Advice needed for Brit moving to Santa Monica (Marina, El Segundo: apartment, rental)

[ba8mki]

Hi,

If things go to plan Ill be transfering to Santa Monica.
I plan to be moving there in June, but have never been there before.

I have visiting San Fran before and I have friends there who have told me I would love LA, and in particular Santa Monica, however I need some advice.

As I will be based in Santa Monica, should I try and live there? I would want to live close by as I hate getting up in the mornings!

How much should I look at budgeting for rent. I have seen decent places for $1600 approx, but obviously I dont know if the area is decent or not.

Im sorry for the basic questions, but some initial guidence would be really appreciated.

Thanks, Matt

[Nihilanth]

how did you manage to get a place/transfer there

[ba8mki]

via the company I work for

[DontH8Me]

Santa Monica is a great place to live, especially if you are working there too. Since traffic in and out of Santa Monica is heavy, I would recommend it actually. Other options are Venice, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, or even El Segundo.

There are a few iffy areas of SM that you would want to avoid, and bear in mind that they have a huge homeless population. If you have a particular area in SM that you're looking at let us know and we can give you more info.

Will your company be arranging your moving expenses and/or footing your rent? I worked for an international company for several years and handled logistics among other things, and I know that they paid for the moves as well as the rental of the property for those individuals coming from abroad. If you have an allowance for rent, for example, then you could always throw in a few extra 100 $ of your own and get a really nice apartment.

Good luck with your new role in June, and if you have more specifics on a particular area or apartment let us know and we'll give you the 411.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by ba8mki

Hi,

If things go to plan Ill be transfering to Santa Monica.
I plan to be moving there in June, but have never been there before.

I have visiting San Fran before and I have friends there who have told me I would love LA, and in particular Santa Monica, however I need some advice.

As I will be based in Santa Monica, should I try and live there? I would want to live close by as I hate getting up in the mornings!

How much should I look at budgeting for rent. I have seen decent places for $1600 approx, but obviously I dont know if the area is decent or not.

Im sorry for the basic questions, but some initial guidence would be really appreciated.

Thanks, Matt

Matt,

Yes, Santa Monica is a great area. try to get an apartment there for sure. Check on craigslist.org to see what you can find. You can find some bargains in the area but plan to spend up to $2,000 on a 1-bedroom. Oftentimes, they want first and last month deposit as well!

Artie

[pickleswanson]

I checked into moving to SM myself before deciding on a place closer to work and I think you live just about anywhere in the city or close by heading north and east of town; the closer to LAX you get the easier it is to find ifie areas but still easy to find great ones as well for the ifie places are very limited. The cost are high in my opinion but comparable to most major metro areas in my experience. I personally liked the flats over third street prominade the best but found better deals that sometimes have more amenities in more more residential areas.

[linck]

You should be able to find a nice one-bedroom for $1600 (I did). The area bounded by Pico and Ocean Park and Lincoln and Santa Monica College is safe, and by Santa Monica standards, affordable. If possible, live closer to the ocean. Once you get east of 18th, the costs are still high, but the benefits of being able to walk to Main St. or the Promenade or the ocean decrease. Also stay away from the streets fronting highway 10 - fairly industrial and noisy. You can justify paying more for rent by thinking about how much you will save on gas and air-conditioning living in Santa Monica rather than elsewhere.