Ben Lee Properties — September 2025 Newsletter

Issue: September 2025  |  Cheviot Hills & Beverlywood, Los Angeles

This Month's Article

By Ben Lee T he best part about sitting Open Houses, short of actually selling the house, is when neighbors pop by to say hello.

I have met most of these nice people at Opens over the years so welcoming them on a random Sunday is always pleasant; like seeing a friend you keep meaning to make plans with but rarely do.

There are also many neighbors who I might not be as familiar with; the ones who come in a bit shyly, apologetically confessing they have no intention of buying anything, but just wanted to come see the house.

They might be in the process of building or re-decorating and come to an Open House to get design inspiration.

Or maybe they live nearby what probably felt like an endless period of noisy construction and wanted to finally see how the house turned out.

I’m here to tell you that it’s absolutely fine!

There is no need to apologize if you are one of the many “Looky-Loos,” who populate an Open House.

I’m always happy to see you, your kids, even your dog (as long as you pick him up and carry him during your tour because nothing really hurts the vibe of an Open House worse than a pup marking his territory).

I conduct my Open Houses in a certain way because I like showing how a house is meant to be used.

There’s often food, always a handful of friendly faces and conversations flow as if we all have spontaneously found ourselves at the same party.

Even if you are not an enthusiastic entertainer- a relaxed and friendly Open House presents a property in an idyllic way; on display is the home’s warmth, personality and how it could potentially benefit you and your family’s unique needs.

I guess I’m thinking about how nice Open Houses are for me and my family because we are often there together, saying hi to neighbors, friends, meeting perfect strangers who we soon discover have friends in common.

My three sons have grown up in this neighborhood and the pages of this newsletter.

People will wander into any Open House and if one of my sons happens to be there, they usually are met with one of the following questions: “Are you the one who goes to UCLA/Berkeley/Hamilton?” “How old are you now?” “We’ve watched you grow up but when did you get this big??” Either due to the occupational hazard of being in real estate or my passion for building homes, my family and I have lived in three different houses on three different streets in the neighborhood over the last 18 years.

At one point, I questioned whether we were doing damage to our kids by moving around so often because I had always heard one home gives a young child stability in an otherwise chaotic world.

I asked my eldest (Mason/UCLA) who was probably around 12 at the time: “Does it bother you moving into another new house again?” He thought for a second and his answer quelled my parental anxiety.

He said something to the effect of, “As long as we stay in the neighborhood, it doesn’t matter what house we’re in.

Cheviot Hills is basically our home.” You certainly don’t need to be in the ‘biz to move around a lot.

There are hundreds of different reasons why people decide to sell and buy houses, but it was nice to hear that the community we chose in which to raise our children mattered more than the physical structure of where we slept and stored our things.

And this really is a special community. Sitting Open Houses, I hear all kinds of nice stories from people who come in, usually pertaining to the street on which the open house sits.

I heard about the semi-annual block party arranged by the neighbors on Anchor—utilizing the cul-de-sac for everyone to converge and enjoy the afternoon.

Many people on Malcolm came by to tell me what a fun, sociable street it is and they jokingly wanted to help choose who the next new neighbors would be.

There are a variety of WhatsApp groups dedicated to helping one another with safety concerns, referrals, pet/ babysitting needs, basically anything under the sun.

If you have a question, you’ll get an answer immediately.

I have met many new residents who have moved here from the Palisades.

It might not feel quite like home yet but the community’s outpouring of love and warmth has helped make the transition a bit gentler during such a tumultuous time.

So, this September as the kids are returning to school and you transition to the new schedule that Fall brings, I hope you’ll join me in feeling lucky to be living in such a nice neighborhood.

There may be disagreements and minor squabbles here and there.

An errant golf ball may fly over the fence at Rancho or a driver may take a corner a bit too swiftly but, for the most part, this is an idyllic neighborhood where most everyone knows your name.

Come for the Homes, Stay for the Neighbors

Featured Listings

Community & More

By Lilli Lee A huge thank you to the lovely Lori Berman for hosting a delightful gathering of neighborhood ladies in her beautiful yard in Beverlywood last month.

So many new women are coming to these events and the more the merrier.

The next gathering will be held in Cheviot Hills at the home of Jackie Schulman on October 20!

Please come, meet some new neighbors and reconnect with ladies you haven’t seen in a while.

To join, send me an email or text (lillijlee@ yahoo.com or 310-650-7735) and I’ll send you the evite with all the details.

Beverlywood happenings By Ben Lee I don’t have a date on the books yet but our next largevolume paper shredding event will take place at Hamilton High in October.

This is a great opportunity for you to destroy all those important documents that, for safety and privacy reasons, you don’t want to toss in the recycling bin.

You can also dispose of your old electronic equipment!

This service is completely free of charge and very easy- all we ask is you make a small donation to the Hamilton High Booster Club when you drop off everything you want to destroy.

I match all donations and last year, thanks to your trash and generosity, we raised over 3,000 dollars for Hamilton High!

So, start gathering your papers (if held together by regular staples that’s fine, but take out the big metal clips) and broken electronics/hard drives and keep watching this space to find out the exact date in which you can safely dispose of it all.

Shred It! By Ben Lee A strong neighborhood school increases everyone’s property values so if you have a few extra dollars lying around, consider donating to our local public schools unanimously loved by students, parents and administration alike.

Donating to huge organizations is great but sometimes it feels like 25 bucks doesn’t really matter to the bottom line.

Not the case with schools. You’d be shocked by how far a small donation there can go.

On the elementary school level, a few extra dollars may make the difference between sustaining a garden or seeing it dry up.

It might help pay the salary of an aide or librarian or specialty teacher.

At the high school level, a small donation might help a child get to go to the prom or have a yearbook- something most of us might take for granted but could otherwise be out of reach for a lower income or homeless student.

To donate to either Hamilton, Overland or Castle Heights you can send a check to the following addresses.

Your community thanks you for your support and generosity!

Hamilton Booster Club P.O. Box 642351 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Friends of Castle Heights 9755 Cattaraugus Ave.

L.A., CA 90034 Friends of Overland P.O. Box 64654 L.A., CA 90064 More Hamilton News Ladies’ Neighborhood Wine Night By Ben Lee A big thank you to everyone who entered our fun summer photo contest!

gift item) away with you on vacation and we received some fabulous entries but there can only be one winner.

Well done, you two. Congratulations! PHOTO CONTEST WINNER!

By Ben Lee I t seems everyone is talking about the new breakfast/ lunch spot on Pico called: Bakery LA.

Featuring an array of tasty pastries, sandwiches and salads at fair, competitive prices, this is a new spot in the neighborhood that deserves your attention.

We are raffling off a $50 gift card to Bakery LA and all you have to do to enter is send me an email: Ben@ benleeproperties.com and enter ‘BAKERY LA’ in the subject line.

That’s it! We’ll pick a winner at the end of the month.