Los Angeles: Where do I buy?

[Julian L.]

For those of you who are familiar with the LA area, I'm trying to buy my first place at 31 years young. I work in Santa Monica, currently live in Venice and rent for $1495/month.

I'm not even close to buying anything in that area - I'm totally priced out. Everyone says to buy the worse property in the best neighborhood, but I can't even find dumps or rehabs in Santa Monica / Venice for under $750k.

My budget to purchase is $500k - $650k and I'm looking for a 2 bed / 2 bath, so I can rent out one of the rooms to help me with my mortgage payment. I have $150k saved to use as a downpayment, closing costs and / or fix a place up. 

Ideally, I'd like to purchase a house for $500k, use $100k down, have a monthly mortgage of around $2200 and put another $20k - $30k in repairs, fix up, live and get a roommate and then sell in a few years. However, it's looking like I'll have to be in less desirable neighborhoods to accomplish that. Otherwise, I could go condo route, but then I'm stuck paying a $300 - $500 HOA fee.

I'd like to keep my commute time to 30 minutes during rush hour and would like to buy in a "up and coming area." What do you think are the neighborhoods that will be the "next big thing" somewhat near the Westside? I've been looking at Playa Vista, Ingelwood and Mid-City. I'm almost priced out of Mar Vista and I'm really not interested in Palms. 

I'm even open to Sherman Oaks, Topanga Canyon or some other further areas, but really not looking to sit on the 405 for an hour each way to work. 

Does anyone have any ideas on where to look and buy?