Is Long Beach a good place to buy near the Los Angeles duty stations?

Long Beach is the second-largest city in Los Angeles County and reads more like its own metro than a neighborhood: a working port, a downtown, a university, a VA medical center, and residential districts that run from 1920s historic streets to 1950s tracts to a beach. For a household stationed at Terminal Island or on the Orange County line it is the middle of the map, and for a family that wants a house rather than a condo it is where the search usually starts.

Who lives here and why

Coast Guard families across the harbor, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach households who want a city rather than a suburb, Long Beach VA Medical Center staff, Cal State Long Beach faculty, port and refinery workers, and a large veteran and retiree population drawn by the medical center. The draw is range: whatever the budget, there is a Long Beach for it. The trade is that the city's neighborhoods differ sharply block to block, and a buyer from out of town needs a local agent to read them.

The commute

The Coast Guard base is across the harbor bridges from downtown and the west side, ten to twenty minutes depending on port traffic. Los Alamitos and Seal Beach are twenty minutes down the 405 or the 22 from the east side. Los Angeles AFB is the hard one — the 405 north through the South Bay, forty minutes or more in the commute window. The Blue Line runs from downtown Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles for a spouse who works in the city.

Housing stock and what the appraiser sees

Bixby Knolls, California Heights and the historic districts are 1920s–1940s Spanish, Craftsman and Tudor houses, many with original wiring, plumbing and raised foundations, and the appraisal finds what old houses have: peeling pre-1978 paint, knob-and-tube in the oldest, end-of-life roofs, and unpermitted back units and garage conversions, which the city has a great many of. Los Altos, Lakewood Village and the east side are 1950s tracts with fewer surprises. Downtown is condos — the large projects are where junior buyers land, and VA requires the project's approval, which the condo answer walks; the biggest established projects are usually approved and the newer conversions often are not. Belmont Shore and Naples are the coast at coast prices. North Long Beach has the lowest single-family band in the city, 1940s–1950s stock, and the same old-house list. The west side sits beside the port and the refineries, which the appraiser notes as external influences. A termite clearance is standard practice on a California VA purchase.

The loan angle

Long Beach is where full entitlement's absence of a loan limit puts a house in reach for a household that would otherwise be looking at a condo; the million-dollar answer explains the overlays on large loans in the beach districts. On remaining entitlement, a house in Los Altos or Bixby Knolls will usually bring a down payment and a North Long Beach house or a downtown condo may not; the entitlement calculator gives the figure and the second-tier page explains the alternatives. The Los Angeles guide sets Long Beach against San Pedro, Lakewood and the Orange County cities, the BAH page sets the allowance against HUD's rent figure for the city, and the California benefits page covers the state side — with the medical center here, a disability rating and its funding-fee exemption are common on Long Beach files.

Next

• See BAH for Los Angeles duty stations →
• Compare nearby neighborhoods →

Around the Los Angeles duty stations

• Buying Near the Los Angeles Duty Stations: The LA, Long Beach and South Bay VA Loan Guide
• California Veteran Home Buying Benefits: CalVet and the VA Loan
• Los Alamitos and Rossmoor
• Redondo Beach
• San Pedro
• Seal Beach
• Torrance
• The PCS Home Buying Guide