Fed up with bogus Craigslist listings! Help! (Glendale, Inglewood: apartment, for rent)

[risingsag]

Hi Everyone

I am a native New Yorker relocating to LA for work (I'm a stuntwoman, more jobs in LA than here) and am frankly fed up with Craigslist apartment listings. The second I see something affordable, I go to the listing, and its in freaking WATTS. Great.

I am budgeting $1500, although $1700 is my ceiling for a 1 BR. Am I being totally unrealistic? I am open to roomies, but its tough to do that remotely. (I will be in LA for a month for a job & will do more in-person apt hunting then.)

Here in NYC you can get a decent 1BR for $1500 in Brooklyn. From my personal experience, Brooklyn is a ton safer than parts of the Valley and other pockets of LA. You can get a 2 BR in Bushwick (traditionally a 'ghetto' area in Brooklyn) for like $1400. There are no gangs in Bushwick, and its rapidly filling up with hipsters.

I guess my point is that for that same price, are you relegating yourself to live among gangs and constant petty crime (tagging, theft, loitering)? For industry type things, I'd prefer to be near the studios -- so Burbank and Glendale seem good, but to be perfectly honest, I still need to learn a lot about LA geography.

Just an example -- this seems great Beautiful 2 Bedroom/1 Bath OPEN HOUSE Saturday and Sunday!! (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/apa/838359185.html - broken link) but is it real? The same price for a different listing was like, in Inglewood. I just want a good apartment with minimal meth heads and crime.

Advice?

[KnoxTown]

Originally Posted by risingsag

Hi Everyone

I am a native New Yorker relocating to LA for work (I'm a stuntwoman, more jobs in LA than here) and am frankly fed up with Craigslist apartment listings. The second I see something affordable, I go to the listing, and its in freaking WATTS. Great.

I am budgeting $1500, although $1700 is my ceiling for a 1 BR. Am I being totally unrealistic? I am open to roomies, but its tough to do that remotely. (I will be in LA for a month for a job & will do more in-person apt hunting then.)

Here in NYC you can get a decent 1BR for $1500 in Brooklyn. From my personal experience, Brooklyn is a ton safer than parts of the Valley and other pockets of LA. You can get a 2 BR in Bushwick (traditionally a 'ghetto' area in Brooklyn) for like $1400. There are no gangs in Bushwick, and its rapidly filling up with hipsters.

I guess my point is that for that same price, are you relegating yourself to live among gangs and constant petty crime (tagging, theft, loitering)? For industry type things, I'd prefer to be near the studios -- so Burbank and Glendale seem good, but to be perfectly honest, I still need to learn a lot about LA geography.

Just an example -- this seems great Beautiful 2 Bedroom/1 Bath OPEN HOUSE Saturday and Sunday!! (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/apa/838359185.html - broken link) but is it real? The same price for a different listing was like, in Inglewood. I just want a good apartment with minimal meth heads and crime.

Advice?

It could be real. I'm paying $1300 for a 2 br. Sometimes you get lucky and find a good deal.

[ElleBebe]

When we were apartment hunting when moving from Northern California down here, there was a huge range in rent; we found 2 bedroom apts in Glendale in nice areas for $1100 and horrible 1 bedrooms in West Hollywood for $1500. I even saw a few 3-4 bedroom houses in the valley listed for less than studios in west LA. But then we ended up with a nice place in WeHo for a reasonable rent.

We read up on the different areas/neighborhoods/cities ahead of time, then visited and drove around to get a feel for the different places we were interested in. We checked out some places from Craigslist but those tended to go super quickly; within a few hours of getting posted, there would already be a couple applications in.

Ultimately what worked for us was just driving around and looking for "For Rent" signs and calling the numbers listed. A warning though: it was difficult to find anyone who was willing to rent further than a couple weeks out; all the places listed now want to rent now, even want you to move in today. If you want to find a place before you come out, it might be difficult.

But your budget sounds fine: $1500 should get you a decent 1 bedroom apartment in a decent area.

[timelesschild]

I agree with ElleBebe. Your budget is fine.

[CESpeed]

You can help by narrowing your search to Westside/Southbay. $1500 Should get you a very decent apartment. Miracle Mile and Fairfax should work as well.