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Real estate professionals and their clients are among the tens of thousands who have fled their homes during the deadly Los Angeles wildfires. Some have lost everything, and the real estate community is taking action on the front lines to help victims recover and find a temporary place to live.
“The hard thing to grasp is the immediate, intermediate and long-term effect this will have and how we’re going to house all these people,” says Tamara Suminski, ABR, GRI, broker and co-owner of the Beach Real Estate Group in Manhattan Beach, Calif. “There was already a housing shortage before this. I’ve had numerous phone calls from those who have sadly lost their homes, and they’re trying to figure out what to do next.”
The devastation from the wildfires—one of which is the largest in Los Angeles history—has been swift and extensive and is expected to be the costliest on record. More than 10,000 homes and structures have burned since the four wildfires first erupted last Tuesday, reducing entire neighborhoods to ash. The destruction covers an area as large as San Francisco, torching about 60 square miles, according to CalFire.
Real estate pros are finding short-term housing or spare rooms for those displaced, sometimes even offering up their own homes. They’re tirelessly packing hygiene kits and supplies for victims, raising money and disseminating disaster relief information across social media.
The REALTORS® Relief Foundation is accepting support that can be earmarked for victims of the California wildfires. Donors, as well as state and local associations and industry partners, can make their gifts through RRF. One hundred percent of the gifts collected through Jan. 31 will go directly to the families impacted. Text RRFCAStrong to 71777 or visit rrf.realtor to make a donation.
Coming Together to Help Victims
As clouds of smoke shrouded the L.A. skyline, real estate pro Tisha Janigian turned the charitable organization she founded, SHE IS HOPE LA, into a triage zone for meeting the needs of wildfire victims. Located just up the street from a mandatory evacuation zone, Janigian, GREEN, PMN, broker-owner of SHE IS HOPE Realty in Canoga Park, Calif., and a team of volunteers Thursday packed up hygiene bags and frantically called local shelters, churches, hotels, RV rentals and the city to find more housing options for evacuees.
“The shelters quickly filled up,” Janigian says, realizing short-term and long-term housing needs will become a critical issue. Janigian’s charitable organization, which was a 2024 Good Neighbor Awards honorable mention, helps to rebuild the lives of single mothers. “Just like the single families we help when they’re in survival mode, they don’t know where to go for help. That’s what we’re trying to do here—let people know where they can go for help.”
She has pushed out disaster relief information and contacts on social media and through her real estate newsletters. She’s partnering with nonprofit food pantries and other donation centers in the area to coordinate collection drives. “Everyone is in shock,” she says. “We just want to get them the supplies and information they need to move forward. So, in a few days, when the reality hits and they say: ‘What do we do now if our place burned to the ground?’ They’ll know what to do.”
“Countless homes and businesses have been lost, and many lives have been disrupted by these tragic fires,” says Heather Ozur, president of the California Association of REALTORS®. “It’s truly heartbreaking, and we know the road to recovery and rebuilding will be long and challenging.” The deadly wildfires also come amid an ongoing insurance crisis in the state.
CAR has been collecting financial donations to provide grants and housing assistance to affected members and staff as well as updating a list of disaster relief resourcespdf.
At least a dozen Keller Williams Realty agents in the Los Angeles area have lost their homes in the wildfires, says Alexia Rodriguez, CEO of KW Cares, the brokerage’s philanthropic arm. Keller Williams is working to help find temporary housing for displaced agents and using KW-affiliated offices as stations to power up devices; power outages have been continuous in the area. Keller Williams also is using its Adopt-a-Agent program to match affected agents with those from unaffected regions who can help them recover.
‘The Little Things Matter’
Alexandra Pfeifer, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty Pfeifer Properties in Pacific Palisades, Calif., lost her home in the wildfires. Her area has been the epicenter of the devastation. Pfeifer told FOX-32 News that she and her family left their home during a volunteer evacuation, leaving with just the clothes on their back.
“We went from leaving our home, thinking it would be a brush fire in a small area, to losing an entire town,” she told FOX-32 News. While she comes to terms with the loss of her home, Pfeifer and her brokerage have been trying to help their clients find temporary housing. “I’m fighting for everyone to get housing because there’s not a lot of inventory in L.A. right now,” she said. Plus, many of those who lost their homes have to pay for expenses out of pocket until they know what their homeowners insurance policy will cover.
Whether it’s food, clothes, collection drives or just sending a message of hope, “even the little things all matter,” Pfeifer told FOX-32 News. “I think everybody is just grateful when people reach out and say they’re thinking of us. These homes we’ve had for years and years. All of our heirlooms, our kids’ certificates and medals from school—they’re all gone. So, even a text and phone call can help lift our spirits. People’s lives are gone.”
Los Angeles real estate agents who were spared losses from the fires were quick to name dozens of people they know who weren’t as lucky.
“We have a lot of real estate offices in the area that have been burned,” Suminski says. Real estate agents who have lost their homes are helping other people even though they lost everything. “The rest of us may not know what to do. But there are things we can do. We can donate—and not just now but well into the future.”
Between packing up hygiene boxes and making calls to find more housing options, Janigian takes a pause to share what she witnessed on Thursday afternoon. A group of volunteers were tirelessly helping to pack and load bags and boxes. Smoke continued to darken the L.A. sky. “It’s toxic in the area,” she says. “The air quality is bad. The power is in and out. We’re being told to boil water. … We’re truly in a disaster zone and in a state of emergency. It’s terrifying and awful, and my heart is breaking for everyone who is hurting.”
But Janigian has taken few pauses since the wildfires began. Instead, she has sprung into action. Since last week, she has continued to fill entire U-Haul trucks with donations and supplies and deliver them to shelters for evacuees. Volunteers continue to pour in to help.
“We are small, but we can be mighty,” she says.
