Moving from Chicago to Los Angeles end of May (Burbank: extended stay, 2013)

[NicoleandNateChicago]

Hi There! My boyfriend and I are planning to move to Los Angeles in 2013 and we have a good idea of how to go about doing it. One thing we have been debating is whether we should take a short trip out there to find an apartment or if we should rent a hotel for a few days to find a place after we drive out there from Chicago? We took a trip out there at the end of the summer to check it out and see if we liked it and we fell in love with the city. Now we are just saving every penny so we can move and a concern of ours is if we take another trip out there it could significantly reduce our savings for the move. We are planning to start from scratch so the furniture won't be coming with us and we are going to get rid of as many personal belongings as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Dunbar42]

Depends on where you plan to move in LA but having just rented a place in Santa Monica I can tell you it's pretty competitive on the west side for the desireable rentals. My brother moved to Hollywood in July and had a similarly tough time finding a nice apartment. I would plan to stay in a place like Extended Stay America for 2-4 weeks. You may want to sign up for a westsiderentals.com account too. I found them to be well worth the money (no spam or scam postings like you find on Craigslist.) Moving is expensive so with new furniture you probably want at least $8k saved up before you get here.

[bpeeps]

Adding on to what Dunbar said, if you find a place you really like. Don't wait hoping you'll find something even better. Someone else will come along and snatch it up before you know it. I made that mistake twice in my apartment search last month. Rentals, especially on the westside are extremely competitive.

[nightlysparrow]

You both need to narrow down which cities or areas in LA County you're interested in, so that people here can advise you better.
There are 88 cities in the County, and that doesn't even include the neighborhoods like Hollywood.

List of cities in Los Angeles County, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Spikett]

Do you have an idea what area you want to live in? Have you done research on rental prices, deposits, etc... When I first moved to LA 20 years ago we were able to quickly find a place in what was the a gritty area of West Hollywood (my boyfriend had lived in LA for a while so he knew the area). We got in quickly with a low deposit and no issues over the fact that we'd just started our jobs. I don't know how easy it is to do that now, though I'm sure it can be done - just might take a while to find a place. Apartment complexes know what their availability is going to be at least 30 days in advance (be advised that many LA apts do not have refrigerators). Since so many people move here from out of state, some complexes make it easy to apply, etc... on-line. I would encourage you to do some apt and neighborhood research - if you wait until you get here it could be overwhelming. And if you don't have some proof of income, it could be a challenge. Smaller apt buildings with private owners often take applications for a few days and then pick the best applicant. IOW, you can be there first and still not get the apt.

As to temporary lodging, Extended Stay Hotels, for example, have locations all over the county. But even in the far-flung areas of the county, it'll run you $100/night with taxes. More desirable areas will be more:

Extended Stay Hotels

There is Oakwood - apartments that specialize in short-term rentals - the ones in Burbank are the least expensive I think, but a studio will run you between $1200/$1500 a month depending on how long you stay - and that is unfurnished (though with a fridge).

[NicoleandNateChicago]

Thank you for all the advice! We have definitely been researching apartments for awhile now to get an idea of moving costs. We are still in the process of narrowing down neighborhoods and we took a trip out to LA this past summer to get a small preview of what to expect. We have been living in the same apartment for about 4 years now in Chicago. It is a small place in a gentrified neighborhood so we are use to living on less and in communities that may not be the trendiest. When we were looking for apartments in Chicago it took us less than a week to find a place, sign the lease, and then move in so we are willing to take up something quickly if we like it and the price is right. Also we have a small, clean, quiet cat that is coming with us so we are factoring in pet deposits as well. Thank you again!