I’ve been looking at SFRs mainly (and multi-fams very lightly) in El sereno, montecito heights and Whittier (hills) for views; NoHo, Lake Balboa and Van Nuys for the pools (“southern” area hear freeways and Ventura Blvd, to be near or adjacent to energy/people and not too alone/isolated), signal hill (non-cookie cutter homes) a little, for views and ocean.

If a house is less of a cookie cutter or has a  location or layout that might be an issue for some people I think you are better off showing pre-application. 

Nobody hands me a cookie and pats me on the head for not robbing a bank or smoking crack.

. $80-100 investment and I’ve never had a complaint from anyone, my current neighbor brings me cookies!  

So cal is a tough cookie to break into, but its possible.

Lastly, we have “cookie jar real estate” which is your scenario.

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They had planned on completely remodeling and updating and knew the floor plan and the neighborhood had 2 types of houses...all cookie cutters.So, you may get a killer of a deal, just make sure the jerks are gone before closing.

What types of properties are you looking for (e.g. cookie cutter SFH, duplexes, rural w/land, etc)?

I would limit myself to what cookie cutter homes were available.