Los Angeles Market: Sell or hold in 2014?

[Daniel Boethin]

Question: with regard to real estate in Los Angeles, is this a good time to sell? 2013 was a very "what if" sort of year, and as it turns out, had almost four years worth or about 35% of equity gains in property values. I do not believe 2014 will be a bad year but do see things slowing down as we approach 2015 with about 8-10% gains this year. My question is really if not now, then when? The response to this might be "can you hold onto it for the long term?" or "does it cash-flow"? In short, yes.

The reason to sell would be because after purchasing said property in 2012, things are a little over breaking even after operating expenses but want to have cash on hand to purchase property in either 2014 or 2015. I really don't have any other cash available - $30k in my checking account doesn't do anything in LA.

The way I see it, this past year was the greatest single gain and don't see things going much higher for a while. I've researched and looked at past reference back to 1987 how markets have reacted and believe 2015 will see a down year (nothing compared to '08/'09). Supply is dropping, demand is increasing, affordability is dropping, banks aren't lending, but sales prices are increasing. Markets everywhere are drawing in the inexperienced investor. I'd like to hear your views and can reach me anytime at [email protected] - thanks.