700,000. At the moment, she can pay about $500,000, which includes $50,000 from the personal property compensation she saved for a rebuild as well as the $380,000 and $70,000 insurance payouts.
She obtained a $500,000 loan from the Small Business Administration with an interest rate of 2.65% to pay the additional $200,000, which she can spend for home improvement. She calculates that once she begins making payments on that loan, she will pay around $1,000 a month, which, when added to her $3,000 mortgage, comes to almost $4,000.
Even if it’s a big sum, it’s still far less expensive than selling and starting over.
My house was worth $1.2 million, but I could sell the lot for $500,000, get my insurance money, and purchase something new, she added. Therefore, I would need a $700,000 mortgage with a significantly higher interest rate even if I paid $500,000 down on a new home to get something comparable.
In the current housing crisis, where rents are rising and some landlords take advantage of renters, particularly during times of crisis, she would be renting for the foreseeable future if she cashed out.As thousands of people rushed the rental market in January, price gouging escalated and bidding wars broke out for subpar properties. Petrini had to pay 18 months’ worth of rent in advance, or more than $50,000, through her insurance to guarantee her Tujunga rental.
The idea of selling the land, paying off my mortgage, and being debt-free sounds so profitable. But then, she continued, my kids wouldn’t have a place to live.
Bigger than money
Petrini has more compelling reasons for remaining, despite the fact that the math makes sense: she has strong emotional ties to the land, the neighborhood, and its residents.
She finds refuge in Altadena. After fleeing domestic abuse in 2017, she purchased her home. After Petrini drafted a letter outlining her situation, the seller ultimately decided to sell to her despite having better bids.
She also got sober there after misusing stimulants to stay up and manage her life as a single mother.
“I used to walk around the neighborhood five times a day when I was getting sober,” she added. The variety of dwellings, the flowers, the animals, and the trees. It was an exceptional location.
After serving as Occidental College’s executive director of operations, Petrini took a leave of absence in 2023 to prioritize her health and her kids. She has Type 1 diabetes, as does her daughter.
Prior to the fire, Petrini’s parents assisted her in paying the mortgage, but she hasn’t had a job since. Although she admits that she benefits from privilege, she asserted that getting treatment is essential to healing.
“I just knew I’d be okay here, even though I’m unemployed,” she remarked. If there was a man who ran a vegan restaurant, I would give him potting soil in return for food. Here, you can always find what you need.
Getting crafty
The key to success for Petrini is speed. Rebuilding might take three to five years, or perhaps longer, according to experts, but she hopes to start construction in August and be done by following summer.
She is contacting building firms and appliance manufacturers in addition to organizations. The objective is to assemble a house using whatever is inexpensive or, better yet, free. Modern Mill just sent her 2,500 square feet of siding.
She stated, “I don’t want an IKEA showroom box house, but I’m not looking for a custom-built mansion either.” My house was a century old, and I want to reconstruct it in a way that has personality.
She also hopes to divide her lot in half using Senate Bill 9 to aid with expenses. She would then offer her friend, who is a contractor, the other half of the property for a reasonable $250,000.
She is choosing a like-for-like rebuilding strategy that mimics the structures being replaced in order to expedite the process. In order to expedite fire recovery, Los Angeles County is accelerating permit timeframes for such projects.
Therefore, Petrini’s new home will be 1,352 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, much like the old one. She hopes to receive approval by the end of the month after submitting her proposals in early June.
She went to Altadena Collective, a group working with the Foothill Catalog Foundation to aid fire victims in Jane’s Village restore the English Cottage-style homes that have made the neighborhood famous, for the design. According to her, Petrini paid them $33,000 for structural engineering, project management, and unique architectural plans—roughly half of what she would have paid someone else.
Whatever is fastest and most effective is what I’m going with. “Who needs drywall if we run out of money?” she asked. My goal is to be the first home to be rebuilt.
It doesn’t need to be flawless. Petrini is aware that compromises would have to be made, but she and her girls have started creating vision boards of their ideal kitchens and baths.
To finish this, it will be a scavenger hunt. She said, “We’re going to use whatever material we can find.” But there will be a backstory. similar to Altadena.
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