S.California Land Properties On EBay
Hello everyone,
For the past year I've been watching very carefully RE offers in S. California (Palm Springs, California City) on eBay. I've noticed many people bitting on those land properties. I even contacted few sellers myself, but then because of being a true REI newbe, I put everything on hold and returned to reading RE books and this forum each day.
So, my question to more experienced REIs out there is... Should I go for it? Should I start purchasing those properties? Everyone who I spoke with told me, that this area is growing fast, new constructions, new stores opening... I want to start somewhere. And since the prices of the land over there are still at resonable levels, why not take advantage of it?
Please advice me (good or bad).
Thank you,
Alicja
Alicja,
Just a word of caution: California City is in the middle of nowhere! It's not like San Francisco or LA... I would look at San Bernardino or something a little closer to civilization. With that said, chances are, your investment will grow over time but it may be a long time... Also, I don't think eBay is the best place to buy the land. If you work with a local realtor, you should be able to pick them up cheaper. Keep in mind that you have to pay property taxes every year on each lot you own.
Mark.
Thank you Mark for this advice. I will stay away from eBay and California City and look somewhere else.
Alicja
Even though Cal City is far from LA and SF, it is not in the middle of nowhere. It used to be, and you couldn't even give property away there. Times have changed in LA and SF, housing and land prices have shot through the roof. As a result, outlying areas are becoming more attractive. Cal City definitely has had a bad rap for a long time.
I would suggest checking it out for yourself. It is primarily desert, but the desert can be beautiful to some.
I would agree with MarkMarkov. Everything is relative, to someone from San Francisco, it definitely is in the middle of nowhere. And I can understand to someone from Crowley Lake ( I looked on the map) it might not seem as remote.
They did recently(2yrs ago) open a new prison so there is some resurgence in Cal City in the form of about 800 new jobs and all that comes w/ that. But Cal City's economy wasnt bad before that, it was horrible so its got a long ways to climb. Just some factors to consider.
Hi,
Just my newbie two bits here. I lived in a small go now here town in Northern most CA for 20 years. The town was economically dependant on the fishing, timber and tourism. With the timber industry on the decline, and fishing was not doing that well; they built a new prison there. That was an economic/housing boom for the town and the county as well.
That was 15-20 years ago, now property is through the roof for that area.
I would say that this may or not be a possibility for your area, every area is different. But, I do know that correction officers have money and do spend it, that I have seen. I would recommend try researching housing starts and real estate prices past to present and try to get a feel to see if they have leveled off or are still on the climb for that area. As I said before this is just from what I seen happen in my little town.
[ Edited by Needs_Coffee on Date 10/16/2004 ]