Marina del Rey · Move-Up Buyers
Trading Up in Marina del Rey
Moving out of a starter home, with the buy-and-sell sequencing worked out before anything is listed.
Check the lease on both sides of the trade
Trading up in Marina del Rey has a question attached that doesn't exist in other neighborhoods, and it applies to what you're selling as well as what you're buying.
Much of the property here sits on a County ground lease. If you own leasehold and are selling, your buyer pool is narrower because fewer lenders will finance it, and the remaining term has shortened since you bought. If you're buying leasehold, the same applies to you in reverse.
The move that surprises people is leasehold to fee simple. It often costs more than the square footage difference suggests, because you aren't just buying a bigger home. You're buying the land, and that's a different asset with a different future.
What trading up actually means here
It's rarely just square footage. Floor and exposure separate two otherwise identical units meaningfully, and the difference between a low floor facing inland and a high floor over the harbor isn't incremental.
Beyond the high-rise and mid-rise stock along the Admiralty Way arc and the Marina Pointe Drive cluster, the step up is often to harbor-front on the Via Marina corridor, or to a single-family home on the Marina Peninsula or in the gated Silver Strand. The Silver Strand turns over slowly, so patience is part of that plan.
Worth knowing: the Marina Peninsula is City of Los Angeles, while Marina del Rey proper is unincorporated County. Moving a few hundred yards can change which government you're under.
Sequence
Sell first and you buy without a contingency, which matters more than usual if your target is leasehold, because financing already narrows that pool. Buy first and you move once but carry both, and a leasehold sale can take longer to find its buyer.
We decide it with your real numbers before anything is listed. Getting a complete HOA and lease document package together before listing prevents the delays that most often cost people a coordinated move.
The general version is on trading up. Start with a valuation, or see how selling here works. Call 310.708.7717 or get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is moving from leasehold to fee simple worth it?
It usually costs more than the size difference alone suggests, because you're buying the land rather than only a larger home. Whether that's worth it depends on how long you intend to stay and what you want to leave behind you. It's a real decision, not a formality.
Will my leasehold unit be harder to sell than it was to buy?
The remaining term is shorter now than when you bought, which narrows the lenders and therefore the buyers. That's manageable when it's priced and marketed openly from day one, and expensive when it surfaces mid-escrow.
Does the Marina Peninsula count as Marina del Rey?
Not administratively. The Peninsula is City of Los Angeles while Marina del Rey proper is unincorporated County. A short move can change your government, your services, and who you call about a permit.
Marina del Rey
What move-up buyers looks like in Marina del Rey
The largest man-made small-craft harbor in North America, with roughly 5,000 slips, and 41% of the community's area is water.
Marina del Rey runs on one structural fact most buyers never hear until escrow: much of the waterfront land is County-owned and ground-leased.
- The homes
- High-rise and mid-rise condos along the Admiralty Way arc and the Marina Pointe Drive cluster, harbor-front condos on the Via Marina corridor, and single-family beach homes on the Marina Peninsula and the gated Silver Strand. Locals describe location by the finger-strips: Bali, Mindanao, Fiji, Bora Bora, Tahiti, Marquesas, Panay, Palawan.
- Why people choose it
- Buyers who want lock-and-leave living, harbor access, or water frontage in place of a yard. The Silver Strand turns over slowly.
- Schools people ask about
- LAUSD serves the area, but note that Marina del Rey proper is unincorporated County while the Marina Peninsula is City of LA. The boundary matters for more than schools.
- Getting around
- Admiralty Way arcs north of the harbor between Washington and Lincoln. Lincoln Blvd is the inland spine. Washington Blvd runs west to the Venice beach end.
- Nearby
- Burton Chace Park at the tip of Mindanao, Mother's Beach for calm no-surf swimming, Fisherman's Village on Fiji Way, and Venice immediately north.
- The trade-off
- Marina del Rey isn't a city. No city council, no city building department, no LAPD. It's LA County Sheriff, County Fire, and County Beaches and Harbors, overseen by the County Board of Supervisors. Ground leases on some buildings affect financing and resale in ways fee-simple buyers don't expect.
The method
How I do it in Marina del Rey
Move-Up Buyers: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with First Key Pacific?