Meet Jim Robinson of Robinson Residences in University Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Robinson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My wife and I met in a student rooming house in Toronto, Canada, in the early 1970s. We enjoyed our neighborhood’s Edwardian-era homes so much that I began buying them and renting them out to university students. I was working as a reporter for The Toronto Star, and she was studying philosophy at the University of Toronto. When she graduated, we both worked full-time to subsidize our growing collection of historic properties. We lived very frugally in a single room, and we bought properties with very low down payments. We were very heavily financed. At one point we had a mortgage at 21 3/4 percent!

Eventually, we tired of Toronto’s winters and moved to Southern California, turning our properties over to a Realtor to manage. We quickly learned that outside management is an excellent way NOT to make money. Somehow the expenses always managed to eat up the revenue, leaving little or nothing for us. So in 1989, when Toronto’s real estate market rose, we began selling off our Toronto properties.

One day I was sitting at my desk — I’d become a business editor for the Long Beach Press-Telegram — and I noticed an ad in the back of the L..A. Business Journal for a grand Colonial Revival house for sale just north of USC. The photograph was gorgeous, and the description of rooms went on and on. When we got to the “Carriage House” and “Stable,” we decided to take a look. Wow! The house was fantastic – built in 1900, still on its original 3/4-acre grounds and still owned by the original family. Fortunately, it was in a “bad neighborhood,” which meant we could afford it. So we took a deep breath, bought it, and began working with our new neighbors – and the police – to clean up the neighborhood.

The cleanup took two years, but after the riots of 1992 things got quiet, and we began to really enjoy our new home. A few years later, we looked around our improving neighborhood and decided to get back into the student housing game. We like restoring historic properties, and we like dealing with university students. But unlike in Toronto, we decided to buy only the most outstanding historic properties we could find. Nothing under 100 years old, all with great architecture and parking, and all within walking distance of our home and USC. Of the seven properties we own today, two are official city monuments and all are listed contributors to the University Park historic district. I’m pleased to say that all of them are always 100 percent rented.

Has it been a smooth road?
It seems fantastic now, but “cleaning up the neighborhood” meant going outside in our dressing gowns – sometimes two or three times a night – to confront carloads of street partiers. We told them things had changed — they needed to turn down their car radios, stop making a racket and stop drinking in public. Many of them were gang members. When they flipped us off, we turned on our lanterns and began writing down license plate numbers, which usually cooled their bravado. We also called the police – numerous times. Squad cars and helicopters became our friends.

We worked closely with police and a core group of neighbors, some of whom went out at 4 in the morning to paint out graffiti, so it wouldn’t be there when the perpetrators rolled out of bed. We produced and distributed a monthly newsletter called “Impact/Impacto’ (in English and Spanish), telling residents how to get help in fighting crime.

Eventually, the troublemakers got tired of being hassled by neighbors and police, and they stopped coming. It took about two years.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We seek out the most outstanding historic houses north of USC, restore them to a high standard, and rent them to USC students. Our oldest house was built in 1896, the “newest” in 1906. We love the period architecture – the handsome staircases, high ceilings and glowing woodwork – and we cater to customers who appreciate these things. We don’t compete with high-rise residences – we have no spas, gyms or movie rooms – but we offer large, private rooms for the cost of sharing a much smaller room in a high-rise, Of course, our plumbing and wiring have all been updated to current codes,

We’re proud of our properties – two are designated city monuments and all are listed contributors to the University Park historic district. Three years ago, the city’s Office of Historic Preservation awarded us a citation for our restoration of one of our monument buildings, Wallace House. We’re also proud of our 5-star Yelp rating.

Unlike most of our competitors, we own and personally manage all our properties, and we don’t manage properties for outside investors. We have lived in the neighborhood for 28 years, within walking distance of all our houses. We are so hands-on that all our renters have our personal cell-phone numbers.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Unfortunately, this is a very dangerous time for anyone to consider owning rental property in Los Angeles. If voters approve a ballot measure in November, cities will be able to extend rent control to properties that are now exempt, and owners could see rent rollbacks that would leave them unable to maintain their properties or stay in business.

Contact Info:

• Address: 27 St. James Park Los Angeles, CA 90007
• Website: www.RobinsonResidences.com
• Phone: 213-663-3022
• Email: jim@RobinsonResidences.com
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/robinson-residences-los-angeles?osq=robinson+residences

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