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Old 12-06-2010, 09:11 AM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
16,806 posts, read 39,942,396 times
Reputation: 17694

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The Avenues section of Morningside Park* in Inglewood fits your price range. I'd live there with no hesitation.

*S of Manchester, E of Crenshaw, N of 108th, W of Van Ness
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Old 12-06-2010, 01:44 PM
 
362 posts, read 817,819 times
Reputation: 160
Quote:
Originally Posted by readymade View Post
My budget was about the same as yours. Right now, there's nothing. Back in June, I looked at around 20 places. Mostly in Eagle Rock, Pasadena, Highland Park, & North Hollywood. Most of them were dumps.

I put offers on two different houses that I liked, but they both fell through due to inspection issues (i.e. they were dumps).

We (and you) are probably going to have to buy a condo, hope the prices come down, or buy something under 1000 sq ft.

So it goes.
Damn Readymade, hadn't seen your real estate post in a bit, and assumed you got that place in MH... sorry to hear.

But to further Ready's post. Most of the homes in that price range will have disclaimers -- see a lot of "fixer uppers", "requires TLC", "Unpermitted", etc... So when taken into account, your price out the door will be well above the purchase price when everything is taken care of, unfortunately -- See Readymade's point: sounds like they had what seemed to be TWO promising spots, only to have them fall through due to issues; that I bet would've went undisclosed if not for a thorough inspection.

But back to the OP -- I suppose it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the "gentrifying" areas of Highland Park... though, I haven't quite bought into the gentrification; especially given the stall in the gentrification of the previously upcoming areas.
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Old 12-06-2010, 05:33 PM
 
167 posts, read 557,750 times
Reputation: 76
Thanks for your input everyone! And thanks Fontucky for the info (and specific boundaries) for the Avenues. Someone did tell me about that area but they didn't know exactly where to look specifically so now I have a grid.....Yay!! I will add it to my list of possibilities. Also I do recognize that my hope for a single family home in LA for under $400K is wishful thinking but I have nothing to lose by trying. Thanks again all!
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Old 12-06-2010, 05:56 PM
 
167 posts, read 557,750 times
Reputation: 76
P.S. The irony of my search for a home in LA is when I first joined this forum many moons ago I was ready to pack it up and leave LA (hence the screen name "Farewell LA") but then little by little I began to shift and now I am not only loving this city again but finding a home has become a passion. I don't know where this road will take me but the journey so far has been quite exciting.
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Old 12-07-2010, 12:29 AM
 
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
106 posts, read 390,155 times
Reputation: 55
Quote:
Originally Posted by FarewellLA View Post
P.S. The irony of my search for a home in LA is when I first joined this forum many moons ago I was ready to pack it up and leave LA (hence the screen name "Farewell LA") but then little by little I began to shift and now I am not only loving this city again but finding a home has become a passion. I don't know where this road will take me but the journey so far has been quite exciting.
I was about to ask about that.
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Old 12-07-2010, 03:26 AM
 
Location: Canackistan
746 posts, read 1,676,906 times
Reputation: 683
Just for my own curiosity, I did a quick search for 3 bed, 2 bath homes with an asking price of $300-375k.
There are 146 properties found, with quite a few gems indeed.

What are the good areas that someone would be looking for? I'm interested in this as well.
I'm working on making my way south in the next couple years, would love to hear what a good find for $300-450k would be for a single professional with no dependents. Preferably closer to the 3's than the 4's.
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Old 12-07-2010, 09:18 AM
 
897 posts, read 1,591,963 times
Reputation: 1007
Quote:
Originally Posted by FarewellLA View Post
I'm hoping to find a single family home in LA proper. Also, just so everyone is aware there are some "hidden gems" in LA. For example, No. Inglewood and View Park/Windsor Hills adjacent which is where I am currently looking. But I would also like to find other areas in LA that I am not as familiar with. Possibly Silverlake or Mt. Washington. If anyone has input on these or similar hidden gems I'd appreciate it. Oh, thanks for your input Charles. Your input is always invaluable. Appreciate the links to RedFin. One of my favorite sites.
Why does it have to be L.A. proper? What's keeping you in that area? Work or ambeance? I live in Winnetka (in the San Fernando Valley) and my street is very nice. There are lots of different races (most of us younger families are actually mixed couples) and mostly everyone is very nice to each other (we have a yard nazi but that's pretty much it). Winnetka is on the cusp of some areas that are considered great like West Hills, Warner Center, Woodland Hills and Encino on one side but also some areas considered "ghetto" like Reseda and Canoga Park on the other. The good thing is that our district belongs to Taft High School instead of Canoga Park High so if we had kids they'd get to go to one of the better schools in the Valley (El Camino is the best but we can't afford to live in that neighborhood). We're also about 30 minutes away from Malibu if we take Topanga Canyon all they way. There's a ton of shopping and eateries within minutes and Pierce College (community college) is within walking distance. I consider my house a great find in a hidden gem of a street while someone who lives down the way in Calabasas may coinsider it a dump.

I'm not going to lie to you. We bought a fixer upper and ended up spending about 20K to make our house liveable and are still working on the outside (that's why I know about the yard nazi) but our house cost somewhere in the middle of your budget and I've seen a couple of homes down the street going for 340-350K. My wife and I still visit our old haunts in downtown L.A. and have found some new ones like L.A. Heritage Square and spots further west in Ventura county.

If it's the ambeance that's keeping you there, I say broaden your horizons. Cars were made for driving and you can always drive back to the hood when you miss it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Troof View Post
Damn Readymade, hadn't seen your real estate post in a bit, and assumed you got that place in MH... sorry to hear.

But to further Ready's post. Most of the homes in that price range will have disclaimers -- see a lot of "fixer uppers", "requires TLC", "Unpermitted", etc... So when taken into account, your price out the door will be well above the purchase price when everything is taken care of, unfortunately -- See Readymade's point: sounds like they had what seemed to be TWO promising spots, only to have them fall through due to issues; that I bet would've went undisclosed if not for a thorough inspection.

But back to the OP -- I suppose it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the "gentrifying" areas of Highland Park... though, I haven't quite bought into the gentrification; especially given the stall in the gentrification of the previously upcoming areas.
My wife and I took her sister to Heritage Square (in Highland Park) and had to get gas before going back home. There were a couple of guys obviously fresh out of of jail who got a little too close to the car and "complimented" me on it in a way I didn't feel comfortable with. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I wouldn't live there.
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Old 12-07-2010, 11:13 AM
 
Location: SoCal
2,261 posts, read 7,232,108 times
Reputation: 960
Quote:
Originally Posted by Troof View Post
Damn Readymade, hadn't seen your real estate post in a bit, and assumed you got that place in MH... sorry to hear.

But to further Ready's post. Most of the homes in that price range will have disclaimers -- see a lot of "fixer uppers", "requires TLC", "Unpermitted", etc... So when taken into account, your price out the door will be well above the purchase price when everything is taken care of, unfortunately -- See Readymade's point: sounds like they had what seemed to be TWO promising spots, only to have them fall through due to issues; that I bet would've went undisclosed if not for a thorough inspection.
Yeah, we had a structural engineer look at the house in Montecito Heights, he said "One bad earthquake, and this place is coming DOWN!"

As it was on the side of a mountain... I wasn't willing to risk it.

Like I said, there seems to be almost literally nothing on the market right now in our price range. But, then, most people don't want to buy/sell at this time of year. Hopefully it picks up this spring.
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Old 12-07-2010, 11:56 AM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,342,958 times
Reputation: 21891
We just bought a 4 bedroom 3 bath in Oxnard for $310,000. I know that is somewhat out of the area for many. If you don't mind the drive or can take the train or one of the many commuter busses that many companies offer in the area it is a viable alternative to living in LA. I have a friend that works at UCLA and they have a 15 passenger van that he rides on every day.

Fortunatly for me I work in Ventura as does my wife and are commute takes 15 minutes from door to door. LOL
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Old 12-07-2010, 05:22 PM
 
Location: Canackistan
746 posts, read 1,676,906 times
Reputation: 683
Quote:
Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE View Post
We just bought a 4 bedroom 3 bath in Oxnard for $310,000. I know that is somewhat out of the area for many. If you don't mind the drive or can take the train or one of the many commuter busses that many companies offer in the area it is a viable alternative to living in LA. I have a friend that works at UCLA and they have a 15 passenger van that he rides on every day.

Fortunatly for me I work in Ventura as does my wife and are commute takes 15 minutes from door to door. LOL
Oxnard is quite a ways away...
Is the area around griffith park/silver lake/dodger stadium/ west hollywood okay? Glendale?
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