guide me , school me... looking at NEWER/NEW 3bd townhomes in the 500k range in North Orange county area ( borderline LA county and san bernadino)

so far i know buy low , keep, fix up, sell higher
-houses at ends of block, near train tracks are bad
-find areas with development going on (commercial, section 8, schools, etc..) or find homes that have been seized, about to be or are forclosed..

can you guys discuss these deeper and also what else is there ?
should i be looking into something in the last stages of being built ?

i want to buy within a FEW months

Greetings Leroy,

If I may ask, what is your investment goal? Or, long-term objective? You have things listed that typically relate to different investment strategies, so I’m curious what your plans are.

For example, if you’re looking for long-term rentals, a $500k condo in OC will not cash-flow (without putting around 50% down) and therefore may not be the best place to start. Or, if you’re looking at pre-foreclosures (which are entirely different than buying at auction), you would need to be totally familiar with Civil Code 1695 and understand how that could affect you. And so on…

If you could post a few more details of what you’re trying to do, maybe people could offer some more specific advice or guidance.

Mcole - thanks !

im looking for a property to live in for at least 8 years (from then i'll most likely rent it out or maybe sell, which i would expect to profit from whether in the long run or at sell) as i am in an apt right now. so i guess a decade would be long term ?

i will buy in N. orange county , CA however i would like to learn more before i see an agent.

the home should be pretty new so that all the engineering and plumbing work is modern (as well as the build of the house). if anything i enjoy light remodeling work. i'm going to cal poly pomona for architecture and just started grunt work for a construction/contracting company... so hopefully these skills will benefit in the future

50% down is too much. ill check out civil code 1695 myself (thanks for the tip).

i'm fairly new and will be receiving help from my grandfather (who has superb credit, a business, 2 commercial properties, some land, and 2 homes about a mill each.) lets say he has 50k liquid to begin with (im not sure how mcuh exactly however he wants me to do alot of research before she gets involved .. he knows some and has connections but hes not a native English speaker). he has a large line of credit as he doesnt spend anything extravagent almost ever.

we are looking for a newer/new/being built/forclosed/about to be foreclosed etc... min. 3bd 2ba townhome for my brother and i.

we would like to get a better home for the money and so were looking at cities/locales which havent been TOO OVERDEVELOPED YET and will be on the rise . we dont want to live in the "boonies", and are looking for a place that will be just as modernized as most of the other main cities in orange county by a couple/few years from now.

so i guess this is where i look for city development prospects...

ive found the cities which have been recommended by people who live in the areas (they all seem to agree) ,and plan to find my prospect properties and pinpoint them onto the map comparing the size, price, location, and potential...

sorry i dragged on... but hoepfully this is enough for you to help me on the next step.

thanks boss

should i be looking for forclosed, preforeclosed, last stage of being built, seized, ?

which details should stand out to me when looking for a prospect area with development (as im assuming this is pretty much what im hoping to raise the value of my property next to buying low)

i guess im "trolling" myself.

where can i find other forums to talk with people in orange county in the same position as i?

what year built should i be looking for? anything else i need to watch ?

Ahhh… I thought you were looking for an investment property and didn’t realize you were looking for your own home. If that’s the case, don’t even worry about my reference to 50% down or CC-1695. They were just meant as examples regarding investment properties.

But if you looking for your own home, and you plan to live in it for at least 8 years, my first recommendation would be to just find something that you would be happy with. And don't worry too much about whether or not it's a foreclosure, or last stage development, etc. Just find something you like first.

You also say you’ve identified certain cities that you feel have potential. If so, obviously you can do a lot of research about specific areas or cities online. But you may be better off just contacting some RE agents in each of the areas you’re interested in and let them give you more in-depth information.

I think you’ll find that almost anywhere in Orange County it’s going to be more about pocket-communities, or pocket-developments, than just an overall city in general.