Primary residence considerations

[Minh Nguyen]

Hi,

I'm considering buying my first home in LA as my primary residence. I will probably live in it for a couple years then rent it out and hold for long term. I'm looking at central LA for the most part, from Culver City to Silverlake and everything in between and around the 550-650k price range. I'll also be looking to pick up rental properties out of state after this purchase.

This seems to make more sense than renting at the moment with the interest rates and tax advantages. However, everything I've looked at so far is cash flow negative. I'm sure there are great deals out there but I'm not sure if/when I'll find it - and at some point, there will probably be diminishing returns on my efforts.

A couple questions to help me understand when I've found something good enough:

1. Do I just need to dig deeper or is this pretty much how it is in LA for the time being?
2. Can I take a little weight off the cash flow numbers since I'll be living it in for a few years?  Or is it an absolute sin to pick up something  that isn't at least cash flow neutral? I expect rents to continue to appreciate over the years, but what do I know.