Looking to buy our first property in Los Angeles County

[Matt Hall]

Hope this is ok to ask a general lifestyle as well as investment questions.  My wife and are looking to buy a single family home hopefully in the next couple of months.  We're currently looking in Granada Hills, Pasadena, and Burbank with a budget of $500,000.  Any thoughts on the appreciation aspect of these 3 areas?  I would love to hear what you think about these areas for a couple in our demographic as well, in terms of quality of life (both 30, newly married, looking for a good neighborhood to start a family).  Finally, I'll ask a very broad question:  How do you feel about buying right now, in terms of the market? Do you feel like prices in general have plenty of room to grow?

Thanks in advance!

[Vick Tasmajian]

Hi Matt you actually have some great questions.

What made you pick those three cities? I favor Pasadena only because I've lived in Pasadena my whole life. Burbank prices have gone up in the last couple years and so has Granada Hills. Pasadena didn't lose too much value during the recession and is a very stable city when it comes to home values.

As far as if prices are going to go up or down. My personal opinion it will probably stay the same for the time being. Who knows what the market holds everything is just technically opinions or speculations. Either way buying a home in a good area is going to be a great investment.