For investors & ADU-minded buyers
Deals that pencil, checked before you write the offer
Cash flow in Los Angeles is thin enough that the deal is won or lost in the underwriting. I run rent comps, rent-control exposure, and ADU feasibility on a property before you get attached to it — and I’ll tell you when the numbers say walk.
What I check on every address
- Actual rent comps and realistic vacancy, not pro-forma optimism
- Whether the building falls under LA’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance
- ADU or conversion upside based on the lot, not on a brochure
- Capex reality: roof, sewer, panel, foundation, seismic
This page is for you if…
I work with people buying their first duplex and people trading up out of one. These are the common starting points.
- You’re buying your first small multifamily and want a sanity check
- You want to house hack — live in one unit, rent the rest
- You own LA property and want to add an ADU for cash flow or family
- You’re on a 1031 clock and need identification candidates fast
- You’re out of the area and need someone who’ll actually walk the property
- You’ve been burned by a listing’s pro forma before
How I work
Underwriting first, touring second
Anyone can send you listings. The value is in the reasons to say no — and in catching the ones that would have cost you six figures.
Real numbers, not the flyer
Trailing twelve months where it exists, market rents where it doesn’t, plus vacancy, management, maintenance reserves and capex. If the seller’s pro forma assumes every tenant leaves quietly, we adjust it.
Rent control exposure, up front
Los Angeles’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance covers a large share of the city’s older multifamily stock, and statewide rules reach further still. What you can raise rents to, and what it costs to regain a unit, changes the value of the building. We establish that before the offer.
ADU feasibility, honestly assessed
Not every lot works. We look at setbacks, access, parking, utilities and the actual buildable footprint. LADBS runs a Standard Plan Program with pre-approved ADU designs that can shorten plan check, which changes the timeline math on some deals.
The exit is part of the entry
Hold period, refinance assumptions, and disposition costs get modeled at purchase. For larger deals in the City of LA, the Measure ULA transfer tax on the sale side is part of that math.
The process
From buy box to lease-up
Define the buy box
Asset type, submarket, price band, leverage, and the return you actually need — written down so we both know what a yes looks like.
Source deal flow
On-market, coming-soon, and the occasional off-market conversation. You see everything that fits, not just what’s convenient.
Underwrite
Rent comps, expenses, capex, and financing run before we tour. Most candidates die here, which is the point.
Offer and due diligence
Rent roll, estoppels, leases, city reports, inspections and contractor walk-throughs. We re-trade on facts, not feelings.
Close
Financing, insurance, and entity paperwork coordinated so nothing stalls in the last week.
Lease-up or renovate
A plan for day one: who manages it, what gets fixed first, and what the rents should be.
Los Angeles specifics
What makes LA different from every spreadsheet you’ve seen
Out-of-area investors get surprised by the same four things. Here they are before they cost you money.
The Rent Stabilization Ordinance
LA’s RSO limits annual increases and restricts the grounds for eviction on covered properties, which is much of the city’s older multifamily stock. Whether a specific building is covered is an address-level question, and it materially changes what the asset is worth. We verify it rather than assume.
ADUs as the real value-add
In a market where straight cash flow is hard, adding a legal unit is often where the return comes from. LADBS maintains an ADU Standard Plan Program of pre-approved designs, which can reduce plan check time. Cost, financing and rent assumptions still have to be underwritten — an ADU is a construction project, not a line item.
Measure ULA on the way out
The City of LA’s transfer tax adds 4% on transactions above roughly $5.4 million and 5.5% above roughly $10.9 million, with thresholds adjusted annually. It rarely touches small multifamily, but if you’re assembling toward a larger exit, it belongs in the model from day one.
Insurance and fire risk are underwriting items now
In fire-adjacent parts of the county, insurance availability and cost can change a deal’s viability outright. We get a real quote during due diligence rather than plugging in a percentage.
Straight answers
Investor questions, answered without the hype
Can anything actually cash flow in Los Angeles?
Day-one cash flow on a leveraged purchase is genuinely hard here, and anyone promising it easily is selling something. What does work: buying under-rented buildings, adding units, house hacking so your own housing cost drops, and holding for the appreciation and loan paydown. We’ll be explicit about which of those a given deal relies on.
Is an ADU worth building?
Sometimes emphatically yes, sometimes no. It depends on construction cost, what the finished unit rents for, how you’re financing it, and whether the lot supports a good layout. We model it as its own project with its own return before you commit.
What is RSO and will it apply to my building?
The Rent Stabilization Ordinance is the City of LA’s rent control framework, and coverage depends on the property — the type of building and when it was built are central. It affects allowable increases and the cost of regaining possession of a unit. It’s verified address by address during due diligence, and California’s statewide rules can apply even where the local ordinance doesn’t.
Can I 1031 exchange into Los Angeles?
Yes, and the clock is the hard part — identification and closing deadlines are unforgiving. If you’re coming in on an exchange, tell me the dates first and we’ll build a candidate list designed to survive them. Your qualified intermediary and CPA drive the tax side; I drive the property side.
Do you work with out-of-state investors?
Yes. That usually means video walk-throughs, honest photos of the ugly parts, contractor and property manager introductions, and me physically at the property when you can’t be. I’d rather talk you out of a bad building remotely than sell you one.
Send me the buy box
Tell me your target submarkets, unit count, and the return you need. I’ll tell you honestly whether that exists in this market right now — and where it’s closest.
Alex Maldonado Miranda · Los Angeles Real Estate · (323) 688-4710 · Contact
Information on this page is general and educational, not legal, tax, or lending advice. Program rules, loan limits, and tax thresholds change — we’ll confirm what applies to your situation before you commit to anything.