Buying Real Estate

I've never bought real estate before,  so looking for any guidance on the matter.  LA is super expensive so considering something like a duplex,  live in one rent the other.  Or split it with a friend where we both live there.  Either could perhaps create complications.

The other issue is real estate prices,  they have gone up a lot in year, in part due to low interest rates and high demand with very low supply  Maybe it's a bubble and they come back down.  Or maybe they keep going up as inflation takes over.

wait a while there is definitely some kind of bubble

while not LA
what i see in rural towns vacant commercial real estate, former retail. In a paralllel universe i'd be living in a the back of an electronics/recording studio storefront
reminds me of a PKD novel

speaking of L.A. now is not the time to buy and it's going to get worse.

look at yesterday, robbery in broad daylight in Beverly Hills no less.  nothing you would expect to see there at lunch time.

I am considering the migration to other pastures, as L.A. continues the downward spiral, I may fly the coop.

what i see in rural towns vacant commercial real estate

Click to expand...

Rentals are nearly crisis-like in some areas; talking 50% vacancy, even in the historic old downtown DC buildings that are 1-2 blocks from the Whitehouse. Foreign finance and international trade workers have moved most of their people back to their respective countries to work from home.

Edit: Those that maintain high occupancy do not necessarily have high rates of payment. One complex I visited, roughly quarter of occupants were three months in arrears! No idea how these people will get above water after sunset of covid relief laws...

So are you committed to living in LA then?

I've been thinking about moving. Sometimes I look at all sorts of maps and think about how one might be used to influence where someone would want to live.

For example, I've been looking at election maps to see where blue pockets are like Charlottesville, Asheville, Austin, etc.

Another map trick that's handy is if I'm driving around somewhere that I don't know and I'm looking for civilization, I search for Starbucks. I don't even drink coffee but if there's a cluster of three Starbucks within two square miles, you can be fairly sure whatever else it is that you're looking for will probably be there.

I've looked at flood maps, superfund site maps and of course Google maps satellite view to get a "big picture" about industrial vs green areas, how far the nearest International Airport is and Google street view to see what homes in an area look like.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what I can tolerate more: hot summers and mild winters or cold winters and mild summers.

I've considered leaving LA too,  but not sure about income opportunities elsewhere. Also fine with waiting to buy,  but it's a bummer paying rent every month.