Parts of Huntington Beach to avoid (Los Angeles, Santa Ana: real estate market, to rent, how much)

[bbold2]

I've always heard Huntington Beach is a nice place to invest in investment property (even though its fairly pricey). Are there any parts of Huntington Beach I should avoid? Someone told me that Beach and Slater is a bad area. Is that true? If so, any other places I need to be warned about?

[RobE]

The area around Old World Village. It's a favorite haunt of Nazi skinheads. And doesn't the owner of Old World have ties to Carto's holocaust denial racket? Not sure I have that info correct, but it seems to me it may be the case.

[JohnG72]

Why are you concerned about what the neighborhood is like when you are planning to rent? What the neighborhood is like has nothing to do with how much rent you get vs what you invest, and likewise has nothing to do with appreciation. Though I suppose if you thought an area would get worse, that would have an impact.

The blue collar areas of OC(Buena Park, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, etc) experienced the largest runups as a percentage in the 1999-2007 real estate market. Significantly more than the nicer expensive areas.

[bbold2]

I would still rather invest in property in Newport Beach than South Central Los Angeles (if I could afford it). I disagree in your assertion that nicer places do not appreciate in long run more than "bad neighborhoods"

[jksouthbay88]

I drove all around HB yesterday and say nothing wrong with it at all.My type of place though.Very different and nicer than where I reside now.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by bbold2

I would still rather invest in property in Newport Beach than South Central Los Angeles (if I could afford it). I disagree in your assertion that nicer places do not appreciate in long run more than "bad neighborhoods"

That assertion is why you don't invest in properties. I know of no properties in LA or OC that were priced at $750K or more in 2000 that went up in value 3 1/2 times in the subsequent six years. I know of several that were priced under $200K in 2000 that did exactly that.

[bbold2]

I live in Redlands (which is probably one of the nicest area in the IE) and my property value had increased 2 fold in 5 years (before the housing market downturn). In fact, I have since bought 3 more properties in the Redlands area during the housing recession, knowing the price will jump again.

I can't say the same thing regarding the surrounding less desirable areas. You can't sell those properties even at cut rate prices.

[Blazane]

Lived in HB since 1966. We have 2 basic 'mini-barios', Slater & Beach (Slater Slums), Commadore Circle behind 5 Point Shopping Center (Beach & Main) (Wow this place was so bad in the 80's they put a police substation there and changed the name to Amber Leaf circle. Still hispanic, but pretty mellow now. Also, Florida / Yorktown is known for druggies. Still one of the best places to live on the West coast.

[CelticViking]

Originally Posted by Blazane

Still one of the best places to live on the West coast.

i agree blazane...h.b is great! i laugh at all the people who talk bad about the place...they obviously dont know!