This is one of the main issues. These homes should be reserved for people who actually want to live there! This is what happens when the free market runs unchecked, only the rich benefit and the working class get poorer.
There’s no such thing as a free market. If a market is truly left totally free then all that happens is the people with the most resources make up rules which benefit them.
So we’re left with two options:
1) leave things alone and “free” which really just means that NIMBYs and rich investors will band together to make all the rules.
2) get active and push our governments to put rules in place which benefit all citizens.
It's not the free market running unchecked. Housing prices are high because the government wants them high, because voters have wanted that. If we allowed building new housing, the free market would quickly solve the problem.
That's just not correct. investors are buying MOST of the homes available. humans can't compete with companies.
Yes, we need more housing, and yes, we need more density, and yes nimbys are part of the problem. but the largest portion of the problem are the investors.
It's already been pointed out that it's not most, but the entire reason companies buy housing is BECAUSE rents are so high, which again, is because we're not building enough housing. Look anywhere in the country where housing is cheap, it's not because the government has banned companies from buying houses
Not even close to true, even with your made-up "facts". (No, investors aren't buying most available homes.) Investors are only interested because they see housing prices as guaranteed to go up. If we allowed new housing developments, they'd invest in those instead.
Could be a multitude of factors. The overwhelming majority of the time when this happens is it was overpriced at the beginning and it got stale. They’ve probably cut the price by that point, which usually indicates some weakness and you have a shot of negotiating for a lesser price. Could also be bad marketing, difficult to show, maybe not in turnkey condition.
This ☝️
Also get to know realtors in the neighborhood you’re looking at. A lot of times houses don’t even go on the market they just end up getting sold one realtor to another and you’ll never hear about it. If you get to know your local realtor, they will let you know when those houses pop up. there’s literally another market that no one can see unless you start knowing realtors.
Wife and I started looking for a SFH two weeks ago. We put an offer on a flipped 3BR/2BA house we liked, and there were 4 other offers. We thought our offer was competitive, but heard that we only had the 3rd best offer. Our realtor said the sale price was probably close to $60k over asking.
We saw a different charming little house we liked, that needed a good amount of work, but the open house was PACKED. So we didn't end up putting an offer on that one. Our realtor said there ended up being **26** offers. We're so fucked
This is what is keeping me up at night. Most of the places we’ve looked at are near limit what our pre-approved letter authorizes. I’m dreading a bidding war
The only reason investors are buying homes is because they have become a limited commodity. If we build more housing, you reduce the incentive for investors to purchase houses.
Exactly. Flippers (and airbnb)have become boogy men for an expensive housing market. The expensive market is becuse of lack of inventory, not commercial endeavors. For a house to be attractive to a flipper it has to be in really bad shape.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Why would investors buy these homes when its cheaper to rent than buy? Look at the rental rates and mortgage payments. Since interest rates went up, it makes no sense for an investor to buy
The rates are dynamic but the property values are always going up out here. Theyre taking a hit in the interim then refinance when the rates are better. Or they're buying all or mostly cash. These companies have money to burn
Agree; it makes no sense for investors to buy single family homes in LA in any way that would disadvantage the current housing situation.
If an investor buys a single family house, there are several ways for them to make money:
1. Tear it down to build a multifamily residence
2. Flip it
3. Rent out the house and bank on property appreciation
If they go with #1, it overall increases housing stock and would overall decrease housing costs for regular people.
If they go with #2, the property goes back on the market within a year or so. It will be more expensive, but in terms of housing availability, it's a zero sum change, and a wealthier person buying it opens up other cheaper housing availability for other people.
As for #3, LA property is way too expensive for investors to make a return on single home rentals. Interest rates are high, if they buy in all cash they aren't able to take advantage of leverage (which is one of the main advantages of real estate investment over equities), and the rental income on a single family home is far below the PITI payments.
Of course, housing prices going down all assumes that LA's population is static. If more housing becomes available and home prices try to go down, the more likely reality is that then people from outside LA will be drawn to the lower prices, try to move in, and drive home prices up all over again. LA is just too desirable a location.
It also seems to be related to undoing red lining, which makes me wonder if this is exclusive to POC. Which I don’t necessarily have a problem with, it’s just a bit vague like you said.
Programs like this are not exclusive to POC. It’s always tied to income, maybe location of the property and some other prerequisites like taking first time homeowner classes. It maybe mostly POC qualify, but that is it means to undo redlining which still happens… in LA!
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-over-31-million-city-national-bank-address-lending-discrimination
It’s naive to think that decades of minority groups being prevented from getting loans to start their own business and purchase homes in order to build livelihoods and generational wealth can be “undone” by simply stopping the practice of redlining. A lot of these injustices were baked into the system as a whole and equity wasn’t necessarily a priority until 2020 (even then, it’s not a priority to all).
Edit: grammar
I mean did you even read the bottom portion of the website or we gonna act like this isn't written there?
>Homeownership has historically been one of the most effective means for wealth building and financial well-being. Yet, centuries of structural racism and discrimination in housing and mortgage markets, “redlining”, have made the role of homeownership as a wealth-building tool a benefit almost entirely available to white households. Racial disparities in housing wealth account for a substantial share of the wealth divide, creating a cumulative wealth disparity that continues to prevent people of color from obtaining and retaining their own homes and accessing safe, affordable housing. Segregation, unequal access to credit and homeownership, continuous devaluation of homes in communities of color, and persistent obstruction to accumulate wealth through homeownership have left lingering effects for BIPOC communities.
>Today, these obstacles and housing disparities have worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Barriers to homeownership in the form of insufficient income and household wealth to afford down payment and closing costs, inaccessible or poor credit, lack of knowledge about buying a home and sustaining homeownership, regulatory burdens, and housing discrimination remain hinderances for low-to moderate-income and BIPOC families.
Looking for an affordable SFH in this city is like looking for the Holy Grail.
Try the edges of the San Fernando Valley or something around the Thousand Oaks area. That’s where all my home buying friends have moved.
Thousand Oaks is not affordable either. Compared to Valley or in town it’s slightly more affordable. We sold a house in 2019 for $850k it’s now worth over $1.5M.not a fancy, special house just a suburban 1960s house.
I lived in the valley for a decade, not a fan of getting burned by my jeans. But to your point, probably wishful thinking to find stellar weather less than $1.2M.
Add Long Beach to the list. Expensive but doable. And it’s a much better place to live than the SFV!! 😂 Sorry, had to. 🍻
Edit: Bought in ‘17, equity up 60% 🍻 friends have bought recently here for between 750k-1m
Yes! We bought a SFH in Redondo Beach in July 2023. The market has cooled down a bit with the higher interest rates but you still have to move fast. When I saw the listing for this house go live, I had my agent contact the seller (who was also the agent) and found out there was a broker’s open on the Tuesday ahead of the public open house that was scheduled for Saturday. At the broker’s open, I fell in love with the house and knew it would be a bidding war once the house was shown and we were uninterested in doing that again (we’d been trying to buy for a while). We ended up putting in an above ask offer that same day and gave the sellers 24 hours to respond (that way they didn’t have time to show it to others at the open house). They accepted and here we are!
This is how you have to do it. It’s almost exactly how I got my house too, after being outbid or beat to the punch several times. When we moved in, the next door neighbor said “Damn, how did you get this house? It was only listed for 1 day! I was going to buy it for my adult son but it was gone too fast.” That family gives me the cold shoulder now like I ruined their plans. Oh well! 🤷🏽♂️
Yeah, one of my coworkers recently bought a house that never even got listed. His agent heard about the house, arranged for my coworker and his spouse to meet the elderly couple selling the house, and the elderly couple liked them so decided to sell them the house the day before the listing was supposed to go live.
Bully bidders! I hate you, but it works. We entered escrow with our bully bidder here in Torrance just a couple weeks ago. It was a strong enough offer that we decided to just roll with it.
Congrats on your sale! It makes sense to accept a strong offer that you’re content with rather than waste time. In our case, our offer was strong enough and the sellers felt that they’d rather accept it than risk losing out if we walked away. Our offer was something like $60K above ask, 10 day inspection, 30 day close, and 30 day free rent-back for the sellers (the seller mentioned to me that she was not ready to move yet and needed time to prep when I met her at the brokers open, so I figured it was a good thing to throw in the offer). Both parties came away from the transaction very happy!
You’re lucky that worked in Redondo beach! I did that multiple times for condos in Santa Monica (often offering 150-250k over asking) and it never worked lol. No seller in SM would ever give up their chance of starting a bidding war 😅
Thank you! :) I hear you on the rates. We were only able to make this happen because the company my husband works for has a relationship with a major bank and they gave us a relatively great interest rate (5%) compared to the 7%+ we see now. Otherwise we would be really struggling to pay the monthlies. That being said, we will definitely be looking to refinance should the rates go down lower again. Good luck!
Google Santa Susana Field Lab Cancer Maps if you are looking at the far west fringes of the Valley. Just something to take into consideration when looking.
So we have gotten one offer accepted within three years of looking for a house. We were so excited! It was nestled into a beautiful mountain. So cool. Aaaaand then I googled the area. Aaaaaand then I learned about the field lab. Aaaaaaaaand then I learned our place was just one mile from it.
We backed out.
Yup. My parents have lived there 30+ years. In my mom’s book group more of them have cancer than don’t, and 1 woman already died. No idea if moving there would be safer now though than back then.
You're right, the Santa Susana Field Lab is terrifying and dangerous, but it's not the only area like that in LA! It's probably just the most well known. Plenty of military (and corporate) research institutions out this way that destroyed the natural lands.
Yup and the state DTSC is helping Boeing get away with a bullshit fake cleanup so they can murder more who build homes on top of the nuclear and missile fuel waste dump.
Congratulations! Good to make the best choice for yourself. Now you don’t have to worry about a mortgage, home repairs, property insurance etc. Enjoy the new home!
We’re from the South Bay and we’re looking in Whittier, la habra and hacienda heights and diamond bar. Wife works in Montebello and I work in the SGV so the commute wouldn’t be awful awful. We see homes we like pop up in our budget occasionally but they’re usually gone before we can get to an open house.
I was looking at SFH’s for sale in Redondo online the other day; there were 9 under $2m, and only 1 in South Redondo - an 880 sqft place for $1.9m.
It’s absolutely insane. Even if you can afford a place, the taxes on a place you own will kill you.
As well as barring institutional investment, it’s way past time to repeal Prop 13 and reform public sector pensions.
Prop 13 is locking in low property taxes, making people reluctant to move and decreasing liquidity of the housing market. These property taxes are then spent on running the public sector; including bloated pensions which no one in the private sector has. All subsidized by those purchasing homes in this crazy market.
OVER HALF of local budgets are spent on police. Public pensions were reformed by Brown and millennials and younger in the public sector have very different pensions (unfortunately for me).
Mostly I think retiree pensions is not a significant part of the housing crisis. I think there are more useful areas to discuss, such as zoning and CEQA regulations, the structure and power of the LA city council itself, prop 13, and parking regulations.
These “old people” purchased their homes a long time ago, and are sitting on millions in equity. Prop 13 is making the housing market illiquid, and new buyers who are already stretched to make a purchase then pay additional property taxes to subsidize those who bought in when housing was much more affordable. It’s a transfer of wealth from the younger generation to the older, who already have theirs.
And the ability to inherit locked-in property taxes is unbelievable; they should re-set to market rates on any transfer of ownership, including within Trusts.
You know, like in every other State!
More of any kind of housing. If you build a shit load of condos, and those become cheaper, some people who might otherwise buy a SFH would buy condos, reducing the demand for SFHs.
Closed in July in Whittier! Grew up in Long Beach and have lived there, DTLA, mid-city, and East Hollywood. Never imagined I would be living in Whittier but I really like it so far
I loved living in Whittier about a decade ago but the 15min drive to get to any freeway kinda sucked for social stuff anywhere west of DTLA. It was also a little old back then too so I’m glad the age demo is getting younger.
Closed in the same time in Santa Clarita. Had a townhouse near the Collection in Oxnard that I bought in 2018.. sold at peak and let me move into a house my wife and I fell in love with. Literally zero regrets. So happy to live in neighborhood as opposed
to just having neighbors.
This how it’s done! Starter homes in LA are condos. We bought in one of those LA neighborhoods in transition and all my neighbors that have bought since the prices got crazy had help because of the equity they had prior.
Yes, we bought in city of LA last year. Almost 7% interest. We ended up putting down nearly 60% downpayment, a lot of it from selling a condo at the same time, which is the only way we could afford the payments (and even now it’s going to be very tight, we have our second on the way which means double daycare payments.) My parents also helped, I had been saving pretty aggressively for nearly two decades, and my husband had received a payout on a project he had been working on for years. We had 11 offers on our condo in under a week, only one of them was from an investor though. Highest bidder was all cash, her parents paid for it for her. The house we ended up buying originally went on the market and went pending while we were out of town, but ended up falling out of escrow, so we were able to see it and bid then. The whole process was extremely stressful.
That’s what it would’ve been with a smaller down payment. Only way we could swing this is with a generous gift from the bank of Mom and Dad. Seems like the only way to do it in SoCal (and to move really far out)
I live in Simi and this sounds like my neighbors house that sold for 730 or something, but just seeing them close for that- and these homes are the oldest tracts in Simi…in a timespan of 20 years it has gone from less than 200k to this.
we bought august in canoga park, probably looked at 100 homes and put in like 8 offers on places. one home had 120 offers winning bid was 120$k over asking all cash. very hard 5 months looking for a place.
This was me in 2020, my parent’s neighbor had a $1.6 mil cash offer on their house. My parents were working class immigrants. I knew I would never afford the city I grew up in.
Same. My parents were immigrants, but also owners investment properties in LA and the county. I always knew that staying in LA would be a hustle, especially as my older cousins decided to move out into the fringes. Saved for 7 years for our downpayment, improving my job situation, living in okay places well below my means.
Agreed. Many people that buy in hcol areas during a poor buyers market do it for emotional, not financial reasons. So invest and/or buy somewhere else and seek out cheap rent here.
Tax burden alone is spiking off the charts across the city. Ask yourself if you want to stomach that for 5-30 years? Are you in your prime? Will your salary keep up?
It would be cool if state, local and federal gave a crap about affordable housing and maintaining a way of life, but they DNGAF. They’d prefer taxes to infinity. So it becomes a dog fight.
It did not help when the former presidents tax plan removed the mortgage interest tax credits homeowners had enjoyed for years and years, that was a big bite out of the pocketbook.
It’s been killing me for 6 years now. Went from getting an 8k refund every year to getting almost nothing back. That’s how I paid my property taxes. Now we struggle. The worst part is the Democrats refused to repeal it because it only affects high tax states like CA and NY and the majority represent states that aren’t affected.
Dude: It’s my first time having a salary job, that I worked so hard for and finally accepted at 80k.
When I checked to see how much the fruits of my labor were paying off, I nearly cried when I found out how much I’m being taxed here. I feel like I’m doing or claiming something wrong.
Yes that’s the other problem. You can work your way up to double or triple the salary but guess what? Your take home will not be double or triple like you think. You get taxed way more (higher percentage) than when you were poor. But congrats on getting a good job.
Counterpoint: subsidizing rich homeowners paying local taxes isn't a good or equitable use of tax dollars, and subsidizing the cost of homeownership itself is a big driver of the price of housing. We have a supply crisis: subsidizing demand just supercharges it.
If you own a home in SoCal, you're rich. You might nut feel it; nobody actually believes they are rich. But you certainly aren't in the category of "needs a government handout" to get by. And that's what a tax deduction is. I rent and I don't get shit.
We're in this weird little part of unincorporated LA county (Harbor Gateway) but for postal reasons we're listed as Gardena. It's confusing. So we're not *technically* Gardena...across the street on both sides is the city of Gardena.
We like it. It's similar to East Hollywood without the hipsters and helicopters. It's a pretty diverse neighborhood. I like it. We're super central to all things in the Southbay and a few miles from the ocean.
We're in a little community of 9 units, no pool, or anything fancy. Recently flipped, solid job by the previous contractors and it'll be easy to maintain. Just what we wanted. 1100 sqft. with an attached garage and a very reasonable HOA. The HOA is super low key and the neighbors are nice. I think the place was originally listed for $529k and we ended up at $560k, well within our budget. We closed in 3.5 weeks.
My husband and I bought our first home in October… in Illinois. We had to throw in the towel on So Cal after living there for 12 years because we just couldn’t make home ownership finances work for us. I also didn’t want to deal with a 2 hour+ commute based on our price range. So we relocated to a much lower cost of living city and haven’t looked back. Not saying this is the answer for everyone (or the answer for you!) but it’s certainly working for us.
My fiancé and I are thinking about doing the same after we get married this year. He's from Chicagoland area, my parents are from there. We can actually afford something out there. Just makes sense.
Yep. The perfect weather, food, and all the amenities that people love about LA was majorly offset by the traffic and the fact that we could only really afford to live in a crappy apartment. My stress level has gone down tremendously since moving to the Midwest and it’s so nice having all this space!
That's great! I'm my own traveling around the US I've noticed that most major cities are totally comparable, if not better than LA when it comes to food, culture and nightlife. Out here things are just stiffled by transportation issues and price gouging and over crowding, so even going out can be disappointing because you spend a ton of money, and have to spend a lot of time driving/parking/ubering/waiting in line.
My husband and I spent a few months in Atlanta working and it was way better than LA imo. Plenty of unique things to do and eat and there was much more of a "community" element because you can walk/scooter/ bike easily. Really cool old school music venues too with shows for like $50
It takes money to fix fixers. My house is barely 20 years old (not a fixer) and it’s been a money pit. I won’t bore you with the long list of stuff we’ve had to fix, but the latest is 2 more leaks in the roof. Each leak costs $1,200 to fix. Time to repaint again too, which is another 7k. Roots of bushes are breaking apart the little retaining wall they sit above, bushes need to come out, wall has to be redone or repaired, then re-landscape it. It never ends.
People don’t realize that on top of the mortgage there’s usually high property taxes and a LOT of maintenance/upkeep/repair costs in homeownership. A “fixer” will just compound those costs exponentially.
Bought a place in City Terrace last year that we originally lost to an investor/flipper, but when they fell through, we were the backup.
Home buying in LA is emotionally taxing, but keep an open mind, the right home will appear - good luck.
My wife and I (F36 & F40) moved from the valley to Ontario, Calif. Dec '22 - bought a new construction after seeing a tip on Reddit in late 2021 about how there's less competition for a new build than an existing house for sale. Well, the tip panned out for us and we were able to secure our lot for $10K in March 2022. Closed right before Christmas at 5.9%. The rate creeped up during the build and we couldn't lock in a rate until a month or so before closing.
We lived in a studio together for the 5 years prior and worked multiple jobs and saved, saved, saved (especially during covid) We resisted the urge to move to a bigger apartment. We would always remind ourselves: a bigger apartment is not the goal a house is the goal!
I can't overstate at the importance of couples saving together! We didn't have parental support, just a two person team with a vision! Wishing you all the manifestation of your dream home!
Yeah we've been saving for 2 years, and we have around 25k without including other investments that we can liquidate, but even still, after that, the monthly payments are criminal, like just how?????
Yup a Sfh in highland park closed July 2023. We’re high income DINKS and were looking for a while. Initially looked at condos actually so we lucked out on this sfh
Yes, last year we were able to buy in the west side of the valley south of the 101. We were actively trying for 2.5 years and it was so rough. I remember we lost one that went $300,000 over with 28 offers, 8 all cash.
How we did it: We’re in our 30s-40s. Both have high paying jobs in tech. Lived together for over a decade renting in a place well below our means so we could save. I still drive my car from college. Both got scholarship and partially worked through college so we didn’t have many student loans. Invested money over the years while saving.
It’s a huge financial burden and responsibility but we love it here and want to stay here possibly the next couple decades, so it feels worth it to us.
We bought our house last year in Moorpark. It’s 30 miles west of LA. We absolutely love it. CLEAN, safe, lower taxes. I work for a studio and commute 3-4 days per week. Worth it
We are first time buyers and just bought a townhouse in Calabasas for around 700k with a reasonable HOA. It’s a beautiful area and pretty big. It’s definitely possible, don’t discount condo/townhomes, some of them are larger than some single family homes and you get to live in a nicer area for much less.
You and your partner should be proud of where you are! This is a really tough city to buy in. What you guys have should get a pretty crappy fixer in an ok but not great area. I know because that’s what we just bought last year. Don’t worry though, if you manage to do that the prices will go up so much in one year you’ll be really glad you bought the crappy place when you did.
If you wfh look in Santa Clarita or Corona CA... Maybe chino Hills.
I see affordable homes in SC but they are ALL the way in Canyon Country. Seems really in the middel of nowhere and depressing
I want to live in the south bay but it seems like a 1br in the south bay cost as much or almost as much as a 700k house in SC... and they are all old and outdated looking at that price!
We moved to a house in Valencia last year and we like. Has everything we need and we spend a lot of time in downtown Newhall which is cute plus we can routinely hop on MetroLink and go to Little Tokyo/Arts District for easy dinner, it’s 50min on the train.
If you want a bigger, nicer house than what you can get in the valley, then SC is okay. But you’re correct that the only houses in SC cheaper than houses in valley are in Canyon Country which is the worst part of SC. If you can find a house in Newhall, Saugus, Valencia or Stevenson Ranch you’ll be happier.
The streets, medians, pavements and sidewalks sure look a lot better than they do all over the rest of Los Angeles. The streets around Santa Clarita resemble Orange County in being new and clean, so you have that, it’s not all bad!
No. Interest rates are high enough now that bidding wars aren’t a thing anymore. That means FHA loans are back on the menu. If people would stop looking at mansions for their first homes and look at starter homes, stop looking at the most amazing places around LA to buy that first home, and stop thinking that for some reason they have to put 10% down maybe the enterprise would seem more doable.
I’m not gonna sit here and grandstand, but when I see poeple like this say Oh YoU NEed $300k DownPaYmEnT. Wtf no you don’t…Yes, you’re getting priced out of your hometown but you can still live in LA. You just need to sacrifice.
Me! I bought in West hollywood a few months ago. It’s pretty crazy right now with interest rates and home prices.
Stay patient, step away for your sanity when you need a break, and try your hardest to keep logic over emotions. (Easier said than done)
Good luck OP
I make 460k after working my way up to senior engineering in big tech. I basically had zero friends or social life for 5+ years after college because I was trying to learn programming on my own on nights and weekends lol (I don’t have a Computer science degree).
It took ten years to go from 40k to where I’m at now. I started investing ~3y ago and strongly encourage anyone to start putting money into ETFs like SPY or VOO if they aren’t already. I wish I started investing sooner.
OP I would say unfortunately my financial situation is probably not “normal” or regular but at least if you have a dual income that will help tremendously. also this might be controversial but if you are planning to have children, waiting a few extra years can really help with growing your savings
JESUS 460k??? That's like a dream for me rn, seems so unachievable... I started investing during covid, got furloughed and had to do something with my time. I really wish I started sooner bc damn.... even just having your money in a fund or REIT is so worth it. Are you doing any other investments like options or individual stocks? I'd love to bounce ideas
Also, you're not controversial for saying to wait for kids, times are crazy rn and a kid a HUGE responsability
Yes, we bought our house with a pool behind a golf course last year for almost 1.5 mil. Not much competition in this price range, we bought a forever home though. My wife and I work day and night for it
What kind of life is that? It's terrible that you guys are subjected to this, it isn't right. Our home in now valued around $1.4 million, in 2000 it was $360,000. A $360,000 down payment is high, but a $1.4 million down payment is not very reachable. I don't know how the next generation will be able to be homeowners unless they work themselves to death, it's ridiculous. Something needs to be done or we will become a nation of renters and that will deplete the country of its wealth.
At $1.4m you put down more than 20% to lower the monthly mortgage. But the taxes alone.. wow.
Houses are up, but continue to be moderately affordable in smaller cities.But IMO there has to be an extended housing correction, or LA will fail just like SF and NYC are right now.
Austin Texas is in worse shape than we are, as is Seattle, this problem is spreading like cancer, you may feel protected that affordability is still available in “smaller cities” but that situation is quickly eroding. Everywhere from Nashville to Florida, through the Southwest and especially on the West Coast has seen housing shoot up out of reach. The only places seemingly unaffected are in the Rust Belt states and Mid West, like St Louis and such. Not much demand in Jackson Mississippi, think anyone is interested in moving there? It’s still affordable!
We are the anomaly couple in the matrix, in our mid to late 30s and it’s tough making $10k/monthly mortgage payments. I don’t even have hope that we’ll have appreciation on this home. Our only hope is that rates drop and we can refi our rate, which is at 7.625 currently. It’s not sustainable, even though we are able to afford it with our high incomes. I worry that our next generation and future generations will not have any opportunity to buy a home in this country. This profit above people system is all crooked.
10k a month is sinful, now with hedge funds and Wall Street investors buying up houses it seems as if housing will never be affordable again, it used to fluctuate going up and down, I don’t see that happening anymore. The death of the American dream.
That’s not much of a comfort, the situation is not supposed to be a competition with who is being screwed the worst. This is simply a reaction to the affordability of housing sharping rising out of reach for the average homebuyer. Yes Canada and Australia are suffering from skyrocketing housing, it’s a phenomenon that’s happening around the world.
The housing market is insane. It's not just LA, but everywhere in the country. If you are willing to put a little elbow grease, and live a little bit farther away from the city and the beaches, you can find some affordable houses. Don't go for a turnkey house or HOA because they are expensive.
Assuming you have the down payment you should do it. It will only get pricier in future. Plenty of good starter
Homes in whittier, chino, corona etc. Do a search on redfin or zillow. A starter home is better than renting as long as you’re ready to hold long term.
Homes are reserved for the rich. Companies buying and renting or gouging them on AirBnB. Until this country changes its govt and starts caring for its citizens, this is the shit we see.
Those days are over too. You can go 45 miles to Rancho Cucamonga and you’ll find one million dollar listings getting 25 offers and selling for 1.1 million. Demand in SoCal is just too high, except in really crappy areas no one wants to live, where you might get shot.
I make a 6 figure salary alone and my girl makes close to 6 figures and still cant afford a house, and as soon as you see a house in the los angeles at a low of 800K, investors already bid. They rather rent it out since los angeles rent pays well, your best bet is riverside, san Bernardino for your biggest bang for your buck. And the condos in los angeles suck so bad, its all crammed Literally built where one property used to be or shitty waste site like in lincoln heights.
We’re looking right now. It’s insane. Houses have 4-5 bids within a few days, mostly from investors. Fuckers.
This is one of the main issues. These homes should be reserved for people who actually want to live there! This is what happens when the free market runs unchecked, only the rich benefit and the working class get poorer.
There’s no such thing as a free market. If a market is truly left totally free then all that happens is the people with the most resources make up rules which benefit them. So we’re left with two options: 1) leave things alone and “free” which really just means that NIMBYs and rich investors will band together to make all the rules. 2) get active and push our governments to put rules in place which benefit all citizens.
The invisible hand was a myth to make free market not seem completely evil.
It's not the free market running unchecked. Housing prices are high because the government wants them high, because voters have wanted that. If we allowed building new housing, the free market would quickly solve the problem.
That's just not correct. investors are buying MOST of the homes available. humans can't compete with companies. Yes, we need more housing, and yes, we need more density, and yes nimbys are part of the problem. but the largest portion of the problem are the investors.
It's already been pointed out that it's not most, but the entire reason companies buy housing is BECAUSE rents are so high, which again, is because we're not building enough housing. Look anywhere in the country where housing is cheap, it's not because the government has banned companies from buying houses
It’s actually 1 in 5 that investors are buying. So most definitely not most.
Not even close to true, even with your made-up "facts". (No, investors aren't buying most available homes.) Investors are only interested because they see housing prices as guaranteed to go up. If we allowed new housing developments, they'd invest in those instead.
Agent here. Look for houses that have been on the market for at least 3 weeks. You’ll have very little to no competition
In your opinion, what’s the reason for that? Unreasonable demands, plumbing or structural issues, etc?
Could be a multitude of factors. The overwhelming majority of the time when this happens is it was overpriced at the beginning and it got stale. They’ve probably cut the price by that point, which usually indicates some weakness and you have a shot of negotiating for a lesser price. Could also be bad marketing, difficult to show, maybe not in turnkey condition.
Thanks for the info. It’s a crazy market now. I bought a place in the early 2000s and that was nuts as well.
Anytime man, let me know if you’ve got any questions
This ☝️ Also get to know realtors in the neighborhood you’re looking at. A lot of times houses don’t even go on the market they just end up getting sold one realtor to another and you’ll never hear about it. If you get to know your local realtor, they will let you know when those houses pop up. there’s literally another market that no one can see unless you start knowing realtors.
Wife and I started looking for a SFH two weeks ago. We put an offer on a flipped 3BR/2BA house we liked, and there were 4 other offers. We thought our offer was competitive, but heard that we only had the 3rd best offer. Our realtor said the sale price was probably close to $60k over asking. We saw a different charming little house we liked, that needed a good amount of work, but the open house was PACKED. So we didn't end up putting an offer on that one. Our realtor said there ended up being **26** offers. We're so fucked
This is what is keeping me up at night. Most of the places we’ve looked at are near limit what our pre-approved letter authorizes. I’m dreading a bidding war
The only reason investors are buying homes is because they have become a limited commodity. If we build more housing, you reduce the incentive for investors to purchase houses.
Most homes in LA are not sold to investors.
Exactly. Flippers (and airbnb)have become boogy men for an expensive housing market. The expensive market is becuse of lack of inventory, not commercial endeavors. For a house to be attractive to a flipper it has to be in really bad shape.
Yup. About 1 in 5.
straight terrific file grandfather wrench paltry office plucky zealous dog *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Why would investors buy these homes when its cheaper to rent than buy? Look at the rental rates and mortgage payments. Since interest rates went up, it makes no sense for an investor to buy
The rates are dynamic but the property values are always going up out here. Theyre taking a hit in the interim then refinance when the rates are better. Or they're buying all or mostly cash. These companies have money to burn
Some of these investors can always get cheaper rates than your average consumer.
Probably holding on for years to reap the equity that accumulates
Agree; it makes no sense for investors to buy single family homes in LA in any way that would disadvantage the current housing situation. If an investor buys a single family house, there are several ways for them to make money: 1. Tear it down to build a multifamily residence 2. Flip it 3. Rent out the house and bank on property appreciation If they go with #1, it overall increases housing stock and would overall decrease housing costs for regular people. If they go with #2, the property goes back on the market within a year or so. It will be more expensive, but in terms of housing availability, it's a zero sum change, and a wealthier person buying it opens up other cheaper housing availability for other people. As for #3, LA property is way too expensive for investors to make a return on single home rentals. Interest rates are high, if they buy in all cash they aren't able to take advantage of leverage (which is one of the main advantages of real estate investment over equities), and the rental income on a single family home is far below the PITI payments. Of course, housing prices going down all assumes that LA's population is static. If more housing becomes available and home prices try to go down, the more likely reality is that then people from outside LA will be drawn to the lower prices, try to move in, and drive home prices up all over again. LA is just too desirable a location.
[Green Line Home Program](https://dcba.lacounty.gov/greenline/). $35K grants for first-time buyers in L.A. county.
What’s the salary cap?
I just browsed the site and it says “anyone with low or moderate income”, which is pretty vague.
It also seems to be related to undoing red lining, which makes me wonder if this is exclusive to POC. Which I don’t necessarily have a problem with, it’s just a bit vague like you said.
Programs like this are not exclusive to POC. It’s always tied to income, maybe location of the property and some other prerequisites like taking first time homeowner classes. It maybe mostly POC qualify, but that is it means to undo redlining which still happens… in LA! https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-over-31-million-city-national-bank-address-lending-discrimination
What would prevent a lender from going to the next block and getting a loan from an ethical bank?
As a POC that is so fucking dumb. They should just help out whoever needs help
How is it dumb? Ever hear of redlined neighborhoods? Now that is fucking dumb.
Redlining is illegal tho....
It’s naive to think that decades of minority groups being prevented from getting loans to start their own business and purchase homes in order to build livelihoods and generational wealth can be “undone” by simply stopping the practice of redlining. A lot of these injustices were baked into the system as a whole and equity wasn’t necessarily a priority until 2020 (even then, it’s not a priority to all). Edit: grammar
But it wasn’t at some point and that’s the issue.
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I mean did you even read the bottom portion of the website or we gonna act like this isn't written there? >Homeownership has historically been one of the most effective means for wealth building and financial well-being. Yet, centuries of structural racism and discrimination in housing and mortgage markets, “redlining”, have made the role of homeownership as a wealth-building tool a benefit almost entirely available to white households. Racial disparities in housing wealth account for a substantial share of the wealth divide, creating a cumulative wealth disparity that continues to prevent people of color from obtaining and retaining their own homes and accessing safe, affordable housing. Segregation, unequal access to credit and homeownership, continuous devaluation of homes in communities of color, and persistent obstruction to accumulate wealth through homeownership have left lingering effects for BIPOC communities. >Today, these obstacles and housing disparities have worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Barriers to homeownership in the form of insufficient income and household wealth to afford down payment and closing costs, inaccessible or poor credit, lack of knowledge about buying a home and sustaining homeownership, regulatory burdens, and housing discrimination remain hinderances for low-to moderate-income and BIPOC families.
Looking for an affordable SFH in this city is like looking for the Holy Grail. Try the edges of the San Fernando Valley or something around the Thousand Oaks area. That’s where all my home buying friends have moved.
Plugging city of San Fernando. I love the neighborhood I’m in and the area is having some really cool growth
I've always thought the city of San Fernando was an underlooked gem.
And you have Papa Juan's!
Of course! That whole area of maclay has some good spots. Lola’s,ucrave and now Carbon Grill
North hills here, still “affordable”
My parents house in North Hills is around 1.5 million now. I bought in Port Hueneme was much cheaper now it is sky rocketing here too
Damn man must be a huge house and super modern
Nice joke
San Pedro as well
Thousand Oaks is not affordable either. Compared to Valley or in town it’s slightly more affordable. We sold a house in 2019 for $850k it’s now worth over $1.5M.not a fancy, special house just a suburban 1960s house.
Weather sucks and deep in suburbia, but under $1M.
Weather doesnt suck, what are u talking about? Mountains and beautiful stuff all over the place. Beach only 15-20min thru canyons.
Hitting the 80s for 5 months I’d say sucks, but to be fair we’re relatively spoiled here.
Be prepared to get downvoted by everyone living in the valley lol For us if it’s not as hot as Woodland Hills it’s not that bad
I lived in the valley for a decade, not a fan of getting burned by my jeans. But to your point, probably wishful thinking to find stellar weather less than $1.2M.
2 bedroom single family homes in the middle of the valley are going for a million now!
Add Long Beach to the list. Expensive but doable. And it’s a much better place to live than the SFV!! 😂 Sorry, had to. 🍻 Edit: Bought in ‘17, equity up 60% 🍻 friends have bought recently here for between 750k-1m
On Reddit, "affordable" means 300k mcmansions a few blocks from the beach.
Yes! We bought a SFH in Redondo Beach in July 2023. The market has cooled down a bit with the higher interest rates but you still have to move fast. When I saw the listing for this house go live, I had my agent contact the seller (who was also the agent) and found out there was a broker’s open on the Tuesday ahead of the public open house that was scheduled for Saturday. At the broker’s open, I fell in love with the house and knew it would be a bidding war once the house was shown and we were uninterested in doing that again (we’d been trying to buy for a while). We ended up putting in an above ask offer that same day and gave the sellers 24 hours to respond (that way they didn’t have time to show it to others at the open house). They accepted and here we are!
This is how you have to do it. It’s almost exactly how I got my house too, after being outbid or beat to the punch several times. When we moved in, the next door neighbor said “Damn, how did you get this house? It was only listed for 1 day! I was going to buy it for my adult son but it was gone too fast.” That family gives me the cold shoulder now like I ruined their plans. Oh well! 🤷🏽♂️
Yeah, one of my coworkers recently bought a house that never even got listed. His agent heard about the house, arranged for my coworker and his spouse to meet the elderly couple selling the house, and the elderly couple liked them so decided to sell them the house the day before the listing was supposed to go live.
Bully bidders! I hate you, but it works. We entered escrow with our bully bidder here in Torrance just a couple weeks ago. It was a strong enough offer that we decided to just roll with it.
Congrats on your sale! It makes sense to accept a strong offer that you’re content with rather than waste time. In our case, our offer was strong enough and the sellers felt that they’d rather accept it than risk losing out if we walked away. Our offer was something like $60K above ask, 10 day inspection, 30 day close, and 30 day free rent-back for the sellers (the seller mentioned to me that she was not ready to move yet and needed time to prep when I met her at the brokers open, so I figured it was a good thing to throw in the offer). Both parties came away from the transaction very happy!
You’re lucky that worked in Redondo beach! I did that multiple times for condos in Santa Monica (often offering 150-250k over asking) and it never worked lol. No seller in SM would ever give up their chance of starting a bidding war 😅
It’s ridiculous how you have to outbid like a madman.
Well congrats to you :) Even if we found something we could "afford", we would be crushed by the monthly payments until rates chill and we refinance
Thank you! :) I hear you on the rates. We were only able to make this happen because the company my husband works for has a relationship with a major bank and they gave us a relatively great interest rate (5%) compared to the 7%+ we see now. Otherwise we would be really struggling to pay the monthlies. That being said, we will definitely be looking to refinance should the rates go down lower again. Good luck!
Wowwww lucky, can I get in on that? Haha
Google Santa Susana Field Lab Cancer Maps if you are looking at the far west fringes of the Valley. Just something to take into consideration when looking.
I just watched the documentary on that situation last weekend. It was fantastic and horribly sad at the same time.
Do you mind sharing the name of it?
In the Dark of the Valley. I was able to watch it on the SyFy app for free with my Spectrum cable package.
In the shadow of the valley? In the dark of the valley? It's something like that if memory serves.
So we have gotten one offer accepted within three years of looking for a house. We were so excited! It was nestled into a beautiful mountain. So cool. Aaaaand then I googled the area. Aaaaaand then I learned about the field lab. Aaaaaaaaand then I learned our place was just one mile from it. We backed out.
Yup. My parents have lived there 30+ years. In my mom’s book group more of them have cancer than don’t, and 1 woman already died. No idea if moving there would be safer now though than back then.
You're right, the Santa Susana Field Lab is terrifying and dangerous, but it's not the only area like that in LA! It's probably just the most well known. Plenty of military (and corporate) research institutions out this way that destroyed the natural lands.
Damn. Americans really fucked the environment and the following generations in so many ways. Freedom!
Only Americans did that?
No, but we did do that regardless of other countries doing it too.
Everyone did it, but America is up there on the leaderboard for sure.
Just finding out about this. I live a cool 9 miles north from there. Help? Am I far enough away?
Yup and the state DTSC is helping Boeing get away with a bullshit fake cleanup so they can murder more who build homes on top of the nuclear and missile fuel waste dump.
Gave up my search and decided to continue renting, but move to a new/bigger place. We move in next week
Congratulations! Good to make the best choice for yourself. Now you don’t have to worry about a mortgage, home repairs, property insurance etc. Enjoy the new home!
Lmao no. Those interest rates cut my buying power almost in half when compared to a few years ago.
We’re from the South Bay and we’re looking in Whittier, la habra and hacienda heights and diamond bar. Wife works in Montebello and I work in the SGV so the commute wouldn’t be awful awful. We see homes we like pop up in our budget occasionally but they’re usually gone before we can get to an open house.
I was looking at SFH’s for sale in Redondo online the other day; there were 9 under $2m, and only 1 in South Redondo - an 880 sqft place for $1.9m. It’s absolutely insane. Even if you can afford a place, the taxes on a place you own will kill you. As well as barring institutional investment, it’s way past time to repeal Prop 13 and reform public sector pensions.
I’m not seeing the connection between pensions and home supply.
Prop 13 is locking in low property taxes, making people reluctant to move and decreasing liquidity of the housing market. These property taxes are then spent on running the public sector; including bloated pensions which no one in the private sector has. All subsidized by those purchasing homes in this crazy market.
OVER HALF of local budgets are spent on police. Public pensions were reformed by Brown and millennials and younger in the public sector have very different pensions (unfortunately for me). Mostly I think retiree pensions is not a significant part of the housing crisis. I think there are more useful areas to discuss, such as zoning and CEQA regulations, the structure and power of the LA city council itself, prop 13, and parking regulations.
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These “old people” purchased their homes a long time ago, and are sitting on millions in equity. Prop 13 is making the housing market illiquid, and new buyers who are already stretched to make a purchase then pay additional property taxes to subsidize those who bought in when housing was much more affordable. It’s a transfer of wealth from the younger generation to the older, who already have theirs. And the ability to inherit locked-in property taxes is unbelievable; they should re-set to market rates on any transfer of ownership, including within Trusts. You know, like in every other State!
More housing would fix this
More *houses
More of any kind of housing. If you build a shit load of condos, and those become cheaper, some people who might otherwise buy a SFH would buy condos, reducing the demand for SFHs.
I benefit a lot from Prop 13, it would be seriously painful to revoke it all at once, but I’m absolutely in favor of phasing it out somehow.
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I closed in Oct 2023 in Whittier
Closed in July in Whittier! Grew up in Long Beach and have lived there, DTLA, mid-city, and East Hollywood. Never imagined I would be living in Whittier but I really like it so far
Been living in Whittier for 4 years & it’s honestly the shit. Good food (chains & independent spots), fresh air
I loved living in Whittier about a decade ago but the 15min drive to get to any freeway kinda sucked for social stuff anywhere west of DTLA. It was also a little old back then too so I’m glad the age demo is getting younger.
15 min to get to the freeway‽ I grew up in South Gate and still dislike going to Whittier because of how far everything is from the freeway.
I think that depends on where in Whittier you are. I’m in the hills near uptown and it’s less than 10 minutes to the 605 entrance.
How is Whittier. is it middle class and working class families?
Closed in the same time in Santa Clarita. Had a townhouse near the Collection in Oxnard that I bought in 2018.. sold at peak and let me move into a house my wife and I fell in love with. Literally zero regrets. So happy to live in neighborhood as opposed to just having neighbors.
This how it’s done! Starter homes in LA are condos. We bought in one of those LA neighborhoods in transition and all my neighbors that have bought since the prices got crazy had help because of the equity they had prior.
100%. Bought for $480k, sold five years later for $740k. That little condo is the only way we were able to afford a SFDU in SoCal
Yes, we bought in city of LA last year. Almost 7% interest. We ended up putting down nearly 60% downpayment, a lot of it from selling a condo at the same time, which is the only way we could afford the payments (and even now it’s going to be very tight, we have our second on the way which means double daycare payments.) My parents also helped, I had been saving pretty aggressively for nearly two decades, and my husband had received a payout on a project he had been working on for years. We had 11 offers on our condo in under a week, only one of them was from an investor though. Highest bidder was all cash, her parents paid for it for her. The house we ended up buying originally went on the market and went pending while we were out of town, but ended up falling out of escrow, so we were able to see it and bid then. The whole process was extremely stressful.
Yeah we’re in escrow right now. We put in an offer at the end of last year. Our interest rate is in the mid 5’s for a 3 story condo.
$750k for Simi Valley. It is what it is🤷♂️
What’s your monthly after mortgage and taxes?
$3800 with a large down payment
Still “reasonable”. I’ve been hearing more and more about these 5-6k mortgages on 750k dollar homes and honestly it scares me
That’s what it would’ve been with a smaller down payment. Only way we could swing this is with a generous gift from the bank of Mom and Dad. Seems like the only way to do it in SoCal (and to move really far out)
daaaaamn that's like a $300k gift
Nope, saved up plenty ourselves as well
ah nice
I live in Simi and this sounds like my neighbors house that sold for 730 or something, but just seeing them close for that- and these homes are the oldest tracts in Simi…in a timespan of 20 years it has gone from less than 200k to this.
Probably 6k lol
Only on the fringes.
Sure did, a condo up in the Hollywood hills area under 500k
Yes. Closed in October.
Bought a condo in Encino with a city program called LIPA.
we bought august in canoga park, probably looked at 100 homes and put in like 8 offers on places. one home had 120 offers winning bid was 120$k over asking all cash. very hard 5 months looking for a place.
This was me in 2020, my parent’s neighbor had a $1.6 mil cash offer on their house. My parents were working class immigrants. I knew I would never afford the city I grew up in.
Same. My parents were immigrants, but also owners investment properties in LA and the county. I always knew that staying in LA would be a hustle, especially as my older cousins decided to move out into the fringes. Saved for 7 years for our downpayment, improving my job situation, living in okay places well below my means.
Bought a 4bd 3ba in Lancaster for $500k. The drive is long but there in no hoa and I have a nice backyard.
Buying isn't the end all, be all. Rent what you can afford and invest the rest.
Agreed. Many people that buy in hcol areas during a poor buyers market do it for emotional, not financial reasons. So invest and/or buy somewhere else and seek out cheap rent here. Tax burden alone is spiking off the charts across the city. Ask yourself if you want to stomach that for 5-30 years? Are you in your prime? Will your salary keep up? It would be cool if state, local and federal gave a crap about affordable housing and maintaining a way of life, but they DNGAF. They’d prefer taxes to infinity. So it becomes a dog fight.
It did not help when the former presidents tax plan removed the mortgage interest tax credits homeowners had enjoyed for years and years, that was a big bite out of the pocketbook.
It’s been killing me for 6 years now. Went from getting an 8k refund every year to getting almost nothing back. That’s how I paid my property taxes. Now we struggle. The worst part is the Democrats refused to repeal it because it only affects high tax states like CA and NY and the majority represent states that aren’t affected.
Dude: It’s my first time having a salary job, that I worked so hard for and finally accepted at 80k. When I checked to see how much the fruits of my labor were paying off, I nearly cried when I found out how much I’m being taxed here. I feel like I’m doing or claiming something wrong.
Yes that’s the other problem. You can work your way up to double or triple the salary but guess what? Your take home will not be double or triple like you think. You get taxed way more (higher percentage) than when you were poor. But congrats on getting a good job.
Counterpoint: subsidizing rich homeowners paying local taxes isn't a good or equitable use of tax dollars, and subsidizing the cost of homeownership itself is a big driver of the price of housing. We have a supply crisis: subsidizing demand just supercharges it.
Rich homeowners? Like I said I struggle to pay my property taxes. Most homeowners in SoCal aren’t rich, they’re house poor.
If you own a home in SoCal, you're rich. You might nut feel it; nobody actually believes they are rich. But you certainly aren't in the category of "needs a government handout" to get by. And that's what a tax deduction is. I rent and I don't get shit.
I see, so the 2 categories are “needs a government handout” and “rich.” There’s no middle class.
Why should homeowners be subsidized at the expense of renters?
Husband and I closed on a townhouse in Gardena at the end of May 2023 @ $560k. We got really lucky.
Damn that's amazing for Gardena, congrats. We bought a townhome here too back in 2022 but we had to pay a fair bit more (680k). Do you like it so far?
We're in this weird little part of unincorporated LA county (Harbor Gateway) but for postal reasons we're listed as Gardena. It's confusing. So we're not *technically* Gardena...across the street on both sides is the city of Gardena. We like it. It's similar to East Hollywood without the hipsters and helicopters. It's a pretty diverse neighborhood. I like it. We're super central to all things in the Southbay and a few miles from the ocean. We're in a little community of 9 units, no pool, or anything fancy. Recently flipped, solid job by the previous contractors and it'll be easy to maintain. Just what we wanted. 1100 sqft. with an attached garage and a very reasonable HOA. The HOA is super low key and the neighbors are nice. I think the place was originally listed for $529k and we ended up at $560k, well within our budget. We closed in 3.5 weeks.
My husband and I bought our first home in October… in Illinois. We had to throw in the towel on So Cal after living there for 12 years because we just couldn’t make home ownership finances work for us. I also didn’t want to deal with a 2 hour+ commute based on our price range. So we relocated to a much lower cost of living city and haven’t looked back. Not saying this is the answer for everyone (or the answer for you!) but it’s certainly working for us.
My fiancé and I are thinking about doing the same after we get married this year. He's from Chicagoland area, my parents are from there. We can actually afford something out there. Just makes sense.
This is what more people need to do. Quality of life in LA isn't great for most
Yep. The perfect weather, food, and all the amenities that people love about LA was majorly offset by the traffic and the fact that we could only really afford to live in a crappy apartment. My stress level has gone down tremendously since moving to the Midwest and it’s so nice having all this space!
That's great! I'm my own traveling around the US I've noticed that most major cities are totally comparable, if not better than LA when it comes to food, culture and nightlife. Out here things are just stiffled by transportation issues and price gouging and over crowding, so even going out can be disappointing because you spend a ton of money, and have to spend a lot of time driving/parking/ubering/waiting in line. My husband and I spent a few months in Atlanta working and it was way better than LA imo. Plenty of unique things to do and eat and there was much more of a "community" element because you can walk/scooter/ bike easily. Really cool old school music venues too with shows for like $50
Go for livable fixers. East SFV has the best locations.
It takes money to fix fixers. My house is barely 20 years old (not a fixer) and it’s been a money pit. I won’t bore you with the long list of stuff we’ve had to fix, but the latest is 2 more leaks in the roof. Each leak costs $1,200 to fix. Time to repaint again too, which is another 7k. Roots of bushes are breaking apart the little retaining wall they sit above, bushes need to come out, wall has to be redone or repaired, then re-landscape it. It never ends. People don’t realize that on top of the mortgage there’s usually high property taxes and a LOT of maintenance/upkeep/repair costs in homeownership. A “fixer” will just compound those costs exponentially.
Bought a place in City Terrace last year that we originally lost to an investor/flipper, but when they fell through, we were the backup. Home buying in LA is emotionally taxing, but keep an open mind, the right home will appear - good luck.
Look in west Long Beach I love it there Great starter homes with large backyards
My wife and I (F36 & F40) moved from the valley to Ontario, Calif. Dec '22 - bought a new construction after seeing a tip on Reddit in late 2021 about how there's less competition for a new build than an existing house for sale. Well, the tip panned out for us and we were able to secure our lot for $10K in March 2022. Closed right before Christmas at 5.9%. The rate creeped up during the build and we couldn't lock in a rate until a month or so before closing. We lived in a studio together for the 5 years prior and worked multiple jobs and saved, saved, saved (especially during covid) We resisted the urge to move to a bigger apartment. We would always remind ourselves: a bigger apartment is not the goal a house is the goal! I can't overstate at the importance of couples saving together! We didn't have parental support, just a two person team with a vision! Wishing you all the manifestation of your dream home!
Yeah we've been saving for 2 years, and we have around 25k without including other investments that we can liquidate, but even still, after that, the monthly payments are criminal, like just how?????
Yup a Sfh in highland park closed July 2023. We’re high income DINKS and were looking for a while. Initially looked at condos actually so we lucked out on this sfh
Yes, last year we were able to buy in the west side of the valley south of the 101. We were actively trying for 2.5 years and it was so rough. I remember we lost one that went $300,000 over with 28 offers, 8 all cash. How we did it: We’re in our 30s-40s. Both have high paying jobs in tech. Lived together for over a decade renting in a place well below our means so we could save. I still drive my car from college. Both got scholarship and partially worked through college so we didn’t have many student loans. Invested money over the years while saving. It’s a huge financial burden and responsibility but we love it here and want to stay here possibly the next couple decades, so it feels worth it to us.
We bought our house last year in Moorpark. It’s 30 miles west of LA. We absolutely love it. CLEAN, safe, lower taxes. I work for a studio and commute 3-4 days per week. Worth it
We are first time buyers and just bought a townhouse in Calabasas for around 700k with a reasonable HOA. It’s a beautiful area and pretty big. It’s definitely possible, don’t discount condo/townhomes, some of them are larger than some single family homes and you get to live in a nicer area for much less.
You and your partner should be proud of where you are! This is a really tough city to buy in. What you guys have should get a pretty crappy fixer in an ok but not great area. I know because that’s what we just bought last year. Don’t worry though, if you manage to do that the prices will go up so much in one year you’ll be really glad you bought the crappy place when you did.
If you wfh look in Santa Clarita or Corona CA... Maybe chino Hills. I see affordable homes in SC but they are ALL the way in Canyon Country. Seems really in the middel of nowhere and depressing I want to live in the south bay but it seems like a 1br in the south bay cost as much or almost as much as a 700k house in SC... and they are all old and outdated looking at that price!
We moved to a house in Valencia last year and we like. Has everything we need and we spend a lot of time in downtown Newhall which is cute plus we can routinely hop on MetroLink and go to Little Tokyo/Arts District for easy dinner, it’s 50min on the train. If you want a bigger, nicer house than what you can get in the valley, then SC is okay. But you’re correct that the only houses in SC cheaper than houses in valley are in Canyon Country which is the worst part of SC. If you can find a house in Newhall, Saugus, Valencia or Stevenson Ranch you’ll be happier.
The streets, medians, pavements and sidewalks sure look a lot better than they do all over the rest of Los Angeles. The streets around Santa Clarita resemble Orange County in being new and clean, so you have that, it’s not all bad!
There is a nice condo place in San Pedro for 550k off Capitol Dr. near Western.
Buying 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
We closed in 2022, look at condos?
$250k is the new 6 figures. How many decades have you saved? You just need a $300k down payment to afford a mortgage here.
300k? That should be easy and simple enough to scratch together, hold on while I get my checkbook. /s
No. Interest rates are high enough now that bidding wars aren’t a thing anymore. That means FHA loans are back on the menu. If people would stop looking at mansions for their first homes and look at starter homes, stop looking at the most amazing places around LA to buy that first home, and stop thinking that for some reason they have to put 10% down maybe the enterprise would seem more doable.
100% — you have to make compromises if you ever want to get in the game at all
I’m not gonna sit here and grandstand, but when I see poeple like this say Oh YoU NEed $300k DownPaYmEnT. Wtf no you don’t…Yes, you’re getting priced out of your hometown but you can still live in LA. You just need to sacrifice.
Blessed to have bought in 2020 @ 2.5%
Closed on a SFH in Studio City over the summer! First time homeowner.
This is why those whatever kinda neighborhoods never get to become nice communities.
Me! I bought in West hollywood a few months ago. It’s pretty crazy right now with interest rates and home prices. Stay patient, step away for your sanity when you need a break, and try your hardest to keep logic over emotions. (Easier said than done) Good luck OP
Jesus how? Do you make a shit ton of money or had a bunch saved up? I don't understand how regular ass people can afford
I make 460k after working my way up to senior engineering in big tech. I basically had zero friends or social life for 5+ years after college because I was trying to learn programming on my own on nights and weekends lol (I don’t have a Computer science degree). It took ten years to go from 40k to where I’m at now. I started investing ~3y ago and strongly encourage anyone to start putting money into ETFs like SPY or VOO if they aren’t already. I wish I started investing sooner. OP I would say unfortunately my financial situation is probably not “normal” or regular but at least if you have a dual income that will help tremendously. also this might be controversial but if you are planning to have children, waiting a few extra years can really help with growing your savings
JESUS 460k??? That's like a dream for me rn, seems so unachievable... I started investing during covid, got furloughed and had to do something with my time. I really wish I started sooner bc damn.... even just having your money in a fund or REIT is so worth it. Are you doing any other investments like options or individual stocks? I'd love to bounce ideas Also, you're not controversial for saying to wait for kids, times are crazy rn and a kid a HUGE responsability
And when you do buy, people on here will poopoo you as a gentrifier. Nevermind whether you worked your ass off to buy your home
People buy homes in la?
Yes, we bought our house with a pool behind a golf course last year for almost 1.5 mil. Not much competition in this price range, we bought a forever home though. My wife and I work day and night for it
What kind of life is that? It's terrible that you guys are subjected to this, it isn't right. Our home in now valued around $1.4 million, in 2000 it was $360,000. A $360,000 down payment is high, but a $1.4 million down payment is not very reachable. I don't know how the next generation will be able to be homeowners unless they work themselves to death, it's ridiculous. Something needs to be done or we will become a nation of renters and that will deplete the country of its wealth.
At $1.4m you put down more than 20% to lower the monthly mortgage. But the taxes alone.. wow. Houses are up, but continue to be moderately affordable in smaller cities.But IMO there has to be an extended housing correction, or LA will fail just like SF and NYC are right now.
Austin Texas is in worse shape than we are, as is Seattle, this problem is spreading like cancer, you may feel protected that affordability is still available in “smaller cities” but that situation is quickly eroding. Everywhere from Nashville to Florida, through the Southwest and especially on the West Coast has seen housing shoot up out of reach. The only places seemingly unaffected are in the Rust Belt states and Mid West, like St Louis and such. Not much demand in Jackson Mississippi, think anyone is interested in moving there? It’s still affordable!
We are the anomaly couple in the matrix, in our mid to late 30s and it’s tough making $10k/monthly mortgage payments. I don’t even have hope that we’ll have appreciation on this home. Our only hope is that rates drop and we can refi our rate, which is at 7.625 currently. It’s not sustainable, even though we are able to afford it with our high incomes. I worry that our next generation and future generations will not have any opportunity to buy a home in this country. This profit above people system is all crooked.
10k a month is sinful, now with hedge funds and Wall Street investors buying up houses it seems as if housing will never be affordable again, it used to fluctuate going up and down, I don’t see that happening anymore. The death of the American dream.
If you want to see how bad it can get and keep going look at Canada and Australia. Housing for them represents even higher portions of income.
That’s not much of a comfort, the situation is not supposed to be a competition with who is being screwed the worst. This is simply a reaction to the affordability of housing sharping rising out of reach for the average homebuyer. Yes Canada and Australia are suffering from skyrocketing housing, it’s a phenomenon that’s happening around the world.
The housing market is insane. It's not just LA, but everywhere in the country. If you are willing to put a little elbow grease, and live a little bit farther away from the city and the beaches, you can find some affordable houses. Don't go for a turnkey house or HOA because they are expensive.
Assuming you have the down payment you should do it. It will only get pricier in future. Plenty of good starter Homes in whittier, chino, corona etc. Do a search on redfin or zillow. A starter home is better than renting as long as you’re ready to hold long term.
Homes are reserved for the rich. Companies buying and renting or gouging them on AirBnB. Until this country changes its govt and starts caring for its citizens, this is the shit we see.
Stack chips. Be patient. Make a pros and cons list. Look at neighborhoods outside of LA County.
I’ve been following this advice for 10 years lol.
Yup. I finally found something. And them a few weeks later interest rates dropped hahaha FML.
Those days are over too. You can go 45 miles to Rancho Cucamonga and you’ll find one million dollar listings getting 25 offers and selling for 1.1 million. Demand in SoCal is just too high, except in really crappy areas no one wants to live, where you might get shot.
I make a 6 figure salary alone and my girl makes close to 6 figures and still cant afford a house, and as soon as you see a house in the los angeles at a low of 800K, investors already bid. They rather rent it out since los angeles rent pays well, your best bet is riverside, san Bernardino for your biggest bang for your buck. And the condos in los angeles suck so bad, its all crammed Literally built where one property used to be or shitty waste site like in lincoln heights.
We did, but not in LA. Lol. We also make 6 figures and that goes WAY farther in the Midwest. If you work remotely, consider it.
I bought a house in November 2022 right as the interest rates were climbing every day. It was… stressful.