All Forum Posts by: Sherry G.

Hi all,

My husband and I have been looking to buy a duplex where we can occupy one of the units and rent the other, but I have some reservations on what otherwise seems like a great property and wanted to get your thoughts.

1- There are about 70 registered sex offenders in the zip code, the overwhelming majority of whom have been involved with children under the age of 14. We have a 6 month old baby and intend to move out of the property before she turns four at the very latest. Would knowing this in and of itself be a deal breaker for you? The property is located in Highland Park, Los Angeles which is supposedly changing at a quick rate and the current neighbors seem to be young families. Ideally, we are looking to buy a multifamily in an up and coming area which I assumes means I will run into this issue if I insist on up and coming. Should I not look in up and coming areas because of this?

2.- The property is located two blocks away from a school (which according to the real estate sites is rated a 4/10). In your experience how does a poorly rated elementary school close to the property affect its value?

3.- Any thoughts on buying in the Los Angeles market right now? Prices seem to be going through the roof and there is no indication that things will change any time soon.

any thoughts on investing in one be done bath units in leimert park? Any info/advice on the area would be much appreciated! Thank you 

Thanks, Bernard. Our co-op does not impose any limitations on how long we can sublet for. Do you think if we are able to consistently remain at lease cashflow neutral that it would be a good idea to hold onto our place? It is on the upper west side near the museum of natural history.

We do have about 130k equity in our place in NYC. Without selling our place we have 200k saved up in savings that we can use to invest in a multi family in la. Only problem is ideally I would have wanted to buy in near Glendale/La Crescenta but it seems like I am completely priced out. Any idea where I can buy with 200k maximum down payment budget?

My husband and I currently live in NYC and are relocating to Los Angeles and we need real estate/ general financial planning advice. One of our financial goals is to invest in real estate that will provide good cash flow in the future so we are not totally dependent on our current combined income. We own a coop in the NYC which we purchased two years ago. If we rent it today it will be just under cash flow neutral. Initially, our thought process was to sell this property and take our savings to buy a 4-6 unit multi-family in Los Angeles and occupy one of the units until we save for a down payment for a home. After looking at redfin/loopnet for a couple of months I am starting to get discouraged about what if anything our money can buy in LA and am starting to think that we should hold onto our NYC coop and buy something smaller in LA like a duplex, town home, condo that we would live in until we buy a home. Any advice would be much appreciated. I've been spinning my wheels for months and do not know what we should do. Please note the following considerations:

1. In both scenarios we are waiting to buy our home last because my husband is concerned that buying a home now will make it difficult to save for the investment property i.e. cost of furniture, maintenance of home, mortgage, etc.... Please let me know if you disagree.

2. We currently do not own anything in Los Angeles and so we have to figure out when/what to buy and whether we should rent while trying to figure everything out. Only annoying this is that rents on apts/condos/town homes are pretty much equivalent to a mortgage on the same.

Thank you in advance.

My husband and I currently live in NYC and are relocating to Los Angeles and we need real estate/ general financial planning advice.  One of our financial goals is to invest in real estate that will provide good cash flow in the future so we are not totally dependent on our current combined income. We own a coop in the NYC which we purchased two years ago. If we rent it today it will be just under cash flow neutral. Initially, our thought process was to sell this property and take our savings to buy a  4-6 unit multi-family in Los Angeles and occupy one of the units until we save for a down payment for a home. After looking at redfin/loopnet for a couple of months I am starting to get discouraged about what if anything our money can buy in LA and am starting to think that we should hold onto our NYC coop and buy something smaller in LA like a duplex, town home, condo that we would live in until we buy a home. Any advice would be much appreciated. I've been spinning my wheels for months and do not know what we should do. Please note the following considerations:

1. In both scenarios we are waiting to buy our home last because my husband is concerned that buying a home now will make it difficult to save for the investment property i.e. cost of furniture, maintenance of home, mortgage, etc.... Please let me know if you disagree.

2. We currently do not own anything in Los Angeles and so we have to figure out when/what to buy and whether we should rent while trying to figure everything out. Only annoying this is that rents on apts/condos/town homes are pretty much equivalent to a mortgage on the same.

Thank you in advance.