Welcome back to the real estate newsletter. We’ve seen plenty of mega-mansions fetch astronomical prices over the years, but the mid-May market showed us how valuable a piece of land can be.

Tobey Maguire started the week hauling $ 10.75 million for an empty acre to Brentwood. No house. No grass. Just a piece of land in one of the wealthiest communities in Los Angeles. It was the second most expensive land sale to date this year.

Soon after, a 3,600-acre plot of land spread out in Ojai surfaced for sale with a much higher price tag: $ 100 million. Known as the Black Mountain Ranch, the working cattle and horse ranch is made up of 63 plots and offers little more than the Maguire property, with a mansion, four guest rooms, a lake, a tennis court and a shooting range.

A few celebrities have also found places to settle down for the summer. Black-ish designer Kenya Barris paid $ 7.25 million for a house on the water in Toluca Lake, and media heir Lachlan Murdoch paid $ 29.8 million for a boathouse – yes, a boathouse – in the Australian suburb of Point Piper.

For all tenants, good news came from Sacramento this week in the form of Gavin Newsom’s latest COVID-19 recovery plan. In addition to a second round of $ 600 stimulus checks, the proposal provides for $ 5 billion in rent assistance, as well as up to $ 2 billion in out-of-pocket payments to pay utility bills.

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Largest and most expensive list in Ventura County

A mountain from a list has just hit the market in Ojai, where a 3,600-acre estate known as Black Mountain Ranch is up for grabs at $ 100 million.

It is the largest and most expensive property in Ventura County currently on the one-mile market, and one of the largest in all of Southern California. The seller is businessman Richard Gilleland, who formed the award-winning property by combining 63 plots.

The ranch combines rolling hills, grassy pastures and 12 distinct structures, including a main house that spans over 13,000 square feet. Built in 2004, this lodge-style space combines wood, stone and glass with rustic rooms with views of the surrounding mountains.

A handful of other homes dot the scenic grounds, including a 2,000-square-foot gatehouse with a porch, and an 1,800-square-foot guesthouse. A 6,200 square foot shed is packed with amenities including a gym, office, and wine cellar.

Tobey Maguire’s prized dirt

The empty land covers nearly an acre in an affluent area of ​​Brentwood.

(NearMap)

Southern California’s hot real estate market isn’t just about homes. In Brentwood, Tobey Maguire just hauled $ 10.75 million for a one acre piece of land.

An empty acre could only fetch such a sum in a handful of Los Angeles enclaves, and Brentwood is one of them. In a neighborhood teeming with celebrities and famous estates, the undeveloped plot represents the chance to immediately begin building a custom home with plenty of room to expand.

Aerial photos show the plot to be one of the only empty properties in the area.

Maguire, who starred in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, barely made a profit after paying $ 10 million for the property in 2008. Records show he first tried to sell it. for $ 14.25 million in 2018 before finally reducing the price to $ 11. million last summer.

Kenya Barris buys another

The waterfront house has a dock on Lake Toluca, swimming pool, spa, gym and professional recording studio.

(Anthony Barcelo)

Kenya Barris, creator of “black-ish” and “#blackAF” shows, never tires of the San Fernando Valley. He just shelled out $ 7.25 million for a Spanish-style spot in Toluca Lake, his fifth home in the area.

Records show he also owned properties in Valley Village, Encino and Studio City, where he paid $ 4.6 million for a Cape Cod-style residence last year.

Its new location emphasizes amenities, with a gym, six-car garage and professional recording studio spread over 6,500 square feet. The home enjoys a waterfront location on Lake Toluca and benefits from a private dock, as well as a pool and spa surrounded by lush landscaping.

Big Sale Down Under

Media heir Lachlan Murdoch has just taken a huge dive Down Under, buying a boathouse on the Australian coast for around $ 29.8 million (A $ 38 million).

Murdoch – a son of billionaire Rupert Murdoch who is co-chairman of News Corp. and executive chairman of Fox Corp. – is no stranger to huge real estate transactions. In 2019, he paid $ 150 million for the “Beverly Hillbillies” mansion in Bel-Air, which ranks as the second most expensive home sale in California history.

Its new boathouse is much more modest than the Bel-Air mega-mansion. Clad in green shingles, the modest structure sits on 131 feet of waterfront in Point Piper, a small Sydney suburb that consistently ranks among the country’s most expensive communities.

The reason for the eye-catching tab? The depth of the bay. Point Piper offers exceptionally deep water, making it much easier for the ultra-rich to dock their mega-yachts.

$ 5 billion in rental assistance

California Governor Gavin Newsom discusses his revised budget for 2020-2021 at a press conference in Sacramento on Thursday.

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday proposed a second round of state stimulus checks of $ 600 to speed up California’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, in hopes of expanding payments for low-income residents to middle-class families, and noting that this would guarantee benefits for 2 in 3 state residents, write Patrick McGreevy and John Myers.

The proposal to make $ 8 billion in new cash payments to millions of Californians is part of a $ 100 billion economic stimulus package made possible in part by a budget that has ballooned with a significant windfall in revenue taxes, a surplus the governor estimated at $ 75.7 billion. .

Newsom also proposed $ 5 billion to double rent assistance to recover 100% of late rent for those who are late, as well as up to $ 2 billion in direct payments to pay utility bills. public, proposals that were supported by legislative leaders on Monday.

What we read

Fed up with the housing crisis in Oakland, a group of homeless residents have created a fanciful hideaway called “Cob on Wood,” the Guardian reported. Tucked under a highway viaduct, it consists of a series of structures constructed from forage materials and includes a hot shower, health care clinic, fully equipped kitchen, and outdoor pizza oven to help those few. 300 residents of neighboring camps.

In Grislier News, the lot that housed the house where John Wayne Gacy murdered dozens in the 1970s sold for $ 395,000, TMZ reported. The property, which has a brand new home after Gacy’s house was demolished, has been on the market for over a year.