Downtown Los Angeles Lofts For Sale – Top Disasters to Avoid When Buying an L.A. Loft

Downtown Los Angeles Lofts For Sale – Top Disasters to Avoid When Buying an L.A. Loft

Pocket Listings - Unlisted, unadvertised lofts in Downtown L.A.
Pocket Listings – Unlisted, unadvertised lofts in Downtown L.A.

With a historic renaissance currently under way, the once blighted neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles is buzzing with new vibrance and vitality.  Thousands of new residents are moving into Downtown every year.   Prospective buyers are seeking to capture the excitement and growth of Downtown while minimizing the risks.  To help mitigate the down sides of Downtown while enhancing the rewards, this article will provide ten of the most noteworthy problems awaiting Downtown loft buyers, and how potential problems can be prevented or mitigated.

DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS: FOR SALE | RENTALS

Skid Row Downtown Los Angeles
Skid Row Downtown Los Angeles

Nearly everyone has heard about the #1 issue in Downtown, which is the poverty and strife of survival suffered by the homeless and mentally ill community in the City Center South neighborhood of Skid Row.  Downtown Los Angeles is the domain of thousands of homeless persons.  Downtown residents encounter beggars, litter and the appearance of lawlessness, particularly in the center of Downtown.  In that respect, Downtown is like a donut, with the good area around the edge, and the hole in the middle that is Skid Row.  Property values around the outer edges have held their value and increased in value slightly more than the properties closer to Skid Row.

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Downtown has other issues such as financing, lawsuits, parking issues etc that buyers need to be informed about before seeing properties for sale.  A Downtown specialist Realtor(R) can provide help to avoid disasters at no cost to the buyer.

LOFTS-DOWNTOWN-LOS-ANGELES
LOFTS-DOWNTOWN-LOS-ANGELES

More than half of the properties for sale in Downtown are industrial or commercial buildings that have been recently converted to live-work lofts under the City of Los Angeles Adaptive Reuse Ordinance.  One of the biggest disasters that occur, especially when using an out-of-area agent and lender, is when a buyer goes through a clumsy, long process of finding the right place, finally getting into escrow, and at the end of escrow, the lender calls the buyer to say, “We cannot finance this property.  Of course we cannot lend on this property — it is a commercial property.  We only do home loans.”  To make matters worse, the seller is demanding that the buyer complete the transaction right away or pay per diem fees.

Loft Living L.A. 3-hour Tour
Successful loft buyers learn before buying

Another common disaster happens when buyers purchase a property without knowing about all of the problems such as lawsuits.  More than 20% of online listings involve a building was recently or is currently involved in a lawsuit.  Buyer’s need to know what is really going on with a building.  Just in the past few years, many buildings have involved lawsuits about poor construction, crumbling facias, broken promises about parking and lost parking spaces (imagine buying a loft and being told that it includes a parking space and then finding out a year later that your space is not yours after all), noise due to thin ceilings and thin floors, finger-crushing elevator doors, floods and other alarming issues.  Buyers who use an out-of-area agent are most susceptible to overlooking these real problems.

Troubled building or amazing opportunity
Troubled building or amazing opportunity?

Almost as common, buyers face mini disasters without ever knowing it by passing up on an amazing loft purchase because they did not have a Downtown specialist Realtor(R) to let them know that a particular legal problem was actually a presenting great opportunity.  Some lawsuits are common litigation of the Homeowner’s Association suing the developer for construction defects.  A Downtown specialist can help the buyer determine if the lawsuit going to be a problem for that buyer, or if the litigation can actually provide a lower price and then windfall equity after a settlement is reached.

Many buyers try to do it themselves, and they miss out on opportunities that they do not notice or recognize.  Buyers often waste time trying to see the wrong building, not aware that the units are already sold, or the building is only for seniors over age 55, or that the building has windows that do not open, the units have no view or light, the units have carpet throughout that cannot be removed or the units have other issues that most loft buyers find unacceptable.  A downtown specialist Realtor can save time by informing the buyer about these shortcomings.  Instead of wasting time seeing the wrong units, the buyer can be taken straight to the right units.  One wasted day often makes all the difference between failure and success in buying a Downtown property.

Which Downtown buildings have suffered floods?
Which Downtown buildings have suffered flooded units?

Countless smaller problems can add up to major headaches and expenses:  City of Los Angeles required 9A reports can be forgotten by out-of-area escrow companies and out-of-area agents, leaving the unsuspecting buyer responsible for taking care of the confusing 9A report; same story for the L.A. required retrofit inspection; sellers often neglect to install a carbon monoxide detector, again leaving the buyer holding the bag when the appraiser refuses to complete the inspection due to the missing detector — the appraiser then demands a follow up inspection and an additional $150 from the buyer.

Some mini disasters can happen after the buyer received the key and believes that they are safe.  If the buyer is not reminded by the agent to activate a DWP account for electricity, the power often gets shut off of the morning of moving day.  Moving into a condo with no electricity can be a real letdown.  These and many other disasters small and large can be prevented by an experienced Downtown specialist Realtor.

Most buyers in Downtown seek protection for these problems and gain the comfort of experience by working  with a knowledgable Downtown loft professional who visits the 60+ loft buildings Downtown on a daily bases, knows the ins and outs of the buildings.

DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS:  FOR SALE  |  RENTALS

Corey Chambers, REALTOR® (213) 478-0499
coreychambers@yahoo.com
GET PRIORITY ACCESS TO SECRET, UNLISTED LOFTS IN DOWNTOWN!
http://www.laloftblog.com/

L.A. Loft Blog, Downtown Los Angeles

Corey Chambers L.A. Loft Blog

Live in a Beautiful Downtown Loft and Save Money on Transportation in Los Angeles

In addition to offering an open, creative space with lots of windows and light, the ideal loft is just steps away from coffee, restaurants, groceries, shopping, bars, pubs, theaters, entertainment and transportation.  The Metro stops throughout Downtown provide easy access to countless great destinations.  To take full advantage of Downtown’s central location to the greater Los Angeles area, most loft residents own a car.

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DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS: FOR SALE | RENTALS

Metro subway station Downtown L.A.
Metro subway station Downtown L.A.

The loft of your dreams should include a plan for parking.  Where are you going to park?  How hard will it be to find parking for your friends and family when they come visit you?  Parking availability has not always been scarce in the downtown area.  But now, leaving your car at home makes getting out a lot easier.  If you live in Downtown Los Angeles you probably know that it’s life is easier if you’re willing to walk or ride a bike.

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Living in Downtown Los Angeles can appear to be a nightmare to buyers when they begin to think about parking.  However, living in Downtown Los Angeles can actually help save you some of the money you spend on your car.   Because geographically it is at the center of this great hub of the Los Angeles basin, the current and future metro lines all eventually lead to Downtown.  And as the Metro extends it’s web accross the county, the lines start where you live.

There are four very important Metro stations in Downtown Los Angeles.  From these stations you can travel any direction from Downtown; north, south, east, or west.  At all of these stations you can access the Purple Line which runs  north to Koreatown and the Red Line going west to Hollywood.  At the 7th Street Station you access the Blue Line which goes south to Long Beach, and from Union Station the Gold Line goes East to Pasadena.

metro-blue-line

Using these main arteries of public transportation gets you easily to other major city centers at the cost of only a few dollars, and after getting comfortable with taking the Metro the greater LA area is your oyster.  But let’s not forget that Downtown remains the pearl.  This is where local public transportation becomes unnecessary and too costly.  Unlike the BART system of San Francisco or the New York Metro System which charges by the distance travelled, the LA Metro System continues to charge one fee per ride, no matter what the distance.

To leave your car at your home you will need to walk, ride a bike, or take a taxi.  This is easy considering that most destinations like the Disney Center and LA Live are only a few blocks away, or Little Tokyo or the Arts District a mile or more from your home.  With increased safety measures throughout the city, both publicly and privately funded, brighter and better lighting filling the city, at night, and the increased amenities for cyclists throughout the city it is easier to be healthy and save money.

SpringStOfficeshot

While few Los Angelinos would be able to envision a world without their car, living in a beautiful Downtown loft can help you save money and maintain a life with a car.  And the state of transportation appears to be the same, you still need a parking space.

Avoid Downtown Parking Disasters
Avoid Downtown Parking Disasters

As Downtown Los Angeles has transformed from a place of urban decay into today’s exciting renaissance, parking spaces are getting more use.  Open parking lots in the Historic Core and South Park have transformed into pretty parks and private buildings.  The Arts District that was once known for having plenty of free parking is now running out as people flock to Urth Caffe, Wurstkuche, Church & State and Bestia, visitors to Barker Block, Toy Factory and Biscuit Lofts are no longer finding abundant parking spots.  More parking meters are expected to be placed where there were none.

To make matters worse, the developer of some Downtown’s most renowned and respected lofts is being sued right now for selling parking bogus parking spaces.   Imagine buying a loft with parking and then finding out later that someone else owns your parking space and you cannot use it any more.  It has happened more than once.  That is why it is incredibly important for loft buyers to have an agent who is knowledgable about parking in the desired neighborhood.  When a buyer gets help from an agent that knows the parking situation, buyers can avoid possible disasters such as expecting to have parking in the future and then having none.

What do you think? Leave a Reply below.

FIND HIDDEN DOWNTOWN LOFT RENTAL BARGAINS:  3-HOUR PRIVATE TOUR

If you’d like more assistance to find properties in Downtown Los Angeles, call Corey Chambers (213) 478-0499

DOWNTOWN LOFT & CONDO LISTINGS:  FOR SALE  |  RENTALS

Corey Chambers, REALTOR® (213) 478-0499
coreychambers@yahoo.com
GET PRIORITY ACCESS TO SECRET, UNLISTED LOFTS IN DOWNTOWN!
http://www.laloftblog.com/

L.A. Loft Blog, Downtown Los Angeles

Corey Chambers L.A. Loft Blog