Hey everyone, strongly looking at moving to LA after I get out of law school. If do a get a job in LA, it'll almost certainly be downtown or maybe in Century City.

Trying to sell my wife on moving there... we visited last month and she liked Pasadena and some other places. I'm pretty familar with LA, but not that familar. We decided we'd either like to buy a decent condo/townhome somewhere relatively convenient to downtown like MDR, Pasadena, Venice or maybe downtown itself, or to try and buy a house somewhere less convenient, but it seems like all the houses have very little land. Is it possible to find a house that has a quarter acre of land that isn't super expensive? If so, where might I be living? The San Fernando Valley? Inland Empire? thx

 

There are certain areas where you can get an unusually large lots of lands near Pasadena such as San Marino (2 million starting) , Rosemead, Eagle Rock, Altadena, Monrovia and glendora.

Venice is beautiful and great weather but the 405 commute sucks and they have old dilipitated homes since they don't really build any more or a glass fish tank like condo in Marina Del Rey. Traffic will be excruciating at times.

Century city is very much like Venice but the beach is a little further. Again traffic will suck to get to LA although it is the lighter way.

There are lots of places to live, but I would rent for a few months until you get a good feel of what environment you like.

 

I agree with Charlie. The best thing you can do is rent until you get a better feel for the cities and people that will be living in that area. Stay away from living in downtown. They have new apart developments directly in downtown that is aimed to attract the young and hip, but they dont mention the homeless and drugs just one block in any direction away from your apartment.

Land is not cheap in L.A. Half an acrea will require you to head North to Palmdale, Landcaster (est. 50-70 miles). Head East to Ontario, Phillips Ranch, Riverside, San Bernadino (70-150 miles). Or Southeast to Corona, Temecula.
All these have large homes and bigger lots than cities near downtown that wont go over $1 mil. The problem will always be traffic!

 

i agree with both of them i was doing mortgage for 2 years before going back to school and i have seen the market skyrocket like no other

a close friend of mines picked up a new town house in El Monte off of Tyler and paid $428k, really nice townhouse although its in El Monte which maybe 3 years ago it probably wouldve been like $180-$220k...

houses are really expensive especially the closer you get to LA, but the traffic sucks nowadays i would really consider you move near work...

if you really wanted land palmdale, lancaster, IE or any of the outskirts the houses are huge with big *** lots but its really far i would rather live in a smaller comfortable home than something that is that far considering that traffic is ridiculous and only getting worse day by day

 

i love going to la to play but would never live there
the air sucks and the area just seems dirty to me
i like to be around trees, mountains, and a quieter environment like
pasadena, la canada, la cresenta, montrose, tujunga, altadena areas are good places to live but housing can be a little bit more expensive i think
there are many condos in montrose, la cresenta, and mayb in altadena area
it also takes about 15 min to get to la w/o or little traffic

 

you forgot about glendale

 

theres a crapload of new condos and stuff in la crescenta/montrose. and nobody's moving in LOL.

 

I used to live in a townhouse called Rosecourt in Pasadena. The price range should be around $800K. Very nice, quiet neighborhood and the freeway is like few blocks away from house so it's convenient.

 

oh yea i did forget glendale
glendale is nice too
too many bros though

 

Pasadena for the win. It's clean, nice, and it's not too far from Los Angeles.

Don't move anywhere near downtown, that place is ghetto. Try to stay west from the 110 as far as possible.

if you're looking for an apartment, here is a great website for listings.

www.westsiderentals.com

good luck!

 

If you live in San Marino, you won't have to take out the garbage.

But I don't.

 

 

nowhere in la is nice...sorry i am a san diego kid and i hate living near la right now....i can't wait till my job transfers me back....no offense to those that live in la but it is not home to me...traffic sucks...it's smoggy...oh an it sucks....

edit...

although i must admit fake ***** everywhere is the only upside...



spearmint rhino city of industry...if you've been there you already know what i am talking about...

 

Don't forget the OP is gonna be a lawyer. I don't think $$$ will be a big problem for him.

 

LA sucks, way too many people, way overpriced, I prefer the beach. If you are buying just move to san diego. You will get better value for a home in a nice area. I live in LA, and its not where i'd want to settle down. My opinion.

 

LOL i was gonna say that....but i shouldn't, they're my people, hahahah...
but glendale and burbank have a lot of new condo's that are gonna be available soon, what with all the new developement [americana in glendale, that huge thing in front of the new amc in burbank] and pasadena's got those sick condo's above the paseo.
crazy expensive, but really nice.

tujunga's a place most people try to avoid cuz it looks like crap when you're driving through the main streets but up in the mountains there are AMAZING homes, and available land. sunland/sun valley, too. up around la tuna canyon most homes sit on large plots of land because most people have horses... i've seen some beautiful homes up there. not far from downtown at all.

 

Riverside!!!!! hahahaha had to represent..... but anything in socal is gonna cost and ur not getting much of it..... (land wise) but pasadena is nice.... i went to school out there.... and not too far from all the surroundings .. like going to work in LA but like everyone says check it out first and see what u like

 

We love San Diego, but it's harder to get a legal job there than it is in LA. The economy just isn't as big as LA's.

 

You can buy it, and if you ever need to move just rent it out and hope the best for appreciation to get your maximum return. That's if you've finance at the rate where the rent covers it and if you're lucky with some positive income return and 3-5 month of emergencies.

 

sorry, buddy....there is no such thing as something NOT "super expenive" in LA or the cities surrounding it, unless you want to live in the ghetto. and i doubt you do.