Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 4 votes
Pretty new at this but as I go through listings in Los Angeles, I've started to really pay attention to the price per square foot (and the lot size too). Sadly, none of the mainstream platforms (Redfin, Zillo, etc) seem to offer this as a search filter.
Anyone got any tips on how to search for properties based on these two aspects? I totally ignored them at first, but more and more they are showing themselves to be a surprisingly (to me anyways) good indicator of how much room for improvement a property has.
Investor · Lexington, SC · Member since 2018 · 779 posts · 501 votes
8y
@Account Closed I think you can find these data points on the apartments.com site. LA is a tough market to get into right now...maybe you should consider moving? LOL
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 4 votes
8y
Moving? Well, although I maintain a home in LA, pay California taxes and all that, I actually work in China. Kinda blocked me from managing an owner/occupy purchase. Very annoying.
Actually, I would love to invest in some other market but as I am essentially doing this remotely, I don't really see how I could do this without the help of my family members on the ground.
I just took a look at apartments.com. It looks like it just helps you find a place to rent. I don't see where it shows homes for sale at all. What would be super useful would be if, on Trulia or whatver, I could search "90033" and add the filter "< $350/square foot". Boyle Heights (90033) tends to be around $300-400/sq ft. If you see a duplex or triplex at $275, it is almost always either really spacious or kinda run down. If you see something at $400, it's probably "done". It's been fully remodeled and there's not much room for improvement. In Silverlake over at 90039, the range is more like $650-$850. I don't have as much of a feel for lot sizes, but it seems like understanding what size lot typically corresponds to what number of bedrooms would let you know pretty quickly if there was room for an addition.
So instead of searching for X bedrooms in X zip code within X price range, I sort of wish I could eliminate the price variable and just search for "xxx price per square foot" in zip code yyy.
p.s.
fwiw, I am technically "in". I bought a triplex in April. No cash flow but it's breaking even. I'm basically banking on any of the 3 units to move at some point and then I'll be solidly in the red. Appreciation is nice but the main obstacle seems to be rent control. Which brings me to another thing I seriously wish I could filter by...."delivered vacant". *sigh*
Rental Property Investor · Chico, CA · Member since 2016 · 625 posts · 336 votes
8y
@Account Closed Welcome! I use a local realtor website and you can search by square feet etc. I am sure in your area there has to be someone with such a site. This feature really does help. Good luck and keep us posted.