patrick.net

Culver City would have been great 30 years ago when the schools were A+ and it was literally Leave It to Beaver/Ozzy and Harrett America but alas it is NOT anymore. Now it is grossly overpriced, the studios are not what they were, and the schools are swarming with minorities like all the Westside who did NOT live in the area. There is no housing on the Westside there worth a fraction of what they are still asking IMHO. In my opinion, you look there now with 400K and dump that now? You will lose your shirt. I would bank the money and rent if you have to be there and ONLY if you HAVE to be there.

Which other area shall I consider? Torrence? Venice?
How much do I need to buy in a good area?
I am flexible with my finance.

Since my work is in downtown, people suggested of Pasadena.
Is it a good advise or am I going to waste my time on commute?

War says

carducci22 says

I appreciate any good comment.

Why buy when prices are falling? Buy later for half the cost.

If he held onto that cash he would BUY cash in the coming years, and a damn good place cash.

carducci22 says

Which other area shall I consider? Torrence? Venice?

How much do I need to buy in a good area?

I am flexible with my finance.

Since my work is in downtown, people suggested of Pasadena.

Is it a good advise or am I going to waste my time on commute?

Yes, on Pasadena unless that too has become a hellhole I hear it is downhill and the schools suck. NO WAY to Venice just plain NO way IMHO GROSSLY overpriced, dangerous with a large ghetto and just plain dangerous and the schools suck. It was a hellhole when I was there and I asked a friend recently who is in Marina del Rey and he flat out said "it's still a dump." Torrance? Jeez, is too far away and questionable.

WTF AGAIN just RENT. Do yourself a major favour and a move you won't regret.

Which part of Pasadena is more desirable?
Anybody familiar with Pasadena?
Sorry, Pasadena and its surroundings are Chinese to me.
So, I appreciate any comment.

Perhaps, native Pasadenan???

Lol!

Here are areas we looked at when bought few months ago: Three beach cities on the west side and South Pasadena (not Pasadena) where schools, if not all of them, are rated 9-10 out of 10.
Encino, Sherman Oaks and Studio City have fine elementary schools but secondary and high schools aren't good enough for us.
Stay away from LA unified generally unless you buy in Hancock Park.
400k is a good size down payment. You'll need more to get in to the top rated school neighborhoods where upper class Asians are heading to. It seems that you are sensitive to 'surroundings are Chinese'. Funny, one should think more if making enough to be a part of these neighborhoods.
I'm happy that we've settled in one of these beach cities. We stay cool while inland reaches triple digits.

What is the price range in those areas?
Am i looking at 800K +?

Strategic Renter says

Be prepared to live in a shack surrounded by gang bangers for that price.

Thank you. Your statement referring to 400K (mind you nearly a half a million dollars!!! if anyone knows how much money that is or how long it would take 99.999% of the public to pull together that kind of cash if they ever could) testifies to the gross insanity and ridiculous overpricing of Los Angeles real estate as of 2012.

gulpher says

Stay away from LA unified generally unless you buy in Hancock Park.
400k is a good size down payment.

Are you kidding? NO ONE with their head on straight in Hancock Park sends their kids to public schools which btw IS LA.

IMHO I pity this man if he drops his 400K cash on ANYTHING right now.

War says

Why buy when prices are falling?

Why? Because those greedy fuckers who are out to make another buck off of such foolish people WANT them to! That's why.

carducci22 says

50% lower??? Are you sure?
Remember, this is LA that we are talking about.

Oh please spare me for Christ's sake. "Remember, this is LA we are talking about" just STOP. You know to be frank this statement tells me what your agenda is. I am out of this thread. I am not into wasting my time or first hand personal experiences growing up on the Westdie of Los Angeles over manipulative shite.

$400K as a DP??? Wow! Can I just borrow $10K to get my house out of foreclosure - please.... Just until the economy picks up. You must be a banker or some corporate CO so you KNOW things will pick up REAL soon right??? Just a measly $10K! ;-) Sniker, snicker... Yes - I'm joking.... Firstly most people with that kind of money would NEVER part with a dime unless they got it by winning the lottery but even then prob not, and secondly; the economy is NOT going to pick up ANY time soon. (Nor would I want to continue owning a house!)

danglingt says

Firstly most people with that kind of money would NEVER part with a dime unless they got it by winning the lottery

What is the old saying? A fool and their money are soon parted.

90807
Commute to LA is common.
$300+ to millions.
Very low police activity, desirable schools.

Why buy in LA when you can get a nice house in the Santa Clarita Valley for less, and commute.

SCV to LA is about 30-40 minutes. Buy yourself a Prius for the commute. Plus the schools are a whole lot better in SCV, not so much of the ethnic minority as the schools in LA (no beener kids) more Asian kids, which do better in school than the muffin top lazy Mhexikans...

Only down side to the SCV is the prevalence of members of the church of latter day saints...thats those weird mormon preachers, but hey, they keep themselves to themselves and dont do drugs which is always a bonus.

LA is short for "Latin America" or Hell "A" for a good reason.

So choose and area code like 91355 or 91381, 91354 and never have to lock the door..

Reader says

Are you kidding? NO ONE with their head on straight in Hancock Park sends their kids to public schools which btw IS LA.

The school in Hancock Park is one of very few bright spots in LA unified. It's a good option if you don't want to spend 30k a year sending your kids to private schools.

danglingt says

You must be a banker or some corporate CO so you KNOW things will pick up REAL soon right???

I'm not a banker nor corporate CO. Neither is working at public sector. Try to buy something in the beach cities on the west side and see how much down payment you have to come up with.

Could we just share information without getting political or...?

If you have $400k to put down AND need good public schools AND a reasonable commute, you are looking at:

South Pasadena
La Crescenta
La Canada
Arcadia
Temple City
Alhambra
San Marino
Burbank
Parts of Monterey Park and San Gabriel

All feature public schools K-12 that are good to outstanding depending on the community.

All are a 45 minute or less rush hour commute to DTLA except Arcadia where I would recommend taking the Gold Line rather than drive. South Pasadena is closest.

All are nice safe areas. Several have large or even majority Asian populations.

I'm guessing that overall Burbank, Monterey Park, Alhambra, and Temple City are the least expensive. All were blue collar lower middle class neighborhoods ...basically the Los Angeles suburban dream.. for decades but good schools and rising home prices made the upper middle class enclaves. 3/2 1500 sq ft homes start around $450-500k.

Most expensive is San Marino aka The Chinese Beverly Hills followed by La Canada and South Pasadena. 3/2 1500 sq ft homes start in the mid 700's.

Isn't Hancock Park zoned to Fairfax High?

I thought Fairfax High was terrible....

Does anyone know a good realtor around south Pasadena?

A good realtor?

Is it reasonable to look for foreclosure around temple city or Alhambra?
How about south Pasadena? I know RE agents might say no way!!!
Has anyone bought foreclosure in south Pasadena? If yes, how many sq. ft. And how much?
Detailed information is greatly appreciated.

Gulpher I like your comment. Would you pls post more comment.
I want to know a bit more about Sherman oaks and its surrounding cities.
Pls let me know good zip code area Thai I should look for.

Are you happy with your new purchase?
How much is reasonable offer per sq. ft.?
Are you pleased with the school?
Pls guide me through it.

I hope patrick will be kind enough to let us get in touch directly.

carducci22 says

good realtor?

LMAO. Welcome to patrick.net.

Carducci22, The neighborhood we looked at in Sherman Oaks was areas of east of 405 and south of Ventura Blvd; addresses zoned to Dixie Canyon Elementary and Sherman Oaks Elementary. These two schools are ok with a rating of 8. A couple of houses south of 101 were also looked at. But never went north of 101. We stopped shopping at Sherman Oaks since our son would have to go north of 101 to attend secondary and high schools which wife said no good.

Studio City, In our opinion, has a similar issue with good elementary school in Carpenter Avenue Elementary School. One needs to send kids to private secondary and high schools.

I couldn't be happier with where we settled. The schools are 9-10s. The weather rarely goes over 80s. Yes, it costs a small fortune to get a newer sub 3k square feet house. We prepared to pay between $300 - 360/Sq. Ft. regard to areas mentioned before.

Looking back, I think that last November was a better time to buy not only it cost a little less but also more choices there were. Heck, who knows. All I could say was that I lost some ten years of quality life while waiting to get in thanks to all the interventions out there. Sure, I rented in some of the most beautiful cities on the planet the last twenty years. However, it's just not the same as where I'm at.

Gulpher, how about pre schools and elementary schools in the area? Is it top notch?
Pls let me know the zip codes. Are the zones classified by zip code? Or is it irrelevant?
$300-$360 per sq. ft. Is not bad for the area.
Did you use RE agent? Do you recommend him/her?

I sincerely appreciate your help.

***patrick is outstanding. I wish we have more selfless individuals like him.

Ok, trying for good karma here.

First, may I suggest buying and reading Patrick's book,
'The Housing Trap'

Then, if you still want to buy, may I suggest the courthouse steps if you have 400k in cash?

Redondo Beach is very nice, but not Torrance.
Yes, Burbank, Sherman Oaks, and Studio City too.

Also, for a family, East Ventura County may be ideal. Thousand Oaks andCamarillo, on the LA county side, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, and Calabasas.

carducci22, what I did was entering an address at http://rsi.lausd.net/ResidentSchoolIdentifier/ to find out the zoned schools and then getting the schools' info. at http://www.greatschools.org. Good luck.

David9 which neighborhood in redondo beach? Pls be more specific.

Gulpher, could you pls let me know which tools you used to locate the property.
I couldn't get any suitable place. Pls share with me your experience.

I sincerely appreciate your help.

carducci22 says

which neighborhood in redondo beach?

My Friends live in South Redondo, one of the Avenue Streets A thru G. It has been a safe, no complaints I have heard on the schools, and just a nice place to raise their now 10 year old daughter. They have been happy their and are now married 18 years. It's also a place where home values have held. They bought their 1300 square foot house with a peek a boo ocean view for 290k in 1994, was worth way over a $1 million at the height of the bubble. Still 700k - 800k, I presume.

David9,
I appreciate your input.

I am still waiting for gulpher's suggestion.

Gulpher? No reply! Did I ask too much?
If I did, I full heartedly appologise.

I am new for the area. And i assure you that your kind help lasts for a life time.

By the way, The web address to find zoned schools does not respond.
Is anything missing?

I sincerely appreciate your help.

Patrick, what is the best tool to find forclosure or short sale properties in Southern California?
I could not trust RE agents. Pls help.

carducci22 says

Patrick, what is the best tool to find forclosure or short sale properties in Southern California?
I could not trust RE agents. Pls help.

The best thing is to get familiar with your county records office, which will have all of the NOD (Notice of Default) records on file. Be friendly with the clerks.

It's grim, but death, divorce, and bankruptcy also create records that can be used to find property that is likely to be sold soon. If you can get to it before the realtors do, you have a chance of getting a good deal.

BTW, the best way to make sure I see a comment is to put @Patrick in it. In general, if you put @ before a username with no space, the user will get an email of that comment, unless they turned that feature off in their profile.

@patrick, thanks for priceless information.
I found all this online listing sites pretty useless.
All the reasonabley priced properties are shown as sold. What is the deal?
It is illegal to give false information, isn't it?

carducci22 says

I found all this online listing sites pretty useless.
All the reasonabley priced properties are shown as sold. What is the deal?
It is illegal to give false information, isn't it?

Listing sites are just sales tools.

Showing property as sold is just an ad for the agent, as in "See how great I am? I sold this!"

I don't think there is any law against lying on those sites. Buyer beware.

@patrick, is there any other tips.
If record office doesn't yield anything, is there plan B?

You can try to call the banks directly and ask to talk to their "REO" department about property they are trying to get rid of. Might work, but they are big bureaucracies.

BTW, no need to put @ anymore for comments on this thread. I'm watching all the comments on it by email now (using that checkbox below).

Wow! There is no reasonable way out.
If the record office is successful, how do you approach the owners?