patrick.net

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?

Go to the owners directly. Call, write a letter, or just show up.

Ok, I hope I don't get armed response.

Carducci22,

Why don't you use Redfin and do a search of homes available in the areas you like? Theres lots of homes in your price range.

BTW, if your job is in Downtown LA, I do not recommend living in South Bay. IMO you would eventually hate the commute.

But FWIW, Torrance is just fine. I have no idea why people are saying its a bad neighborhood. I assume they are confusing it with Hawthorne or something.

Also, is there some particular reason you are obsessed with foreclosures? I assume that you are looking into buying a house for quality of live issues, not as an investment vehicle.

I have been looking on Redfin for a while. found Redfin a bit troubling. The reasonable prices are shown as sold. How could it be?
I am not obsessed with foreclosure, but I only see a reasonable price as foreclosure.
Pls enlighten me about the commute.

carducci22 says

I have been looking on Redfin for a while. found Redfin a bit troubling. The reasonable prices are shown as sold. How could it be?

I am not obsessed with foreclosure, but I only see a reasonable price as foreclosure.

Pls enlighten me about the commute.

I don't understand what you mean by reasonable prices. You have yet to list a price range you are looking for.

As far as commute.....Torrance, Redondo, etc to Downtown LA is a harsh commute at rush hour. Do a check on your GPS at the times you would be commuting during the week. I believe you'd be looking at a 60 minute commute that gets worse the further away you are from the 405.

@Dodgerfanjohn, The places I am looking for is some where from 350-450PSF on Redfin.
It is too much. I don' mind to pay around 300PSF.

By the way, Redfin shows around 250PSF in the area I am looking for, unfortunately, it all shows as sold. I don't know whether it is a marketing trick or not.

Do you have any personal experience with listing web site?

As far as commute is concerned, you are accurate.

@gulpher, can you drop some wisdom on the issue.
You are a brilliant guy.

*shrug*

I agree that current purchase prices in parts of Los Angeles I want to live in are too expensive.

I can probably afford up to $450k, but I'm simply not paying that much to live in a tiny house in marginal(though improving) neighborhoods.

I'm pretty sure those $450k cracker boxes are too expensive by around $130-180k at the moment.

carducci22, the two web addresses should work. First, find the house address, enter it at the ResidentSchoolIdentifier to get the zoned schools (elem. secondary and high school). Then entering the schools info. to the other web to get the rating. Remember, only LA unified Schools (zoned) we are talking about although you can get the rating for any schools.

Torrance has five zip codes. I would only look at zip code 505, part of 503. Generally, anything east of Hawthorne Blvd is no go for me. 505 is great, 501 is no no IMHO.

Market is getting tougher now? It might be very hard to find a decent place in the neighborhoods we are talking about at $300 S/F.

@Gulpher, What is the best tool to find the property?
Redfin and zillow are useless. A decent place is over a million dollar. Is it for real?
Any idea?

carducci22, We were using Redfin and Ziprealty while shopping our home. Honestly, I don't know if there is 'best' tool. More or less, they are all similar. You are right that 'a decent place is over a million' in these neighborhoods. This afternoon I received a mail of report of the 3rd quarter sales from Prud**tial. It says the lowest sale price of the west Manhattan Beach is 700k while the highest is 6.2millions.

I used to live in Patrick's neighborhood, the bay areas for many years. So the price in LA is not going to make me jump. It's what it is.

@gulpher, is there any dos and don'ts when you give offer?
How less do I give offer %? Does it make difference if I pay cash?
What is your overall advise?

carducci22, Cash offer will make yours more attractive since there is no loan contingency. Do expect multiple offers if the property is listed at its fair market value in these neighborhoods. I got outbid four times before landed mine. The four houses were all sold at and above the listing. One would have to know the market well to come up with an offer.

I would seek professional help preparing an offer.

@patrick, do you have any experience with a house via auction?
I got a good place but afraid to commit.
Pls share me any knowledge.
Your kind help is vey much appreciateed.

Call a title company, ask for a title rep.
Ask the rep to look up the property and advise you of any liens on the property. The liens are yours.
The title rep may accompany you to the auction.
They might already be at the auction.
They're free and will always do your legwork.

@jaws, where is the place to look auction listings?
Any do's and don't and do's?
Pls advise me in detail.

Carducci22 - sorry, guess I messed up my reply.
What county do you want?
I can lead you to the county's website and a title co. (I'm in Las Vegas and we have a killer auction website put together by a title co) - don't know where you are. Don't read every comment.
Do not bid without knowing the liens, some don't matter, some you will be the sitting duck of the auction.
Walk the property yourself, snoop. Go to some auctions before you actually bid. Get the lay of the land, some tough bidders, some newbies and boy do they get taken. Just hang around and talk to the vendors.
Talk to a title rep - you can ask a million questions for free.

JAWS says

Call a title company, ask for a title rep.

Ask the rep to look up the property and advise you of any liens on the property. The liens are yours.

The title rep may accompany you to the auction.

They might already be at the auction.

They're free and will always do your legwork.

Jaws,

Which title company and which title rep do you work with? Can I get a referral? Sounds awesome especially when they are willing to work for free.

@Jaws, I want LA county(los angeles) and Clark county(LV).
Pls load me with as many information as possible.

Your kind help is very much appreciated.

carducci22 and E-man for Las Vegas, use www.rapidtrusteesale.com
Follow the sign-up instructions. You can put in whatever dates you want. Comments from Ticor Title are on the right side. Linda Avila 702-525-4250 is the title rep and she's always at the auction which is held weekdays at Nevada Legal News, 930 S 4th St. Call her b/4 you go to the auction, ask her to look up any properties you like and email you property profiles. Auction starts 9:30, bring a chair, they have bathrooms. Just go and learn. Can't recall if they want whole amount @ time of bid, or they give you time to get it all in. Most bidders have loads of cashier's checks.
For CA, www.AztecTrustee.com They have all counties and show the list of upcoming auctions. They take cashier's checks for full amount @ time of bid. Bring lots of cashier's checks.
www.bid4assets.com is a CA online auction site but I've never found anything but garbage. You register and send a deposit, then bid. They refund your money ASAP if you don't bid/win.

Sorry for this lengthy link, just copy and paste. Once on, go to left legend, 8th subject down, "property auctions." This is Orange County.
http://egov.ocgov.com/portal/site/ocgov/menuitem.4981dc715fc6e27bdadd603d100000f7/?vgnextoid=1ce3ea093e054110VgnVCM1000000100007fRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

For LA County title companies, I really don't have a relationship, however, my past experience is that Chicago Title, North American Title, Ticor Title are all good. I've left messages for two of my realtor friends in Long Beach but it's a holiday and they're probably with kids - they will advise a good title rep and I'll give you the info, their names also so you can use as a reference.

Thanks Jaw. I'll give those websites a spin. :)

So this is what the Real Estate Market has come too? Cash only Trustee Sales?

I myself have been dabbling on www.auction.com

In fact, I have seen 'liens' 'for sale' that had been on the MLS market previously. Translated, previously viewable properties on Redfin that are 'sold' but, somehow, you can buy them for cash, at auction dot com lol, It truly is laughable.

Anyway, I haven't had time to reseach a trustee sale fully enough to be an expert. From the bit I have read, I'm basically buying the loan from the bank and assuming all liabilities, examples are mechanic liens, possible vandalism, 'removal of occupant' (their term go there yourself),
and possibly even a second lien.

They are honest about it, high risk, high reward, and do spell out the possible pitfalls.

OMG, David9 and Professor, you are making so much out of nothing. No, you're not buying the loan from the bank. Really, can you buy a loan from a bank? Stroll into any bank and ask to buy one of their loans. In CA, you are not assuming all liabilities, in CA the liens from a bank are wiped out at an auction. It's the liens from Aunt Bessie in TX than I'm warning of. No removal of occupant, they're long gone. Stop acting like 2-yr olds.
Investors are not pissing off the poor - please, define the poor. The poor I'm aware of live in the LV stormdrains. Their kitchens are better stocked than restaurants on the Strip. They have cash and come and go as they please.
There is no plot to steal the remaining money.....huh.....there's more money in the world now than there ever has been. Take a class on money, currency, flow, geezzzz, I just chuckle at reading comments from people that obviously don't know what currency is, how it grows, makes it's tour around the world while y'all are still fretting about the impending doom. A market crash is an opportunity, if it happens, jump in and make a bundle.
Really, I don't know what some of you are afraid of. But I am cracking up.

JAWS, the web site does not work

The Professor says

The oligarchy likes class warfare, any warfare. It makes them richer and more powerful. In the end the market will crash and the investors will be swept away by "management".

Right on. And we are not talking CEO's or Movie Stars, we are talking centuries old money. They do not even mingle with us peasants, much less mate with us.

JAWS says

A market crash is an opportunity, if it happens, jump in and make a bundle.

Agree, that is what 'should' have happenned in CA.

JAWS says

LV stormdrains.

Wow. You are not kidding. There are people living in the Las Vegas storm drains.

Maybe this is why 1 bedroom condos are back up to 250k here in Los Angeles.