How To Analyze an Apartment in Los Angeles

[David W.]

Hello! 

I am a new investor looking to purchase an apartment complex in Los Angeles area and I am trying to figure out the best way to analyze a property. LA is unique in the sense that the cap rates and cash on cash is very low so most of the times unless you get a unicorn you will be buy to hold for appreciation. While I have seen a lot of videos on analyzing they always seem to be in midwest where they focus on high cap and high CoC, which is not the case in LA generally.

Is there any source or anyone or anywhere I can go to find more LA specific analyzing? The properties I have been seeing are of course all rent controlled where the caps are like 3% and the CoC is 1% and you have to put down 45 to 50%.

Nothing seems to make sense but I spoke with an older investor who told me that nothing made sense when he was buying in the 70's and 80's but the properties he passed on that were "overpriced" at $300,000 are not priced at 5 million. His point being that you are not going to really cash flow in LA but you will make money in appreciation. 

With that said I'm still trying to find a way, a system to analyze LA properties. I have learned red flags i.e. high insurance rates, bad areas, old windows, retrofit, COVID tenants etc but really feel still like a ship in the dark without navigation equipment. 

Any advice from Los Angeles apartment investors would be amazing!