As A Rule of Thumb... (Long Beach, Pasadena: condo, crime, houses)

[prim2007]

For those not used to L.A. home prices, what should we use as a general rule of thumb when determining that a place is probably in a "not so nice area". Would it be any place priced under $450K or is it higher like nothing under $500K.

[Sorcerer68]

Yes and no. It depends what you're looking at. I know of a very nice bunglalow in a gorgeous part of Pasadena for 359k. EZ walk to Old Town and 1 minute from the park. It's also very small. I know of other places in the price range you mention that are fixers, from mild to wild. The corridor you can find liveable homes and not have to carry a gun are in 90041, 90042, 90065 and areas of Pasadena, Altadena, Alhambra. Some of these are a street by street basis. 41/42 are Highland Park and Eagle Rock. If you have questions about specific properties, PM me and I'll let you know if it's scary. There's also Long Beach with homes from the 200's which is an entirely separate discussion...

[canibeyou]

I don't know if you can generalize a place like that. I mean, homes in Compton sell for $600,000+ and I wouldn't classify it as a "nice area to live".

Not trying to sound brown-nosish, but why not, during your search, you look up the stats of the city on the City-Data website. That should give you an idea, at least, of the crime and stuff.

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

Yes and no. It depends what you're looking at. I know of a very nice bunglalow in a gorgeous part of Pasadena for 359k. EZ walk to Old Town and 1 minute from the park. It's also very small. I know of other places in the price range you mention that are fixers, from mild to wild. The corridor you can find liveable homes and not have to carry a gun are in 90041, 90042, 90065 and areas of Pasadena, Altadena, Alhambra. Some of these are a street by street basis. 41/42 are Highland Park and Eagle Rock. If you have questions about specific properties, PM me and I'll let you know if it's scary. There's also Long Beach with homes from the 200's which is an entirely separate discussion...

I don't know of anything in LB for 200k. LB has good and bad areas and even in the bad areas a SFR is going to be 400k. In a decent area they will start at 600k. And along the coast you're looking at 800k for a 2br / 1 bath 800 sq ft original 1920's house.

I would say if you're looking for a 3BR/2bath 1,500 sq ft or larger SFR in LA/LB or OC and you're at least 5 miles from the beach you should use a rule of thumb of 600k.

[abstrak_tokatl]

L.A. is what you make it. The prices of things be damned. They have no baring on situations.

[prim2007]

Thanks this is all good information in my quest to find a 2BR/2BA condo (preferably under 600K). My ideal locations are Pasadena or Culver City (or other areas on the Westside).

[VillageLife]

Choose a location then determine your area,once you choose an area. If you are buying get an agent to do a price analysis based on the situation.If you are north of the foothill of pasadena prices will be different from south of the foothill.

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by NaplesRes

I don't know of anything in LB for 200k. LB has good and bad areas and even in the bad areas a SFR is going to be 400k. In a decent area they will start at 600k. And along the coast you're looking at 800k for a 2br / 1 bath 800 sq ft original 1920's house.

I would say if you're looking for a 3BR/2bath 1,500 sq ft or larger SFR in LA/LB or OC and you're at least 5 miles from the beach you should use a rule of thumb of 600k.

Long Beach has taken the biggest hit price wise. The bungalows in the 200's (still available) are in and around Craftsman Village in the up-and-coming neighborhood just east of East Arts. I know because I almost bought one recently for investment. They aren't 3/2, these are small 2/1 and 1/1 houses. LB has PLENTY of nice, livable homes under 500k. LB is currently the biggest bargain in all of L.A.

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by prim2007

Thanks this is all good information in my quest to find a 2BR/2BA condo (preferably under 600K). My ideal locations are Pasadena or Culver City (or other areas on the Westside).

The thing to do in Pasadena right now is buy a fixer Craftsman Bungalow. There are quite a few on the market. If the property is north of the 134 and west of Lake and isn't in Garfield Heights, check the neighborhood carefully as a lot of this area is nasty, however much of it has been gentrified. There are currently some deals in East Pasadena as well.