Los Angeles County Real Estate Investing: The Time May be Right

Listen to all the bad news reports. It's the worst time since the Great Depression to buy real estate, right?

Not so, according to some individual investors, who think the market slump has made selected areas more desirable than they've been in years.

While many buyers, whether potential residents or investors, are staying on the sidelines, largely from fear that prices will continue to plummet, some private investors think there's no time like the present to take advantage of a market in freefall.

Overall, homes sales have plunged to record lows. However, the percentage of investors in the market is edging up, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information service.

Real estate investors should not expect a return to the no-money-down days, which means they already have cash on the line as soon as they buy. But remember what Warren Buffett says, "the fact that a market is not turning around in the next year isn't significant. If you wait long enough, the market has always gone up since the days of the caveman."

What do you think? Is now the right time to invest in real estate? We'd love to get your opinion on that. Go ahead and click the "comment" link below and sound off.

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The number of Bay Area homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure spiked this spring, as more people found themselves unable to make their mortgage payments or sell for enough money to cover their loans.

A total of 2,910 homeowners in the nine-county Bay Area got "notices of default"' from their mortgage lenders in the April-through-June period, a 37 percent increase from the same time in 2005, according to a report issued recently from DataQuick Information Systems.

But in Santa Clara County, where home prices have held up better than in most other counties, the increase was the second-lowest in the Bay Area and second-lowest in the state. Five hundred thirty homeowners received default notices in the second quarter, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier.

A smaller proportion of homeowners face foreclosure in California than in most other states, largely because home values have risen quickly enough here that they can sell at a profit. But experts said the spike in defaults suggests that as home prices flatten or drop and higher interest rates squeeze household budgets, even more Californians will slide toward foreclosure in the coming months.

Notices of default are the first step in the foreclosure process.

Statewide, the number of homeowners in default reached 20,752, a 67 percent increase from the second quarter of 2005, when default rates hovered near historic lows. It was the steepest increase in at least 14 years, DataQuick said.

San Mateo County saw defaults increase 51 percent, to 222 homeowners. In Alameda County there was a 42 percent increase, to 649. Santa Cruz stayed flat from last year, at 73.

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Los Angeles County, one of California's original 27 counties, was established Feb. 18, 1850.  Los Angeles County includes the islands of San Clemente and Santa Catalina. It is bordered on the east by Orange and San Bernardino Counties, on the north by Kern County, on the west by Ventura County, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. Its coastline is 81 miles long.

It has the largest population (9,802,800 as of January 1, 2001) of any county in the nation, and is exceeded by only eight states. Approximately 29 percent of California's residents live in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles area boasts the eleventh largest economy in the world. The Los Angeles area has many great things to offer in addition to a diverse and robust economy.

The BUYER'S BROKER can assist you in locating real estate in ANY of the locations of Los Angeles County listed here:

Los Angeles is located along the southern coast of California. The City is 468 square miles and has an irregular shape with the most expansive areas being in the northern part of the city and tapering down to a strip in the southern portion.

The city of Los Angeles, along with 87 other incorporated cities, is located within the County of Los Angeles. Some of these other cities such as Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, San Fernando, Universal City, and Culver City are surrounded, for the most part, by the City of Los Angeles, yet remain separate and distinct municipalities. Other cities surrounding LA include Pasadena, Burbank, Malibu, Torrance, and Long Beach.

Learn more about Los Angeles County…