Why is Burbank housing so cheap? (Santa Monica, Culver City: real estate, condos, houses)

[dgermaine]

I'm considering purchasing a few condos in Burbank for a few relatives to live in for about 4 years and sell hopefully for a profit.

Why are prices for condos (and single family homes too) so much cheaper relative to other surrounding areas in L.A. (i.e. Silver Lake, Los Feliz, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills)?

Burbank is safe and sort of convenient to most areas of film work (the studios, DTLA, Beverly Hills). I don't see any serious problems except for maybe the air pollution issue of it being so inland...wondering if I'm overlooking a serious issue that keeps real estate prices so low there?

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by dgermaine

I'm considering purchasing a few condos in Burbank for a few relatives to live in for about 4 years and sell hopefully for a profit.

Why are prices for condos (and single family homes too) so much cheaper relative to other surrounding areas in L.A. (i.e. Silver Lake, Los Feliz, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills)?

Burbank is safe and sort of convenient to most areas of film work (the studios, DTLA, Beverly Hills). I don't see any serious problems except for maybe the air pollution issue of it being so inland...wondering if I'm overlooking a serious issue that keeps real estate prices so low there?

Bad commute into DTLA, Century City, Santa Monica, Culver City, so yes there is a studio there, but there are more higher paying jobs in the basin. People don't want to drive so they pay more to live in the basin.

I don't know how familiar you are with the 101S, but it sucks throughout the day.

[disgruntled la native]

Because it's the valley vs the basin. The basin is way more expensive. SFV in general is very affordable Studio City/uNiversal City is the most and still quite a bit less than over the hill.

[kmo20]

It's because the housing stock is 85% 3BR 1BA houses from the 1950's with little character. Nice area, terrible architecture.

Yes, the commute to the west side is bad. But the commute to the west side is bad from anywhere except the west side.

[jm1982]

What do you consider to be cheap? I don't think of Burbank as being that cheap really.

Typical homes 3bed 2 bath seem to go for over $600,000 . I guess it could be viewed as cheap compared to some areas.

Personally I think Burbank is pretty nice and more livable than Silverlake and some of the other areas you mentioned.

You can get to Hollywood and other areas pretty quickly from there too for more nightlife etc

The other nice part is there is a lot of retail and places to eat too including mom and pop places it's not all chains like a lot of people think.

It's reputation as the "boring old suburbs" is out of touch with how it is today at least.

Most people that believe that don't really know the area that well .

It's also very clean and feels safe when you are walking around.

[dgermaine]

Originally Posted by jm1982

What do you consider to be cheap? I don't think of Burbank as being that cheap really.

Typical homes 3bed 2 bath seem to go for over $600,000 . I guess it could be viewed as cheap compared to some areas.

Personally I think Burbank is pretty nice and more livable than Silverlake and some of the other areas you mentioned.

You can get to Hollywood and other areas pretty quickly from there too for more nightlife etc

The other nice part is there is a lot of retail and places to eat too including mom and pop places it's not all chains like a lot of people think.

It's reputation as the "boring old suburbs" is out of touch with how it is today at least.

Most people that believe that don't really know the area that well .

It's also very clean and feels safe when you are walking around.

I saw a few newer condos around $450,000 for over 1,000 sq ft. They would be double the price in West Hollywood, and triple in Beverly Hills. For single family homes, those $600k homes would probably be double in the Hills. The difference in price just seems a bit extreme for an area that's safe and I am still suspicious as to why that is.

I get that it is not as convenient or have that "trendy" and "cool" factor that many people in L.A. concern themselves with, but even homes in boring Calabasas that take an hour to drive to West Hollywood cost more.

Is there a big jail or something weird in the area that keeps prices down like this?

[dgermaine]

Originally Posted by thelopez2

Bad commute into DTLA, Century City, Santa Monica, Culver City, so yes there is a studio there, but there are more higher paying jobs in the basin. People don't want to drive so they pay more to live in the basin.

I don't know how familiar you are with the 101S, but it sucks throughout the day.

When you say bad commute, do you mean an hour or more?

[kmo20]

Originally Posted by dgermaine

I saw a few newer condos around $450,000 for over 1,000 sq ft. They would be double the price in West Hollywood, and triple in Beverly Hills. For single family homes, those $600k homes would probably be double in the Hills. The difference in price just seems a bit extreme for an area that's safe and I am still suspicious as to why that is.

I get that it is not as convenient or have that "trendy" and "cool" factor that many people in L.A. concern themselves with, but even homes in boring Calabasas that take an hour to drive to West Hollywood cost more.

Is there a big jail or something weird in the area that keeps prices down like this?

No, there is no "big jail". $600k for a 1200 sq. ft. house built in 1950 that needs remodeling is still a lot of money.

Like others have said, it's harder to get to the west side or western parts of the basin from Burbank (although getting downtown is relatively easier).

To sum it up, these are the reasons:
1. Smaller houses
2. Location if you need to commute to the west side
3. Not "trendy"

[kmo20]

Originally Posted by dgermaine

I get that it is not as convenient or have that "trendy" and "cool" factor that many people in L.A. concern themselves with, but even homes in boring Calabasas that take an hour to drive to West Hollywood cost more.

Those boring homes in Calabasas are twice the size of those in Burbank.

[Spikett]

Burbank is pretty spread out and there are some expensive homes here. Some areas are cheaper than others. The area in the foothills has houses upwards of $2 million, for example. Disney and Warner Bros. are here. Bob Hope lived here (his estate was listed recently - over $20 million). I commute to the westside and it's a pain. But I love the suburban feel of Burbank.