We’ve just turned over a few units in properties in Silver Lake and Echo Park and, boy, is the rental market heating up.
We posted a studio at one property in south Silver Lake right by the border with Echo Park for $1,300 (up from $1,200, I think). The unit and the building are both great. But there’s no parking. And the location, while pretty good, is not A+.
Would you believe we had 20 requests for showings in the first three days after posting the ad, even though it was March (not exactly prime rental time)?
Now, obviously, this is anecdotal. Our properties are not like everyone else’s (they’re much nicer, first of all). But my hunch is that other landlords in the area are feeling demand increase, too.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: The easiest way to make money as a landlord is to buy at a sensible price with a fixed-rate mortgage and have your rents increase. Your costs (property tax and mortgage payments) are mostly fixed. So every $1 of rent increase ends up being pretty much pure profit. And each $1 of rent increase adds $10-12 of value to your building.
Not too shabby.