All Forum Posts by: Chris Collins

The unincorporated parts of the county are still fair game for ADU STRs. I believe that all cities within the county, including the city of LA, do not allow ADU STRs. There was a short term rental ordinance proposed in 2019 for unincorporated areas, but nothing has been passed thus far. Another thing to note is that in all neighborhoods I have researched outside of the unincorporated areas you must reside on the property to make it eligible for STR. If anyone has updated information/corrections please chime in.

The FHA financing on an offer could be a non-starter to some sellers. You may want to try targeting properties that have fallen out of escrow at least once and offering a high earnest deposit and/or appraisal gap to show you're serious. I'm up in LA, but I've been seeing a few duplexes in your price range go in and out of escrow. They all need work/rent increases, but not necessarily a full rehab.

Exquisite Cabinets if you are looking for low cost and are not that "retail" service.  I've only done one kitchen with them, but I shopped around for prices and was pleased with the final result.  I did the install myself, and I would not expect them to troubleshoot anything for you.  You need to be self sufficient or arrange for your own contractor to build/install.

I won't speak to renting out un-permitted dwellings, but read the ADU/zoning restrictions for your area. You won't be able to legalize two separate units as ADUs. The following article is a good overview to get you started.

https://la.curbed.com/2018/5/2...

@Cynthia Sigler message me with any questions.

https://turnoverbnb.com/

I would add apartments.com and zillow to your list.  I actually think apartments.com acquired westside rentals.  I would have W-2s, paystubs, and bank statements on hand.  If you act as if you're a loan applicant your landlord will take you seriously.  Everybody is a little more patient these days to place the best tenants.

Hy Cyntha.  When my wife and I closed on our first duplex here in 2019, we paid well over ask but put less than $40k down and had all of our closing costs covered by the seller after inspection.  We have the added benefit of being in part of the county that has not yet banned short term rentals, and that really helps our numbers.  As @Jon Schwartz said, it really comes down to where you want to live. Bang for your buck is tough to find these days, but historically you make that up and more in appreciation. Jon does a lot of work with house hackers, and I would recommend speaking with him. I'm also happy to share more details of what we did and how we were able to refi after 6 months dropping our PMI payment by about $500/month. I will say though, if you are looking for something where your "rent" is close to 0 you're going to be doing a lot of work one way or another.

Well done!  Did you move down to Pitt during the process?  What was that like?

@Stefan D. for initial purchase of a property in reasonable condition in this case.  I recognize the debt to income component.  It's more about finding a lender who is solution oriented as opposed to a lender who has one way of inputting numbers for clients who collect a single W-2 at the end of the year.  Thanks for the input.