Investing in Los Angeles

[Tavi Perttula]

With the expansion of transit lines in the Los Angeles area moving at a historic rate and the rise of property cost (rent and own) in many areas, I see a lot of action in formerly less desirable neighborhoods. What areas of LA are you excited about for short and long term?

Echo Park? Highland Park? Crenshaw? Adams district?

I look forward to your thoughts or first hand experiences.

[Allan Glass]

Good observation @Tavi Perttula , and as @Joshua McGinnis points out in the curbed article the data supports your assumption.

I've owned in West Adams / Mid Cities for about 11+ years now, and can say the trend started before the downturn.

I'd notice on rehabs that prospective buyers didn't come from neighborhood brokers, they were often newly married couples or young singles looking to make their first purchase. Many of them grew up on the Westside (Beverly Hills/ Santa Monica / Brentwood, etc.) and had a limited budget, (at the time $500k-$550k seemed to be the dividing line) and were represented by agents in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, etc...

They didn't want to go South, were opposed to the valley, downtown resurgence was still in its infancy, and everything to the west or northwest was far more expensive.

I like to buy between "bookend". Downtown is one bookend, the westside is another, we've seen a consistent fill in over the past 15-20 years in between. Another bookend gap is between Pasadena and Downtown, also filling in nicely over the past 15+years.

I'd next watch for a fill in between the Southbay and traditional Westside neighborhoods. Many are already hot markets, but expect good things for Inglewood adjacent areas.

Best,

A