“Live In” Flip Advice!!

[David B.]

Hi all,

I have to move back to Los Angeles in the near future and I’m interested in purchasing something I can add value to and exit within a few years.

While I’ve flipped a fair amount of houses, Iv never done one one while living in it. I also haven’t done one in Los Angeles. My goal would be to move in, add value, and exit in 2-3 years. I have a couple questions —

1. What criteria makes for a good live in flip? I know conventional lending could become an issue depending on the condition of the property. Anything else to consider?

2. ADU's are a very popular in expensive areas, and I understand they add equity value as well. Curious as to thoughts on building ADU'S for equity in LA / SoCal market.

3. Anyone actively flipping in LA/ SoCal? What’s the landscape looking like nowadays? Any area particularly hot? I’m very familiar with the city but have been gone three years, so curious what’s happening on the ground.

I’m gonna have to stretch if I want to buy in Los Angeles again, but I still think it’s a better idea than not. My income doesn’t show itself as being very high, but I have a relatively large amount of cash to put down. Let’s assume I could buy between 800k - 1.5 million.

Any ideas or guidance James Dainard or anyone else could offer in this regard?

Ps — I think I prefer SFH value add vs Multifamily house hack. Rent control laws in LA are a little scary to me. I could still house hack a SFH after rehab, as I'm currently single.

Thanks everyone.