Thinking of moving to Los Angeles need some help. (Long Beach: apartments, rentals)

[Steveace]

Hey guys,
I currently live in New York and I am thinking about moving out to L.A. I can't stand the cold weather in NY, and I think I just need a change of scenery. I'm 21 and I am a radiographer (X-Ray, CT, tech) I read that in L.A. The average salary for a radiographer is a little over 65,000$ a year, that is a little more then here in N.Y. So that's another plus, I'm planning on taking a week long trip to L.A. In the near future to check out apartments but I don't know where to start. So any info will really help me out, I really like the idea of like a beach cottage place if you guys know what I'm talking about sorta like that one floor house. Also a good neighborhood is very important to me. Thanks guys.

[pretendingtowork]

A beach cottage is going to be expensive. What is your budget for rent?

[thelopez2]

You might want to start with finding a job location then finding beach cottage near your place of work. Most older homes in LA are one story. The more affordable places are South of LA, Redondo Beach, San Pedro, Long Beach, the drive into LA might then be an hour or more.

You can also go north into Ventura and Santa Barbara, for your beach bungalow search.

[California Vagabond]

I'll second what thelopez wrote, and wish I knew more about rents on the SoCal coast to suggest a community. You might find something to your taste in Oxnard or Ventura, or farther south in Orange County.

I suggest you rent a car for your one week scouting trip, and/or consider a temporary rental while you look for something that suits you long term. Good luck.

[Steveace]

Okay thanks guys I appreciate the help, what are some of the nice areas in L.A. That I should look at, my budget would probably be around 1,800$ a month. And when I said beach cottage I didn't mean like on the water I meant like the architecture style, that one floor kind of style. And I definitely want to be in L.A. So even if there isn't any of those type homes i just need to know where to start out looking.

[timtemtym]

City of LA doesn't have much of anything in affordable coastline. Especially not for a beach cottage within a mile of the coast. Sadly 65k doesn't go that far here. I'm trying to think of some area of Mar Vista or Culver City that might have some one story rentals in your budget.... For 1800, a one bedroom condo in Marina Del Rey might be something you'd like. You get that coastal living feel and the area is great, just kind of a nightmare to get in and out of.

You might find a better salary for X-Ray techs out here though! Use a site like hot pads dot com or pad mapper. I know I always suggest that, but those are great for finding private owned condos without paying a finders fee.

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by Steveace

Okay thanks guys I appreciate the help, what are some of the nice areas in L.A. That I should look at, my budget would probably be around 1,800$ a month. And when I said beach cottage I didn't mean like on the water I meant like the architecture style, that one floor kind of style. And I definitely want to be in L.A. So even if there isn't any of those type homes i just need to know where to start out looking.

I don't know how you define nice, or which part of LA (Downtown) or LA County (Santa Clarita to Long Beach) you consider LA. Here is an example of a place you can rent in Redondo for 1450 Furnished. Although unusually nice studio back house.*******Beautiful Furnished Guest House + a Private Deck*******

Maybe the basketball hoop next to the window has something to do with it.

[Chowhound]

65k isn't too bad of a salary. I don't think you should get your heart set on beachfront property with that salary, unfortunately beach living is expensive.

Depending on where you're working, I'd say south of LA like some one mentioned, Redondo Beach or Long Beach, even those beach areas are really pricey.

FYI

[Steveace]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help. When I said beach cottage I didn't mean like on the water I meant like roof style one floor thing the beach front property is way to expensive for me.

What are your opinions on VENICE or SANTA MONICA? Is it a safe area? What is the ethnicity of the majority of people in those two areas. And are there good and bad areas in those two places. I'm from Brooklyn so over here if you walk 10 blocks then there area gets a little worse so I wanted to know if it's like that.

Thanks again guys for all your help. When I take my trip there I'll buy u all a beer lol.

[jm1982]

Venice and Santa Monica are both expensive areas . They pretty safe areas, with Santa Monica probably being safer overall. Santa Monica is it's own CITY within L.A County while Venice is a neighborhood in the city of L.A

This is important as L.A city services are pretty lacking in a lot of departments.

one big issue in Venice and Santa Monica is the homeless population. Tons of homeless in the area , so having them around your environment will be pretty much a given.

Also lots of tourists which means parking is bad and there's a lot of traffic.

Having grown up in L.A and lived on the Westside most my life, and a few years in Redondo Beach (South Bay area) I'd say the South Bay beaches are much nicer beach communities. Not as many tourists make it out there because it's not that close to touristy stuff. The homeless are not as present too.

It all depends on where you work though as L.A traffic is brutal...and the South Bay also unfortunately isn't that reasonable pricewise either .

I'm not sure what you mean by beach cottage... roof style one floor thing?...