El Segundo - New Development of 360@Southbay *Please Help* (Vista: sales, apartments)

[Arus]

Well if its traffic you dont want, then 360 isn't a good place to look at. El Segundo Blvd, Aviation are always busy, and since El SEgundo is the OFF ram of the North going 405, you will have constant traffic from that exit. Aviation is a straight shot to the Airport and Century Blvd, so many who do not want to deal with traffic on Sepulveda will use Aviation.

What exactly is your price range? you may find better deals, and non-HOA/community type of dwellings for sale and in real neighborhoods away from industry and commercial areas, with less traffic, if you travel only 5-10 minutes south to Manhattan Beach and Hawthorne. Even Redondo Beach may get you better deals

[liquidsphere]

Arus-

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm trying to stay close to $350k and looked at their studios of 950 sq.ft which are marketing for $360k. I'm not looking for a single family home (house). I'm not sure if there are any newer (10 yrs less) within those areas that you've suggested. I don't mind driving as long as it's too far. I'm coming from Seattle and although traffic has worsen, it's still manageable. I would love to get into a non-hoa situation but not wanting a house leaves me without much, if any clear alternatives. Double-edged sword for me I suppose. I wouldn't mind renting for around $1500-$2000 a month if it was a newer community. Thanks again and any furher ideas would be much appreciated.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by liquidsphere

John,

I am not asking for an advice on buying a home but more so asking about the southbay area pricing in general. I specifically asked about 360 because that is near to el segundo. As for having the money or not, you have no idea so don't assume. If you are not able to provide helpful information or provide positive input to this or any other forums I would suggest you troll elsewhere.

It's not about trolling. The westside and southbay are around 30-50% inflated in terms of real estate price. In more practical terms, you can rent for 1/3-1/2 of what you would pay on a monthly basis for an equivalent property just about anywhere west of the 405.

You have no reason to just take me at face value on that statement. Just like you have no reason to take anyone at face value that tells you its a good purchase.

Like I said, you need to research on your own.

As to my guess, its not exactly a longshot guess that someone wanting to move there from out of town is an engineer at Raytheon/Northrup/whatever. Its also no secret that the salary range is likely $75-125K(which means you don't have $350-400K liquid assests) which puts you in the effective range of mortgage + tax+ insurance + HOA = effectively a cost of 4-5x income which means you are stretching. Which also means that if prices dip or stay flat for an extended period you are stuck living with a very expensive studio or whatever.

But anywho, I'm just some dude on the internet that vowed not to comment about these things anymore.

[liquidsphere]

John,

Thank you for your input, invaluable you may think, but it's very valuable to me since I assume you are from the LA area and know you're areas as such. See, that wasn't so hard If you ever decide to move to Seattle and enjoy the rain, let me know and I'll do my best to give you insights into areas, neighborhoods, cities that data sites can't give you. Also, I'm not an engineer and you're correct that $360K for a studio is high, same pricing in Seattle for a newer downtown one. And if housing market doesn't stabilize, then I would be sitting in a very bad spot for sure. Again, thanks for your responses and best wishes.

[Arus]

Why not rent for a bit and then see what the market is like first? I'd say that just buying a place right off the bat in an area you are not familiar with would be a bad move to begin with. If you end up hating that the area you bought in, then you'd be stuck with a mortgage and looking for buyers to buy your home.


Rent for a bit. Then you can use that time to research and follow the housing trends. Maybe 360 looks like a good buy now, but what happens in 1 year and your neighbors end up buyin their units for 20% cheaper than you do?

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by liquidsphere

John,

Thank you for your input, invaluable you may think, but it's very valuable to me since I assume you are from the LA area and know you're areas as such. See, that wasn't so hard If you ever decide to move to Seattle and enjoy the rain, let me know and I'll do my best to give you insights into areas, neighborhoods, cities that data sites can't give you. Also, I'm not an engineer and you're correct that $360K for a studio is high, same pricing in Seattle for a newer downtown one. And if housing market doesn't stabilize, then I would be sitting in a very bad spot for sure. Again, thanks for your responses and best wishes.

Apologies for my negative attitude.

The conventional wisdom out there remains that its the best time to buy ever and better buy now before your interest rates go up and you get priced out. Its bad enough that some posters have actually denied how low housing prices were 10 years ago.

Of course that conventional wisdom comes with zero factual basis. Nonetheless, that is what almost everyone says.

I think yours is the first posting I've seen on city data where someone was moving into LA area and inquiring about a house purchase where they weren't dead set against renting because "renting is like throwing money away". Which of course is preposterous in a situation where the real estate market is over inflated.

Anyway, apologies for not being more open minded. IMO the westside/South Bay is the #1 most overinflated market in So Cal(parts of SF up north are worse). Places that sold for $250K in 1999, went for $800K at the peak of the bubble, and are still priced around $750-800K. Obv there are not enough households making $200-300K a year willing to live in 1500 sq ft cracker boxes to continue to sustain these level prices, particularly in 12% unemployment rate territory.

This site may help some. Its not directly on point with the South Bay, but IMO the South Bay and Westside real estate markets act the same(and they border each other with El Segundo/Playa Del Rey being the border towns sort of). Every South Bay blog I've read is strictly a market cheerleader.

WestsideREmeltdown

[liquidsphere]

Arus & John,

Thank you for the suggestions again, this time about renting. That was my first initial reaction was to rent for a variety of reasons; unstability of the housing market, longivity of the job, adaptation to the local neighborhoods and LA, etc. The only driving reason for looking at purchasing at 360 was the price point of $360K asking for a 950 sf studio. And with the market the way it's been with home purchases dropping roughly 33% for May due to the end of the tax credit, I figured I could get the a place there for 10-15% less, which puts the studio between $306-$330K, which could be very affordable and montly rent or mortgage would be rougly around $2K. I've looked at some rentals in the Marina Del Ray area as well as Playa Vista and they're around $2K-$2200 a month. These are the reason why I was inquiring about 360 and wanted to see how soft and if it would be a good idea. Alas, I am not against renting, but I would like to have a newer place, secured garage and overall nice area. I've looked in El Segundo and areas within, but have yet to find a newer building.

Again, thank you much to all that have given me great inputs! Keep them coming as I would like to be as prepared as much as possible before I'm headed to Cali

John, No worries about your replys and thanks again for the great information! 267 days of not breaking 72 degrees in Seattle, just broke it yesterday! And this is why I need to be in Cali as well

[2010la]

I too have looked around at other properties but keep coming back to ThreeSixty. I think it’s a win-win situation for a new home in a gated community with lots of recreation. It’s central to everything in LA, from the airport to the beach cities, to the great shopping and also the new downtown LA Live District. I also really like the fact that I can walk to the community gym and hang out at the pool. I just like having everything so close to home so I can enjoy my time off work instead of sitting in my car.

[ExAstris]

I live in El Segundo, and work for one of the defense companies in the area. Since moving to South Bay I've been watching the 360 South Bay development for some time. For what I want, that development is quite nice, however, good luck trying to resell it. Those prices are still quite inflated, and really the best market for that development would have been for the Air Force Base and contractors.

There are some nice newer constructions in Torrance that run around the same price. You'll have about a half hour commute.

I also agree with the posters who say to try renting first. There are lots of nice, larger places to rent for the same amount you'd be paying on the mortgage, especially in Redondo Beach.

[SouthBayStuff]

That's an interesting Thread - hee!!

Here's my humble - yet professional opinion.
First, I have a few question for you, Liquidsphere.
1) Where are you moving from? What type of housing are you currently living in right now? Single family or apartment, etc? i.e. do you need to sell your house before you buy?
2) Have you live in South Bay before? Are you familiar with South Bay?
3) What attracted you to 360?
4) Where do you work once you moved here? LA commute is NO FUN!! I always advise my clients to travel 10-20 miles for work is ideal. Anything more than that could be a grind.

Second, what is your goal in purchasing this property?!
1) Are you planning to live there yourself? and for how long? The reason, if you want to 'flip' it, please don't touch anything like that!! Unless you plan on living there for 5 years or more, it may make sense.
2) If you are planning on spending $300-350K, there are a few other choices of Condo and Townhomes nearby as well. However, they are not necessary brand new.

I can see your reasons why for the 360, but please understand the Tax Credit is long gone and it is too big of a purchase for a small credit that you might receive.

Also, the truth about Real Estate in LA. As always Single Family Home is always more valuable, then it is Townhomes then it comes Condo. Many Buyers (at least from my own clients) are not fond on $300 HOA. However, in the same token, I have clients who buy and sell their highend condos in Westside with HOA of Thousands. Generally speaking SouthBay's Condo HOA are at the $200-300 range, so it's OK.

When the real estate market rise again (nobody knows when), always single family will lead the way and it will be the easiest to sell because it appears to more buyers. Of coz, different people do have different preference and options on their living arrangement. However, I feel an a real estate agent / blogger need to advise people what they got into before they get into it.

I hope this help!!