finding a home in LA for 500k

[yanniraz]

Originally Posted by venturadude805

Is it possible to find a home in the city of LA for about a $500,000 budgit. I looking for a home in a nice area with little to possibly little to no crime. I know LA is more expensive than other places in So Cal, but can anyone provide any suggestions? I will be starting a new job at the Cedars Medical Center, so I would like to stay close to that area. Is this possible?

You can find great deals in the los angeles county for much less than $500,000. First you need to hire a good real estate agent that knows the specific neighborhood youre interested to live in.
You really would want to make sure you can qualify for a mortgage before finding the realtor and starting to look at properties because to qualify for a home loan is not easy these days.

Good Luck.

[MyKindOfTown]

Great reply and I agree with everything. Yes there's sub-500k in downtown adjacent neighborhoods but crime quickly becomes an issue.

Good job mentioning condos. For those willing to ditch their aspirations of owning a single family house, L.A. offers fairly inexpensive condo options. While SFR prices throughout the city have declined only modestly (given the 3x appreciation on the decade long runnup)-condo prices have plunged. Mucho newly built supply with a tough job market-not a good condo combo. And ironically some of the most overbuilt areas are virtually Cedars-Sinai adjacent.

One last thing: if the OP is working unconventional hours then those Valley commutes will be far more benign.

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Its not possible to find a home in that price range in a safe area within a 30 minute drive.

It's possible that you can find a place in a nice area within a 45 minute-1hour rush hour drive.

It might be possible to find a condo in your price range.

I'd argue that its not possible to find an area of LA with no crime, and further that random crimes of opportunity occur on a recurring basis in every single neighborhood in LA.

In short, in your price range, I'd look at the following reasonably safe areas:

Granada Hills
Northridge
Woodland Hills
Tarzana
Encino

In particular, there are several remodled older homes in Granada Hills and Woodland Hills that are very nice and are priced at $350-450K. The downside of these areas is they are very hot in summer, you are looking at a 45 minute-1 hour commute(even though its only about 20 miles) and if you have kids, its LAUSD. The positives are you get more house than elsewhere in LA(pools even on some), the neighborhoods are safe relative to the rest of LA, and there are tons of service and entertainment options in both communities.

Its also possible that parts of Valley Village(extremely overpriced) and Burbank may drop into this price range. Burbank should appeal to you. Valley Village may or may not. But prices are not there yet.

Its also possible that Play Del Rey will drop down into this range. I'm not sure yet as the westside and south bay have not seen the same price declines as the rest of Los Angeles.

Cedar Senai is located in one of the very most expensive areas of LA and unfortunately the large nice area is surrounded by crime ridden areas. So if you work there, you tend to rent or commute some distance. There isn't really any middle class communities nearby.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by yanniraz

You can find great deals in the los angeles county for much less than $500,000. First you need to hire a good real estate agent that knows the specific neighborhood youre interested to live in.
You really would want to make sure you can qualify for a mortgage before finding the realtor and starting to look at properties because to qualify for a home loan is not easy these days.

Good Luck.

could you give an example of an area for $500,000 or less in Los Angeles with low crime?

Like has been mentioned if the OP is willing to commute an hour or so, and settle for a condo that would be different, but then you have to figure the condo fees which can be steep.

The one thing we don't know, how big of a home are we talking about, both bedrooms and sq feet.

Nita

[00molavi]

Depending on your limitations on commute time, I think you can find something good in the Santa Clarita area.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by nmnita

could you give an example of an area for $500,000 or less in Los Angeles with low crime?

The places I listed earlier....Basically the nicer areas of west and north SF Valley.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

The places I listed earlier....Basically the nicer areas of west and north SF Valley.

John, I agree with you, especially if they are willing to consider a condo. I wasn't questioning your answer but someone elses.

Nita

[ndfmnlf]

In Downey you can get single family homes for under $500K. Downey is a fairly decent working class city. There are some really nice homes north of Imperial Hwy.