If you spend any time looking at homes in Northridge, you already know the math. A 3 bedroom home in 91325 with a yard, a driveway, and a roof that does not need replacing is usually priced into the low $1Ms. The 91325 median has crossed the million-dollar mark. Inventory is thin, families want in for the schools, and the Valley has been one of the more resilient pockets of LA over the last few years.
Then 7862 Jellico shows up at $747,000.
Yes, like the Boeing. And yes, this one is priced to fly.
That is not marketing fluff. It is a deliberate price on a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1,148 square foot home that sits on a 6,060 square foot lot, with original parquet wood floors and a roof replaced in 2020. The number is what the number is. Whether it holds at that number on closing day is up to the market.
Let me walk you through the property, the location, and the honest tradeoffs, so you can decide for yourself whether this one belongs on your shortlist.
What You Get for $747,000
The bones are good. This is a 1951 single-story home in a stable Northridge pocket, and it has been maintained with care over the years. The roof is five years old, which is the single most expensive item that gets quoted on inspection reports for homes from this era. That box is checked.
Inside, the floor plan is what you would expect from a mid-century Valley starter: three bedrooms, one bath, an open living and dining area with strong lateral light, a functional kitchen, and an attached one-car garage with direct access. At 1,148 square feet, every room earns its keep. Nothing is oversized, nothing is wasted. For a single buyer, a couple, a young family, or an investor looking for a long-hold rental in a Northridge ZIP, the layout works.
Outside, the lot is the bigger story. At 6,060 square feet, you have room for a real backyard, room for a garden, and on a lot of this size in this part of the Valley, the door is open for an ADU conversation down the road. I will get to that below.
Curb appeal is genuinely strong. The concrete driveway is in good shape, and the front of the home presents well. This is one of those properties where the photos and the in-person walkthrough actually match.
The Original Parquet Floors
This is the detail that is going to split buyers, and I want to address it honestly.
The home retains its original parquet wood floors. For some buyers, this is a non-negotiable feature. Original mid-century parquet is increasingly rare, and the warm geometric pattern is a design choice that modern manufacturers cannot really replicate. If you are restoration-minded, this is the kind of detail that adds personality you cannot fake.
For other buyers, parquet reads as dated. That is a fair reaction. Tastes have moved toward wide-plank engineered hardwood and luxury vinyl, and parquet has not fully come back into fashion the way terrazzo or original tile have.
If you are in the second camp, you can cover the parquet with new flooring and never see it again. If you are in the first camp, I have a refinishing estimate from a qualified contractor available on request. You can run the numbers yourself and decide whether preservation makes sense for your budget.
The point is that the original material is still there. That is a choice you would not have if a previous owner had ripped it out.
Where This Home Actually Sits
Here is where local knowledge matters, and where I will be straight with you about the geography.
The property is in 91325, which is Northridge by ZIP. But it sits in the southeastern wedge of Northridge, on the edge where three neighborhoods come together: Northridge to the north, Lake Balboa to the east, and Reseda to the south. If you have been searching the Valley for a while, you already know that this kind of tri-neighborhood pocket is where some of the better-priced inventory lives. You get a Northridge address with proximity to Lake Balboa amenities and a price closer to what you would expect in Reseda.
A quick note for anyone using the LA Times Mapping LA boundaries to evaluate this area. The official Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council boundaries differ from the LA Times map in this corner of the Valley, and the LA Times has been imprecise about the exact boundary for years. I previously served as the Planning and Land Use Co-Chair for the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, and the authoritative source is lakebalboanc.org, not the LA Times. For 7862 Jellico specifically, the property is in Northridge proper, but it shares everything that makes the Lake Balboa edge desirable: walkable streets, mature trees, proximity to the Sepulveda Basin, and an easy connection to the 405.
For commuters, you have quick access to the 405 and the 101. For families, you are inside the Northridge school catchment, which is one of the main reasons 91325 prices have stayed firm even when other parts of the Valley have softened.
The ADU Question
A 6,060 square foot lot in this part of the Valley deserves an honest ADU conversation.
Under current California state law, this lot can likely accommodate either a detached ADU or a garage conversion ADU, subject to LADBS approval and standard setback requirements. I am not going to quote you a number on what that build would cost or what the rental income would be. Those are conversations to have with a licensed contractor and a property manager, not in a blog post.
What I will say is this. If you are a buyer who wants to live in the main house and rent the ADU, this lot can support that conversation. If you are an investor who wants to hold the property, build the ADU, and rent both, the math gets interesting at this entry price. The 1951-built main house, the existing one-car attached garage, and the 6,060 square foot footprint give you flexibility that you do not get on smaller Reseda or Van Nuys lots.
I will not pretend the ADU path is simple. Permits take time, costs have risen, and not every buyer wants to take that on. But the option is real, and it adds optionality that buyers should weigh.
Floor Plan Flexibility
Beyond the ADU path, there is a second category of renovations that owners on these mid-century Valley blocks have used to stretch this floor plan into something larger.
The most common play is a garage conversion paired with an entry expansion. The attached one-car garage gets converted into a permitted bedroom and second bathroom, and the front entry or covered patio area gets enclosed and absorbed into the home, both to provide proper access to the new bedroom and to add usable interior square footage. Done correctly with permits, this turns a 3 bedroom 1 bath into a 4 bedroom 2 bath and pushes the recorded square footage up materially. You lose the indoor garage in the trade, but on these blocks, owners often accept that swap because a fourth bedroom and a second bath add more value than a one-car garage does.
The second play is an internal reconfiguration. Open up the walls in one of the existing bedrooms to expand it into a real primary bedroom, and carve out space for a second bathroom inside that expansion. The result is a 3 bedroom 2 bath with a primary suite. For a buyer who wants a private master without giving up bedroom count, this works.
Both paths require LADBS permits, an architect or designer who understands mid-century Valley layouts, and a real budget. Not every buyer will want to take that on out of the gate. But the options exist, and that matters when you are running the math on what this property is worth to you over a five or ten year hold.
If you want to run the numbers on either of these paths, I can refer you to architects and contractors who have done this kind of work on these blocks.
Honest Downsides
Time to be straight about what this home is not.
It needs updating. The kitchen and bath are functional but dated. If you want a turnkey, designer-finished home, this is not that home. You are buying the location, the lot, and the bones.
It is one bathroom. For a 3 bedroom, that is workable for a couple, a single buyer, or a small family with young kids. For a household of four or more sharing a single bathroom long-term, you will eventually want to add a second bath. That is a real renovation cost, not a cosmetic one.
The square footage is modest. 1,148 square feet is efficient, not generous. If you are coming from a 1,800 square foot home and trying to recreate that lifestyle here, the math will not work.
The garage is a single car attached. In a market where most buyers expect a two-car garage, this is a tradeoff. The driveway is wide enough for additional off-street parking, but the indoor garage is one car only.
Finally, the parquet floors are a love-it-or-replace-it situation. If you are not in either camp, you will spend cycles deciding what to do with them. That is mental overhead I would rather flag now than have you discover at the inspection.
If those tradeoffs are dealbreakers, this is not your home. If they are acceptable in exchange for a Northridge ZIP at $747,000, keep reading.
Who This Is For
A few buyer profiles that line up well with this property.
The first-time buyer who wants in to Northridge. You have been priced out of the $950K to $1.05M range that most 3 bedroom homes in 91325 demand. This is your entry. You move in, live with the dated finishes for a few years, and update on your own timeline.
The young family that prioritizes school zone and lot size over interior finishes. You are picking neighborhood and yard over countertops and tile. That is a reasonable trade for the right family.
The investor running a buy-and-hold strategy. The 6,060 square foot lot, ADU potential, Northridge school catchment, and entry-level price make this a property that pencils as a long-term hold. Rental demand in 91325 stays steady through cycles.
The downsizing buyer who wants single-story living. No stairs, manageable square footage, attached garage with direct access. For an empty nester or a buyer with mobility considerations, the layout works.
The renovation-minded buyer who sees the parquet, the lot, and the bones, and wants to put their stamp on it. If you have been searching for a project home with good fundamentals at a reasonable entry price, this is one to walk through.
The Math on Northridge Under $800,000
A quick word on why this price point matters.
For most of the last decade, finding a 3 bedroom single-family home in Northridge under $800,000 has been difficult. The 91325 ZIP code's median sale price has crossed the million-dollar mark, with January 2026 market data showing a median around $1.1M. Turnkey 3 bedroom homes in this area regularly trade in the $950K to $1.05M range. When inventory comes in below $800K, it tends to move fast, and most of what does come in below that threshold is either deeply dated, distressed, or both.
At $747,000, this property comes in roughly $300,000 below the 91325 median. Even if you put $50,000 to $80,000 into kitchen and bath updates, you are still all in below $830,000 for a 3 bedroom Northridge home with a roof that will not need attention for two more decades, original hardwood under your feet, and a lot that supports an ADU conversation. That is a math problem worth running for the right buyer.
I am not going to tell you what this property will sell for. Markets do what markets do. What I will tell you is that the asking price is the asking price, and it reflects the home as it is, with the tradeoffs I just listed.
Bottom Line
7862 Jellico Avenue is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1,148 square foot home in Northridge 91325, on the edge of Lake Balboa and Reseda. It is priced at $747,000 for a property with original parquet wood floors, a 2020 roof, a 6,060 square foot lot with ADU potential, an attached one-car garage, and good curb appeal in a stable Valley pocket.
It needs updating. It is one bathroom. The garage is one car. The parquet will divide buyers.
In exchange, you get a Northridge address, school catchment access, a real lot, and an entry price below what 91325 typically asks for a 3 bedroom.
If that math works for you, walk it. If it does not, plenty of other Northridge homes will be on the market this season at higher prices and with the same fundamentals. The decision is yours.
For the full property details, photos, and a private tour, head to 7862-jellico-avenue.homesbyclearway.com or reach out directly.
Want to talk through whether this property fits your search? Call or text (818) 697-4884, or email [email protected].
Justin Bonney is a California real estate agent (DRE #01338897) and the owner of Clear Way Real Estate in Sherman Oaks. He lives in Lake Balboa and specializes in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, and the surrounding San Fernando Valley.
