All Forum Posts by: Ewa Reza

The Brewery was always cool oasis but nothing is happening around it. If you want to invest close by then Boyle Heights would be your bet. I remember I got a rental listing there 3-4 years ago - 3 bedroom victorian not in the best shape for $1800. I received 7 applications in first week!

If you're looking to flip (or short term investment) I'd look at 90018 zip code. Close to USC but not further South than Exposition.

Gentrification is happening for years now in 90016 (West Adams) area but it's very slow. Still not many people considers to move there. But people who ever rented here want to stay and buy. Clean neighborhood and very convenient communication wise (including metro in last few years).

@Karen Lee what area of LA did you buy? Just curious. What kind of cash flow you've got? 20% down?

Welcome to BP @Christopher Covell ! I also thought about Bakersfield, but the prices are not that great there either. Maybe the neighboring cities if you know the area well. I figured that Bakersfield is far enough for me to drive from Los Angeles that I would need a PM. And If I'll be using PM I might as well invest out of state :)

@Trevor Jones 

How much cash you have and what do you own? You can be very successful investing in LA but the trick is to focus on appreciation. Cash flow in good neighborhood is like a white unicorn. It can happen, but not immediately, not the first year or two, sometimes longer. I'm a huge advocate of buying 2-4 units. There's not many good ones out there. In the markets I watch closely there's usually 1-2 properties a month that pop up on the market that I would consider. If you pay 20% down they can slightly cash flow. If you don't own anything yet and can use FHA financing, these properties in today's market will will cost you a few hundred $ a month to own. That's not including maintenance and bills (water, sewer, etc). BUT just because you're out of pocket for few years (sometimes as little as 1 or 2) it doesn't mean it's a bad investment. The prices of real estate go up so fast here...

To give you an example...

A lot of podcasts talk about NC or OH... You buy $50K SFR there for $50K, you make $200-300 monthly cash flow. After a year you maybe profit $3K in cash flow and and maybe another $5K in appreciation.

In LA you'll buy multifamily for let's say $500K. You're out of pocket $3K after a year (negative cash flow) but your property appreciated $50K!

This is by no means a proper calculation. A lot of investor buyers I work with can't get over that negative cash flow and simplifying things this way makes them realize the pictures is much bigger. 

HI @Ali Boone ! You mostly buy 2-4 units? What areas?

@Gene Hacker @Rachael Collins Hi guys! My friend's cousin bought some single family house in Kern County a year ago. All in $50-$80K range. Any idea what areas it may be in?

@Eric Zunkley you don't mind rent control??? How is 3% increase fair when property values go 10-20% up? I have a small multi-family building in area that sales prices went up 19% within last year. I'm fine now but five years down the road when I decide to sell, these rents will be far too low and this will negatively impact my asking price. That is nowhere close to fair. At this point I'm looking outside CA as well.

The other issues is lack of control over your property. I've got  good tenant in one of my unit but he's paying $300 a month less than market value right now. And I can do nothing about it but increase the rent by $35 each 12 months. He's not moving and I'll never catch up to market rent.

This whole rent control drives all rentals into the ground. Landlords just can't maintain their properties. 

I settled on Yard Sign Wholesale. They take 2 weeks to deliver but $1.80 per piece (100pc including shipping)

What's interesting...

After you evict this tenant, can you sue him for all the costs you had in order to evict? Like filing fees, lawyer fees, utilities, possible lost rent???

Let's assume @Cory T. had another vacation booking the day after Maksym supposed to be moved out? Would she be liable to that new guest for cancelling last minute his reservation???

The seller doesn't want to deal with these tenants. Buying people out is a good option if they are not knowledgeable about their rights and I doubt these guys are. One of the units is 3 bedroom house that the tenant occupies for over 20 years and is paying $386 a month (average price in this area is $2000+. Relocation fee for this kind of tenant is almost $20K. Let's say I offer them $30K. They would be crazy to take it. I know I wouldn't :(

That's what I'm worried about and that's why I'm trying to educate myself on Ellis Act...