Visit LA regularly for work. Dumb idea to buy something to rent out when not in use?

[Neil Patel]

I'm hoping your expertise can set me straight!

I'm a mid-career professional living in the Midwest with my family, but visit Los Angeles 5-6 days/month for work. This will not change.

Instead of ubering/hotels when I visit, I have an apartment in LA, and a car I keep there. I understand that is wasteful from a 'bottom-line' point of view, but it makes it so much easier to deal with the travel when I have my things on hand.

Instead of throwing away money on rent, I was thinking about buying a property I could use when visiting, and rent out when I'm not there.

I know STR in Los Angeles is very difficult to pull off. Further, I know that 'investing' in LA is not the best use of my money.

But, is there some way to make this work? I am currently 'losing' a few thousand dollars/month on rent, so anything close to breaking even would be fantastic, plus potential appreciation. If STR is possible, I would not want to self-manage.

additional info:
- logistically, would be ideal to be in the south SFV or north 405 LA corridor (brentwood, culver city, etc). I could stray from that a bit if necessary.

- I would be willing to put in around 200k cash. I have excellent credit.

any other info I am happy to offer if needed. Appreciate any guidance you all can provide!

[Ned J.]

Id invest your $$$ in the midwest close to home and use the $$ to expand and fund the trips to LA.

OOS investing is always a challenge and the are of LA that you are trying to do this is is expensive and a real tough market to make cash flow. It may pay off in long term appreciation