Moving to LA, advice please! (Los Angeles, Long Beach: sales, real estate, apartment)

[straight outta camden]

Originally Posted by LaEscritora

Really? Wow, sounds great. Am I correct in assuming that cost of living there is pretty high, though?

Yup. But not as high as more fashionable places like West Hollywood, Los Feliz, Santa Monica, or the nicer bits of Venice. Check out westsiderentals to get an idea of prices.

By the way, if you were thinking of living in Burbank and commuting to an office in Culver City, you may want to think again. It's by no means the worst commute in the city--there are those who do San Bernardino to the westside; how they stay sane I have no idea--but it's not much fun either. Any morning drive that involves the westbound 10 or the 405 in the direction of the 10 intersection is bad news.

Culver City has nice, safe streets and an increasingly plausible downtown, though still not up to much by Chicago's standards.

[LaEscritora]

Checked out Culver City on Craigs List...don't think we can afford it, ha ha! One of the scariest thoughts about doing this is never knowing which neighborhoods are considered "good". I saw a lot of listings that we could afford, but I'm not sure about the neighborhoods. Is there any rule of thumb to go by?

[straight outta camden]

Not that I know of, other than the obvious ones. Cool weather tends to raise the price. High altitude raises the price. Closeness to Santa Monica and Westwood raises the price. Low crime raises the price. Trendiness raises the price.

If you post your rough rent budget (and the kind of place you need), the neighbourhood where your husband will be working, the neighbourhood where you think you will be working, and a few areas that look appealing and affordable from Craigslist, this forum should be able to help you better.

[straight outta camden]

Oh, and get hold of a copy of the Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles. It's a book of maps that shows you where the restaurants and shops are. I found it really useful.

[Sorcerer68]

It depends on what you consider affordable. I can find cheap apartments in nice parts of town from 800 for a studio, 1000 for a 1 bedroom and 1200 for a 2 bedroom. I find these in Pasadena, Silverlake, Los Feliz, Beachwood Canyon...just back up from the ocean and it gets cheaper.

Regarding neighborhoods, several of us know this city like the back of our hand, just ask.

[Zinnia]

I have done the cross country trip several times back and forth. We moved from Chicago.to LA 23 yrs ago like you are planning, and most recently from Oregon to Florida. We did this in the summer... not a good idea to try to drive across country in the winter. The Rockies tend to get pretty snowy... I know for a Chicagoan snow is no big deal but its still hard even for the seasoned veteran of snow and cold...The best advice I can give you are these things

1. Downsize considerably and find a storage unit to rent until you find a place... dragging your stuff cross country is a pain... You dont need to drag all your earthly possessions if you dont have to... LOL there are stores where you are going.

2. Dont sign a years lease, if you can help it, sign the least amount of time as possible, month-to-month, 3mos, 6mos,etc. As you get to know the area you will find places that you would like to move to.

3. Be prepared for LA's life style... it is totally different from Chicago, I lived and worked in Chicago as well. Its a different kind of life...and looks different from the outside... once you live experience it you will know what I mean.

4. LA is really really expensive! You dont get the kind of structure (meaning brown stone or brick) or size sq ft wise in housing as you do in Chicago for the price so be prepared for that. LA is not a place where you can survive on a little bit of money... it takes money to live there.... Hope you have good jobs... When a 1000 sq ft house costs $500,000 it must be expensive... I cant imagine that anyone is buying out there!

4. I don't know what the mass transit system is like in LA anymore as it has been 20+ yrs since I lived there, but I am sure that it is still not put together like it is in Chicago... there are no commuter trains to the suburbs. When I was there the subway or an L train didn't exist... I hear they have some sort of rail system but not sure of its extent. I don't think its like traveling from the south side up to Evanston though or from Oak Park in... soooo

5. I agree with the advice to try to live near your work... When I lived there I commuted from down by USC to Burbank for a while and it was miserable then... I can only imaging what its like now...

I will stop there... All in all I love Southern California, there is so much going on... and you cant beat the weather, the beaches, the people, the lifestyle, the diversity, the Mexican food, the waffles and fried chicken, and the hamburgers... the whole ambiance, Wish Id never left.. I prefer San Diego to LA.... we moved LA from to SD and lived there for about 10 yrs. We finally had to move as couldn't afford to live in So CA anymore we weren't getting ahead...

Good luck

[Sorcerer68]

The only thing more expensive than some places is housing and gas is a little higher. Everything else is dirt cheap. We have discount stores for everything here. Coming back from Hawaii I was used to paying $3.50-$4.00 for a loaf of bread and up to $7 for a gallon of milk so it was sweet walking into Food 4 Less and buying bread for 67 cents and milk for $2.13. I maintain that you can live in less space here because we have sensational weather and you aren't stuck in your house all the time. Of all the places I've lived, I spend the least amount of time at home in L.A. because of the weather and there's so much to do. I've seen 1 bedroom apartments walking distance to Old Pasadena lately for as little as $850. Make it a habit to check Craigslist daily when your move approaches. In my neighborhood, you can get a 1 bedroom walking distance to Los Feliz Village for about a grand. You can actually live IN the village for slightly more. If you want more space, there are a plethora of job opportunities here, more than most people can ever imagine. I wrote a lengthy post about it a few days ago.

[Zinnia]

Sorcerer.... How long ago did you move back from Hawaii?? Milk for 2.13 gal and bread 67cents? WOW!!! Milk here in Florida has jumped up to over 4.00 gal.... and bread is 2.00+ a loaf. I guess its the housing prices that has everyone taken a back.... I think it would be hard for a family to try to buy a house there, this fact is the reason we haven't moved back. I think its crazy, I know I cant afford a 500,000 1000 sq ft house, I can hardly afford the 2389 sq ft house we just bought in Florida and it was cheap considering the market, we just lucked out. In my experience, people will tell you when you interview by phone for jobs in Calif that its expensive....so be prepared.

At any rate its expensive to live everywhere, and everywhere has its own problems, i.e. crime, weather, natural disasters etc, so one just has grin and bear it anywhere you go. But Southern CA is cool... and I love it, just cant afford to move back, not yet anyway!

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by Zinnia

Sorcerer.... How long ago did you move back from Hawaii?? Milk for 2.13 gal and bread 67cents? WOW!!!

I moved back the 1st of April, 2007. I was so happy about cheap groceries, I went on a shopping binge and Food 4 Less and crammed as much as I could get in the cart. It was still under $80. Hawaii cost of living is 3x as expensive. London cost of living is twice as much as Hawaii. I just came from Downtown L.A. where I bought a $25 MP3 player. The same ones are $50 in discount stores. There were a great assortment of leather dress shoes for $14...I could go on and on. L.A. is awesome.

If you keep telling yourself you'll never be able to move to Southern California...you're right. Cost of living is more but the opportunities are awesome. Renting is also a lot cheaper than buying if you can't afford a purchase.
Blessings!

[Zinnia]

Well Sorcerer, I have rented for all of my adult life and have dreamed about owning a house for a very long time... and finally after 25 yrs of marriage and raising kids we have just bought our first house... don't want to go back to renting if I can help it...