California City, CA - is this town going downhill?

[Logan Allec]

So I recently sent out some marketing pieces to all of the Antelope Valley.  But strangely enough, of the 10 people who called me in response, 9 want to dump their properties in California City.  Hardly a peep from Palmdale or Lancaster, which are much larger cities to which I marketed much more heavily.  What's the story here?  Is California City on the way down?

[Jim Keller]

Originally posted by @Logan Allec:

So I recently sent out some marketing pieces to all of the Antelope Valley.  But strangely enough, of the 10 people who called me in response, 9 want to dump their properties in California City.  Hardly a peep from Palmdale or Lancaster, which are much larger cities to which I marketed much more heavily.  What's the story here?  Is California City on the way down?

Our Company sold a small none performing 18 unit apartment building in Cal City last year for under $23,000 per door. This deal turned out to be a little more than everyone involved was prepared for but in the end the buyer got a great price on the 18 units. Obtaining competent management was an issue, I have no confidence in the service personal in the local area. Its not like me to just make a sweeping statement like this but it was the hardest part of the transaction by far. If this was my first chance at making it big on small SFR's or mid size multi family I would take what I say to heart. I had the feeling as an outsider the locals have seen this many times before and they orchestrated most of the drama they pushed on our buyer. These deals are hard enough to control and having to deal with the "Hatfield's and McCoy's" was a huge distraction.

Good Luck

Jim