We thought you said you were moving to L.A. Why does this address say Glendale?
Where the heck is Glendale? If you dread hearing these words (not that Glendale
is such an awful place; it's great if you like malls), you need to read
this fabulous article before you make the move to Los Angeles. Housing in
Los Angeles is cheaper and easier to find than it is in New York, San Francisco,
or Boston, but finding a place there is still no picnic. Los Angeles is
the biggest megalopolis in the U.S.: it's a city that has cities within
cities. It might seem like a nightmare to find an apartment there if you've
never lived in a big city, but never fear -- we'll talk you through it and
make amusing remarks on the way.
1.
Determine how much you want to spend on rent
Before you start
looking for an apartment, you need to make an important decision: how much
are you willing and able to pay in monthly rent? A good one-bedroom apartment
on the west side of Los Angeles can go for $1200 per month or more, which
is nothing to sneeze at. A good way to find your upper limit for housing
costs is to divide your monthly net (after tax) income by three. If this
figure seems unusually low, you have three options: (1) make more money,
(2) consider living in a less expensive area, like mid-Wilshire or the Valley
(see step 2), or (3) save money on rent by finding a roommate.
Maybe
get yourself a roommate
If you decide
to get a roommate to lower your housing costs, you can choose a friend/acquaintance
yourself or you can use a roommate agency. (Some roommate agencies are
online here
and here.)
Either way, you must carefully choose your roommate or you will rue the
day you opted to hook up with a roomie. Obviously, not all strangers make
good roommates (note: crackwhores are not desirable roommates), but less
obviously, not all friends make good roommates. There are some people
whose company you might well enjoy during the day, but who would drive
you crazy if you lived with them. In order to exclude unsuitable persons
from your life, you should ask all potential roommates the following questions
to assess their compatibility:
- Have you
ever had a roommate before? What, if anything, bothered you about your
past roommates?
- Do you
have a boyfriend/girlfriend or other friend who will be staying here
frequently? Are you promiscuous? (Do not be afraid to ask this one.
You probably don't want strange people sleeping over a lot, and if you
explain that this is the reason you're asking, it will establish what
you consider unacceptable ahead of time.)
- Do you
smoke? Drink? Do drugs? If yes to any, how often? Will you share your
drugs?
- Do you
stay out late on weekdays?
- Did/do
you have any credit problems?
- Do you
have any pets?
- What is
your occupation?
- What do
you like to watch on television? What music do you listen to?
- Why are
you looking at me like that? What's wrong with your neck?
Whatever
you ask, in the end you should feel very comfortable with your future
roommate. If you do not, you are taking a big risk shacking up with this
person. Don't say we didn't tell you if things don't work out. One last
note about roommates: try to arrange it so that your roommates co-signs
the lease. If your name is the only one on the lease, then you shoulder
the entire burden of responsibility for the apartment from a financial
standpoint. If your roommmate loses his/her job (and by extension, a steady
cash flow), you'll be stuck paying his/her share of the rent. Then you'd
be angry, poor, and kicking yourself for not following our sage advice.
2.
Pick a neighborhood or city
The Los Angeles
area is a huge, sprawling, super spread-out megalopolis, filled with movie
stars and lowlifes (and the two groups are not mutually exclusive). Many
people who claim to live in L.A. actually live in another city entirely.
The many independent cities which constitute the L.A. area make it very
difficult for an unfamiliar person to search for an apartment there. What
you need, of course, is a map, and there are several
maps available.
Most residents
of L.A. have a Thomas Guide in their cars. The Thomas Guide is the definitive
guide to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with extremely detailed maps
of everything in the county. It's a very worthwhile purchase. Get it now.
Of course,
the maps won't tell you what the areas and cities are like, and we won't
either. We'd like to tell you, but there are over 100 definable neighborhoods/cities
in the L.A. area and even more if you include Orange County (some people
do commute from Orange County to L.A. or vice versa), and we just don't
know that much. You can find tons of information
about cities and regions here.
In Los Angeles
and West Hollywood, there is a piece of folk wisdom which holds that west
of Fairfax (a major street which runs north/south) is good, while east
of Fairfax is bad. This is generally a good rule, subject to the following
exceptions: (1) north of Beverly Boulevard, you can go much further east
before it becomes foul, (2) in Hollywood itself, there is no strict eastern
boundary on the "nice" area, and (3) when we say "bad", we don't necessarily
mean "dangerous"; areas east of Fairfax are mostly just less pleasant.
We're not going to single out any particular neighborhoods and claim that
they're dangerous. Some residents' group might sue us for lowering their
property values. Just drive to the location and use this simple test:
if you are afraid to get out of your car, it's probably a dangerous neighborhood.
L.A. is very helpful in that it doesn't hide its foulness; if you're in
a bad neighborhood, you can tell. But to make a long story short, a lot
of college/just-out-of-college students live in Westwood, West Hollywood
is considered to be the hip/trendy/gay area, Santa Monica is a pricey
and touristy but beautiful and fun area, Brentwood is rather expensive,
but has nice restaurants and is centrally located, and then… there's
the San Fernando Valley.
With regard
to the San Fernando Valley (universally referred to as simply "the Valley"
of "Valley girls" and Fast Times at Ridgemont High fame), a lot
of people who work in L.A. live there, with good reason. It's very pretty
there, there are lots of good restaurants, it's very safe, and the rents
are cheaper so you get more bang for your housing dollar. The other side
of the coin is that the Valley is hot, smoggy, and boring. Or so we hear.
It's really kinda like one big suburb. Cities located in the Valley include:
Burbank, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Reseda, Tarzana, Van Nuys,
Northridge, Granada Hills, Thousand Oaks, and Woodland Hills.
When you're
reading about or visiting neighborhoods, keep the following factors in
mind:
- Is the
rent affordable? Are the stores, shops, gyms, and bars in the area affordable?
(No matter what they say ahead of time, most people spend their money
in nearby establishments.)
- How close
is the public transportation you will use for the short time before
you realize that it is impossible to live in L.A. without a car?
- What are
the nearby schools like?
- Who lives
in that neighborhood? Yuppies? Students? Ninjas?
- Where
will you park your car? If the apartment you're looking at doesn't include
parking, how easy is it to park on the street?
Here we will
insert a timely word about commuting. First, you will need a car.
You can technically live in L.A. without a car, but you will be bored
out of your gourd, because nothing is ever within walking distance of
anything else. And unless you're living in the storage closet of your
workplace, be prepared to commute. Commuting is often the worst thing
about living in Los Angeles, so you should try to place yourself somewhere
that will allow you a livable commute to your work. Most people commute
using the famous L.A. freeways, which are probably not as hellish as you've
heard, but aren't much fun, either. The freeways which run roughly north-south
are odd-numbered and those which run roughly east-west are even-numbered.
The 10 freeway runs from Santa Monica through the west side to downtown
and east L.A. The commute along the 10 from the west side to downtown,
or vice versa, is usually from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic.
The 405, which runs along the coast a few miles inland, from the Valley
down to San Diego, can be pretty nightmarish during rush hour and on weekend
afternoons (especially near Century City and Santa Monica). The 101 runs
from downtown through Hollywood and the Valley, and it is terrible during
rush hour and early evening, but not too bad the rest of the time. When
you're considering a place to live, it's best to go here
and get driving directions from the apartment to your place of work (or
the general area in which you expect to work). If it looks like a nasty
commute (the driving directions will give you an estimated time), you
might want to reconsider.
Once you
have a basic idea of the neighborhood(s) you want to live in, you should
decide whether or not you want to use a real estate broker. A broker is
a person who does most or all of the apartment hunting for you. Not for
free – brokers charge fees for finding you an apartment. That fee
varies. In L.A., it is usually equivalent to a half month's rent, but
it can be lower and it's worth shopping around.
Using a broker
has several advantages. Brokers will do your leg work; they find apartments
and make appointments to fit your schedule. A broker would probably be
invaluable to an individual who is unable to take time off from work or
to someone who lives out of town. Brokers also tend to have a wide selection
of apartments to choose from, and they have access to apartments not available
to the general public. If you do decide to use a broker, there are several
ways to find one. Many brokers advertise in the newspapers or in online
classified ads; you can also find brokers in the yellow pages. Finally,
many companies have associated brokers used for relocating employees.
If you work at a big company, ask your human resources person if there
is a broker your company uses.
If you have
the time to spend some time looking around yourself, it probably isn't
necessary to get a broker. We understand laziness as well as anyone, but
if cheapness is also a factor, do the work yourself and don't waste your
money. It's not as tough to find a place in L.A. as it is in other big
cities.
3.
Find an apartment yourself using these techniques
- Employer
or school
- Online
- Newspapers
and magazines
- Bulletin
board, postings
- Driving
around
Hit
up your employer or school
You may want
to begin your search by asking your employer if the company has any real
estate services; some large companies hold apartments for employees or
have very good contacts in the rental market. Similarly, if you have any
school affiliations – alumni or current – contact your school
and inquire as to whether the school has any apartment bulletin boards
or online listings. These housing openings are often more affordable and
safer than something you could find on your own, and many are open to
people affiliated with the university.
Online
There are
a bunch of apartment sites out there, but we like RENTNET®
apartments & rentals the best. RENTNET® apartments
& rentals provides regularly updated listings of apartments available
for rent in various neighborhoods based on options you select. They also
offer moving tips, roommate advice, legal tips and other information useful
to renters.
Newspapers
and magazines
Newspapers
and magazines are good sources for apartment listings, both in print and
online. Here are some examples:
APARTMENT
GUIDE – A weekly publication of apartment listings available
for free at just about any large grocery store. These tend to be heavy
on the large complexes, as they charge money to advertisers and people
with only one or two apartments to rent won't want to pay.
LOS ANGELES
TIMES – The classified ads section includes listings for apartments
in various areas. The L.A. Times online just transfers you to another
online apartment listing when you try to see classified ads for apartments,
so you have to buy the dead trees to get their advertisements.
THE DAILY
BRUIN – A UCLA paper available for free at various places on
UCLA's campus. They have a lot of westside apartment listings, and they
can get some real gems sometimes. Definitely worth a look if you are interested
in living anywhere near UCLA.
Bulletin
boards, postings
Aside from
letting you know what the area is like, driving around the areas in which
you would like to live can be helpful in uncovering leads. People often
post flyers offering nearby apartment sublets and rentals at churches,
gyms, recreation centers, bus stop shelters, schools, and telephone booths
in the neighborhood. Go. Look.
Driving
around
A lot of
landlords are too lazy, cheap, and illiterate to place ads anywhere at
all, so all they do is dust off the old "For Rent" sign, write a barely-legible
phone number on it in lime green crayon, and set it up somewhere near
their building. In order to see these advertisements, you have to drive
by them. It's really handy to have a cell phone when you're on these excursions,
but, if you're not into brain cancer or you can't afford one, you can
use pay phones. There are a lot of "For Rent" signs in and around West
Hollywood, which can be a great place to live. There are also many in
Hollywood, Westwood, Palms, and all over the Valley. In the Valley, you
can go up to some of these big apartment complexes and a tanned, grinning
person will come, show you around the whole building, and treat you like
royalty. You should try this just for fun, even if you end up deciding
that the Valley is hot, smoggy, and boring.
4.
Visit potential apartments
Once you've
found a listing that sounds promising, call right away to schedule an
appointment. If you reach an answering machine, leave a clear, concise
message; say that you are calling about the apartment that was listed
in X publication. Give your name and telephone number, and ask the person
to call you back at his/her earliest convenience to schedule an appointment
to see the apartment. Follow up with another (polite) call in 24 hours
if you don't get a call back. There are times when apartment renters are
swamped, and won't return your call, but if you catch them while they're
around, you usually work yourself an appointment.
If you are
able to schedule an appointment, be sure to make a good impression. Arrive
on time, dress neatly, and, in general, act like a mature, responsible
individual who isn't going to skip rent payments, trash the apartment,
or keep a pet wildebeest in the closet. Also remember to ask intelligent
questions – asking questions will not only make you look responsible,
but it will also give you a chance to learn information that may affect
your decision to rent a particular apartment. Here is a list of general
questions you should ask when you see an apartment:
- How long
is the lease?
- Do I have
the option to renew?
- How large
of a deposit is required as security?
- Are utilities
included in your rent? Which ones (gas, electric, water, cable, etc.)?
- Are you
allowed to keep pets in the apartment?
- Are you
allowed to sublet if you go away?
- What sort
of security does the building have?
- Does the
building have laundry facilities?
- Does the
building have a super or some sort of arrangement for repairs?
- Does anyone
else have keys to the apartment?
- Do you
need special permission to make superficial changes, e.g. painting or
hanging pictures?
5.
Before you sign, know your rights as a tenant
Once you've
found an apartment, make sure you know your rights and responsibilities
as a tenant. Your rights are best protected if you have a written lease.
If you have an oral lease, you may be subject to restrictions that you aren't
aware of. Just do what we say and get yourself a written lease.
It will probably
make you happy to know that California has many laws protecting the rights
of tenants. For example, you may be entitled to interest on your security
deposit, and you may also be entitled to withhold rent if repairs aren't
made in a timely manner. You should check out Ten
Tips Every Tenant Needs to Know to familiarize yourself with basic
tenant rights, remedies, and obligations.
You're all
set! There's only a very small chance you'll eat lead in a drive-by.
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