Moving to San Bernardino (Pasadena, Crockett: rent, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[sarahkate_m]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Fontucky is a he. A big, hulking, hairy, bearded, flatulent he.

Okee dokee.

Sorry! You're so cute! I thought... the wrong thing! I'll have to put a different hairstyle on the imaginary you in my li'l brain!

Meanwhile, you've got paradise nailed in the IE.

If I can't be you, I wouldn't want to live there.

Kate

[Naive Canadian]

Hi. Considering buying an investment property in SB. Can't resist the price at less than 50K.

The property is on "J Street" near Lytle Creek Park and it looks like it is just around the corner from the Amtrak station....just west of I 215 and not too far from Valley College.

My spouse and her friend checked out the neighborhood and didn't get a bad feeling for it (Not like other areas of SB).

However, after reading some opinions here, I am not sure if I even want to consider it as an investment property (to rent out for example)....it may already be too late as she was a successful bidder at the auction.

But...how about that area? Looks like it is in the southwest part of the city by the map.

Thanks.

[jmlowman]

Some of us at the office occasionally go for subs at lunchtime to My Hero Subs, a little hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop with a few tables and good food, on Mill Street between J and K.

If the property is on J Street rather than K, that's not Lytle Creek Park but rather the campus of Richardson Middle School. To the east the area is pretty much commercial. It's not a terrible area, but most of the west side is not the best. Lots of small, single-family houses.

The Amtrak station is actually a mile or so to the north, and that area is undergoing significant redevelopment. An old run-down shopping center across 3rd Street from the station was torn down and a new supermarket and series of retail shops built in its place.

Not sure how much it's true these days, but Valley college is right between the turfs of two rival gangs who have agreed that the campus is off-limits to any activity.

For some points of reference, you might want to search on maps.google.com for Lytle Creek Park San Bernardino CA USA, and also look at a crime map for the area.

$50k is pretty cheap for a house in this area, if that gives you any idea.

[Naive Canadian]

Thank you kindly jmlowman. I appreciate the useful information and I am feeling better about my spouse's decision to purchase an investment property there.

She was just down there visiting a friend by herself. I kinda wished I was there to see the area for myself, but I will get the opportunity in January when I take vacation.

We really want to find a suitable long term tennant. I figure since it's near 3rd st and the train transportation as well as a major arterial route (2nd st), it might be attractive for a commuter...It really seems to be a nicely maintained older home.

I hope to give someone a deal on the rent. The two bedroom home with a detached garage may suit a young family. Haven't researched rents in the area but I figure $700 per month may be reasonable.

[twista6002]

Originally Posted by Naive Canadian

Hi. Considering buying an investment property in SB. Can't resist the price at less than 50K.

The property is on "J Street" near Lytle Creek Park and it looks like it is just around the corner from the Amtrak station....just west of I 215 and not too far from Valley College.

My spouse and her friend checked out the neighborhood and didn't get a bad feeling for it (Not like other areas of SB).

However, after reading some opinions here, I am not sure if I even want to consider it as an investment property (to rent out for example)....it may already be too late as she was a successful bidder at the auction.

But...how about that area? Looks like it is in the southwest part of the city by the map.

Thanks.

Uh....look elsewhere. That is a really rough part of town. Lots of gangs and drugs. There's a reason the house is so cheap.

[Naive Canadian]

Uh....look elsewhere. That is a really rough part of town. Lots of gangs and drugs. There's a reason the house is so cheap.

House is cheap cuz got it at a foreclosure auction. There were lots of bidders by the way. Original value before the crash was $195K. Got it for $47K. Too late to look elsewhere being the winning bid.

Hmm....interesting how someone says the area is not so terrible and someone else says it's really a rough area.

I asked my spouse what she thought when she went to the open house. She said she didn't get a bad feeling. In fact, there was someone out walking their dog. (Not a pit bull...just a small pooch with a sharp bark).

On the other hand, she saw other places in SB that gave her the creeps.

Her acquaintance in LA, bought 3 distressed properties in SB and cheerfully rents them out. I guess some see opportunity where others, including myself, would not. But I am willing to tag along for the ride.

I do believe that all it takes is just one person in a neighborhood to make a difference. That's what I am going to do people.

[jmlowman]

One of the things that's happening in parts of San Bernardino is that new houses are being built in older neighborhoods. There are a few across 5th Street from Seccombe Lake, and some around 9th and G Streets. In the area in question, there are a couple on K Street south of Mill. There's even one down 8th Street to the east of my office, with a nasty apartment complex across the street.

Problem is, what do the people who buy these new houses do about the rest of the neighborhood? Hope that the neighborhood gentrifies as a whole?

[Naive Canadian]

Problem is, what do the people who buy these new houses do about the rest of the neighborhood? Hope that the neighborhood gentrifies as a whole?

I've seen this happen in a big urban centre such as where I live in Vancouver, Canada....which probably has a much worse problems with drugs and gangs than SB. (Seems like there is a drug hit every other week as a turf war rages).

But one area of town which once was plagued by property crime and drugs was transformed over a couple of years with urban renewal. Bunch of new condos were built....now a really nice area to take a stroll in.

What I am also hoping is maybe the place where I bought will be annexed by commercial development? It's right next to the new shopping mall. Time will tell.

[jmlowman]

Uh - what new mall?

Your location puts you about equidistant from the Carousel Mall downtown and the Inland Center to the south.

The Inland Center is doing rather well, but it's been there since at least 1975, when we moved to the area.

Carousel Mall, however, lost its two anchors when first the upscale Harris' department store closed and the entire Montgomery Ward chain went under. It was also plagued by loitering teenagers and undesirables from the nearby bus stop that was central to many lines. Being built as a public place rather than private, it was more difficult to run them out.

Today, other than a handful of small businesses and independent fast-food restaurants, what space is occupied is leased either by the San Bernardino City School District or the County of San Bernardino as office space. And I understand that the former (who is my employer) is moving out or has moved out. Rumor has it that the developer who owns the mall wants to tear it down and built apartments and condos.

[brittanykayy]

Nothing good will ever come of San Bernardino. The whole city needs to be bulldozed. Best advice is to stay away.