Jenny Marie Mahalick Petrini has made a big decision in her hands.
In the case of Petrini, the total loss was brought on the evening of January 7th. Eaton Fire decimed a quaint house on the northwest corner of Altadena near Jane’s village, reducing her sanctuary to a mountain of tiled rubs.
“I have a spiritual connection to the house,” she said. “It was the only place I felt safe.”
Now, like thousands of others, she’s calculating numbers on whether to sell her burned lot and move on, or stay and rebuild.
For many people, selling makes more sense. Experts say rebuilding can take years and navigating contractors, inspectors and government deficits isn’t worth the effort while recovering from a traumatic incident. That’s why lots are on the market every day.
But for Petrini – staying is the only realistic option, both emotional and financial, for both mental and heart-full reasons.
Decompose mathematics
Petrini, 47, bought her Altadena home in 2019 for $705,000.
She was able to refinance her loan during the pandemic, cutting her interest rate to 2.75% on a $450,000 mortgage. The move reduced her mortgage payments from $3,600 to $3,000 from $3,000. This is a relative stolen, slightly exceeding the $2,800 rent I’ve been paying for a Tujunga apartment since the fire.
The property was insured by the farmers and was caught up in action after the fire, sending her first payment on January 8th.
Petrini received $380,000 in residential, 20% in extended damage worth approximately $70,000, and $200,000 in personal property. She used her $200,000 payment to cover living expenses like her second car, medical expenses, a little savings, and pushed her $50,000 off to use it for a rebuild.
She estimates that even the oldest rebuild costs around $700,000, and that she can now cover about $500,000: $380,000 and $70,000 in insurance payments plus $50,000 for personal property she hidden for reconstruction.
To cover the extra $200,000, she received small business management loans up to $500,000 at an interest rate of 2.65%. This can be used to renovate real estate. When she starts withdrawing from that loan, she estimates she will pay around $1,000 a month.
It’s a large number, but it’s still much cheaper than selling and starting over.
“I was able to sell lots for $500,000, pay my insurance and buy a new one, but my house was valued at $1.2 million,” she said. “So, even if you put $500,000 in your new home, you’ll have a $700,000 mortgage at much higher interest rates to get something similar.”
As it stands, if she cashes, she will rent in the near future, especially during the housing crisis, where rents go up, especially during times of crisis and some landlords use tenants. Price gouging spiked as thousands of people flooded the rental market in January, leading to the bidding war at the Subbarabarbar home. To secure her Tujunga rental, Petrini had to pay 18 months of rent upfront through her insurance. It totals over $50,000.
“That sounds really advantageous. You sell the land, pay off my mortgage and it’s a debt-free thing. But my kids don’t have a home,” she said.
It’s bigger than money
From left, Jenny Marie Mahalick Petrini and her daughters, Marly Petrini, 19, and Kamille Petrini, 12, look over where their home stood before the fire in Altadena. It was the first time my daughters have seen so many.
(Robert Hanashiro / due to the era)
Mathematics makes sense, but there’s a reason to stay with Petrini. She is emotionally abundant and is connected to the community and the people within it.
Altadena is her safe haven. She bought the house in 2017 after escaping the domestic violence situation. The seller received a higher offer but after writing a letter explaining her situation, he ended up selling to Petrini.
It’s also where she calmed down after abusing meth and waking up and running things as a single mother.
“When I get calm, I go for walks around the neighborhood five times a day,” she said. Trees, animals, flowers, various houses. It was a special place. ”
Petrini once worked as executive director of operations at Occidental College, but in 2023 she took a break to focus on her children and health. She and her daughter both have type 1 diabetes.
Petrini has not been employed since then, and her parents helped pay the mortgage before the fire. She admits to working from a place of privilege, but said it is important to accept help in recovering from something.
“Even being unemployed, I knew I was OK here,” she said. “I’ll trade potting soil with a man who owned a vegan restaurant in exchange for food. You always get what you need here.”
Craft
For Petrini, speed is the name of the game. Experts estimate that the rebuild could be three to five years, and even longer, but she hopes to break the ground in August and end by next summer.
In addition to nonprofits, she also reaches out to electronics manufacturers and construction companies. The goal is to connect your homes along with cheap ones. She recently received 2,500 square feet of siding from Modern Mill.
“I’m not looking for a custom built mansion, but I don’t want a boxed house in an IKEA showroom,” she said. “My house was 100 years old. I want to rebuild something with the characters.”
To help with the costs, she also hopes to use Senate Bill 9 to split the lot in half. She then sold the other half of her property to a friend’s contractor, and sold it at a friendly price of $250,000.
Jenny Marie Mahalick Petrini is diving into the complicated process of staying in Altadena and rebuilding her fortune.
(Robert Hanashiro / due to the era)
To speed up the process, she has chosen to rebuild “similarly.” For projects like this, LA County allows timelines to speed up fire recovery.
Therefore, Petrini’s new home will be exactly the same size as the old one. It is 1,352 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She will submit plans in early June and hopes to get approval by the end of the month.
For the design, she turned to the Altadena Collective, an organization that works with the Foothill Catalogue Foundation, which helps victims rebuild the English cottage-style homes in Jane’s village. Petrini paid $33,000 for customized architectural planning, project management and structural engineering.
“I go with whatever is fastest and most efficient. If we run out of money, someone who needs a drywall,” she said. “I want to rebuild my house first.”
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Petrini and her daughters are compiling vision boards for their dream kitchen and bathroom, but she knows that sacrifices will be made.
“It’s going to be a scavenger hunt that will accomplish this. We’re going to use materials that we can find,” she said. “But it will have a story, like Altadena.”
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