Mark's place has potential but it did not meet our expectations. Our main issue was cleanliness: when we arrived at night, it became obvious as we looked around that there was a lot of grime, dust and cobwebs lurking in many parts of the apartment. We spent the first hours of our arrival wiping dust off table surfaces, window sills, trim around doors...everywhere you looked there was more to clean. It made the stay uncomfortable. We didn't use the patio much because of similar cleanliness issues. More frustratingly, the host did not offer any practical help with the problem. The apartment is also more cluttered than what the listing pictures show.
The location and neighborhood were good, Echo Park is a fun area to stay. Note that the street it's on is one of the steepest in the whole city (think San Francisco, but steeper!), so parking and driving to the house is a delicate procedure not for the faint of heart. The closest place for food is a few blocks away but requires going up and down these massive hills.