All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

^_^ Thanks for sharing the info @Danny Farrell!

Great job, we can't wait to see it in person!  

@Armand Farr We found the deal on the MLS - we paid $400k for a two- 2bed/1ba R3-zoned duplex and we're walking distance from the Coliseum. The market is hot for the USC housing locations, especially within the USC security boundaries.

@Kiki Helland LA has rent control which is applied to 2+ units and the property is built before a certain year (I think its 1974 but double check that). Rent Control is what has kept the property prices in the south LA area low but thanks to the rest of LA being overpriced and the aging population in South LA as well as other factors, there's been more gentrification occurring in areas such as Crenshaw District and West Adams.  If you find a completely vacant 2+ unit property, you will pay a premium but you'll be able to set your rents at market rate. If you find a single family home, you're in luck because those do not fall under rent control and depending on the zoning, you can add additional units. 

@Joseph M. You can pay rent control tenants to leave (cash for keys) and it is completely legal, however there are laws requiring that owners provide required documents to tenants before tenants trade their keys for cash but I suggest you seek legal advice. Shoot me a message if you need a contact.  Cash for keys is common. You can also evict tenants but you must have just cause and depending on your reason for eviction, then there may be a relocation fee required. 

You'll notice the areas that do not have rent control are extremely expensive compared to the rent control areas but even rent control locations go through their own rejuvenation process (Santa Monica, Pico-Union, etc). 

The USC Village is great! There's quite a bit of development planned for 2018 - they've already started on the Honda Dealership on King, there's new affordable housing going up near McDonalds, the Soccer Stadium is coming together, there is a plan for new hotels going in across from the soccer stadium, and they're supposed to break ground for the George Lucas Museum next year (2018). 

There a couple flippers in the South LA area and I'm most familiar with @shawn 

@Shawn Wardundefined and his work. He flipped a beautiful craftsman styled home about 5 minutes away from our duplex and he has his story posted on Bigger Pockets along with pictures. If I remember correctly, he purchased the SFR property for around $400K, put in about $95K, sold at about $650k? Shawn, feel free to chime in (I'm sorry if I left anything out). Homes on the MLS in our area range from $350k to $600k depending on the condition, if it's flipped, the number of units, the lot square footage, zoning, vacancy, etc.

Hope this helps 

@Account Closed I'm glad you're enjoying curbed LA! We just learned that an investor bought 7 multifamily properties along exposition to convert into USC housing. As great as USC housing is, I think there's also a lot of potential in the area to flip homes the area to also make them suitable for middle class families who work downtown. There are a lot of homes that are south of the 10 that are older and need some TLC. There are a lot of options in our area. 

Sounds good @aj 

@AJ Spileundefined

We look forward to meeting you! 

@Brandon Foster Check out this thread!

Hi @AJ 

@AJ Spileundefined

I recommend avoiding the neighborhoods where gentrification has already started because the prices have already jumped, making it tough to cashflow. Look for the neighborhoods that will be next to change in a couple years. As I mentioned below, look at curbedla.com, urbanize LA, Los Angeles Business Journal and as much content as possible to gain an informational edge on where development will occur and that should be your next neighborhood to focus on. My fiance and I recently purchased a 4bd/2ba duplex near USC (Vermont Harbor area) for less than what it costs to purchase a standard SFR on Crenshaw. Also, look for pulled permits and transactions of larger multifamily properties in your target neighborhoods and you'll identify the larger investors. I've found that larger investors typically have an informational advantage or they have a project in mind.

We have a few flippers in the South Los Angeles area and as the elderly leave their homes and the local turnover increases, we're going to see more RE transactions and flips because these neighborhoods have homes that maintain a  lot of character, they're still relatively affordable compared to the rest of LA, and the commute to DTLA is also really short (it takes us 15-30 minutes to get to DTLA depending on the traffic). Drive the neighborhoods and work your magic. 

We also have a South LA BP meeting every month - our Facebook group (South Los Angeles Biggerpockets Meeting) has meeting updates and we also post the events on BP. Hope this helps! 

Hey @Jason Carter, thanks for the mention haha.  South Los Angeles encompasses a lot of various neighborhoods such as Leimert Park, Vermont Harbor, West Adams, Inglewood, Crenshaw District, Watts, South Central, etc (I think our first handout identified 14 different neighborhoods) but I do recommend driving the various neighborhoods because each one has their own activity and development going on. 

If you want to learn about future projects in a neighborhood, I strongly recommend checking out CurbedLA.com and Urbanize LA. Also talk to the local councilmen and police because they're pretty aware of future projects.  I think our neighborhood (vermont harbor) will start getting hot in 2018 when they break ground on the George Lucas Museum and the Honda Dealership is erected. Also, check zillow neighborhood report to see what properties are moving and you can check Next Door App to see how many properties in a neighborhood are on the market.  Hope to see you at the LA County Holiday Meeting tomorrow and also a future South LA BP meeting!

Hey beautiful BiggerPockets people; if you're interested in attending the South LA BP Meetings, join our Facebook group - South Los Angeles Biggerpockets group for meeting updates and event information. There's also an event posting for our upcoming LA County Holiday Meeting which is open to BP members in the LA County! Hope to see you there!