How do I get out of Los Angeles? Need advice!!! (Coachella: sublets, apartments)

[artichoke63]

Help me. I'm stuck in Los Angeles and I can't get out. I feel like I'm in a sinkhole of sorts. This is the danger of L.A. Once your here, you never get out. It's like a bowl with slipper sides. Every time you try to crawl out, you slip back in.

Anyhow, I work online and I can live anywhere as long as I have a high-speed connection. I've been all over these message boards talking to people. I've traveled across the country. Frankly, I've come to the conclusion where anyplace is okay. I'll adjust. Would like to see some trees and greenery.

But how do you get an apartment from 1,000 miles away? Do I have to take another trip to Seattle, for instance, get a hotel and rent a car? That's another $1,000 !!!! Should I just give notice and put my life in storage and hit the highway in my SUV??? Live in places temporarily until I find the perfect town? How do you do this? I just feel like I'm going to die here. I hate this town. I just want out...

Anybody moving here from somewhere else wanna switch apartments for a while? I can find a place there while you find a place here???

I'm going mental...

Artie

[Ronzou]

If I had a job, I'd take you up on the offer to switch areas to live right now.

[kettlepot]

When I moved to Southern California, I got a cheap motel room and went apartment hunting. I chose a place in three days. Where ever you go, if you get a month-to-month lease, you can always give your 30 days notice and move out.

If you avoid cities with rent controls there should be a reasonable amount of supply available.

[artichoke63]

Cheap hotel. Good thought. I'm just feeling overwhelmed. I'd be happy up in Portland, Eugene, or Seattle. I guess I just need to go there and make it happen. I'm not sure what area I'd like to best, but I can always move down the road. I just have to get out of L.A. though... It's terrible. I pay SO MUCH MONEY in rent that I can't breath anymore. If I could only get my rent down to $1K a month, that would be wonderful. Even $1200 a month is livable, but not this. Not what I pay now for a horrible, broken down, falling apart, apartment.... Oh, my god, I'm hyperventilating as I type... someone give me a paper bag quick.... OMG !!!!

[SandyCo]

Arti, how big is your apartment and where do you live?! Two-bedroom apartments in Sherman Oaks go for $1,250 in my building. This is a building with no elevators, only two washers and two dryers serving 25 units (!), unsecured parking (only one covered space per apartment), no central air or heat... You get the picture!

Have you thought of getting a roommate? That would cut your rent in half.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and plunge in. Put all your stuff in storage, and find an apartment where you really want to be. Good luck!

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

Arti, how big is your apartment and where do you live?! Two-bedroom apartments in Sherman Oaks go for $1,250 in my building. This is a building with no elevators, only two washers and two dryers serving 25 units (!), unsecured parking (only one covered space per apartment), no central air or heat... You get the picture!

Have you thought of getting a roommate? That would cut your rent in half.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and plunge in. Put all your stuff in storage, and find an apartment where you really want to be. Good luck!

SandyCo,

Thanks for responding to my desperate call for help. I don't want to stay in Los Angeles. I've been here so many years. I can back after a breakup with a boyfriend overseas because it was what I knew. But now I'm back on my feet and ready to move on. Problem is there are too many choices. I am seriously thinking of putting everything in storage soon and just hitting the road. I have an SUV, so I can take my dog and cat with me...

Artie

[Mel2882]

I am moving to Chicago and this is how I'm doing it...basically, if you look on Craigslist, you can find sublets and roommates. I understand if you want to live on your own, but for moving out of state, so far this is my plan...find someone or someplace to live, then take a 2 or 3 day trip if needed to pay up front deposits or meet whoever I am going to live with. Hotwire is great with hotels and cars...you can get packages for really cheap. After living with a roommate for a little while (and saving that money from moving) I plan to find a place of my own. That way I know the area a little bit better. You are lucky in the fact that you work online. Good luck!

[Twinkle Toes]

Artie! There are places in the Coachella Valley that you can rent for $1000 or less. It's beautiful in the desert!!! Good luck with your move, where ever you choose to move to!

[morefromcali]

Hi Artie,

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time

When we were looking to move, we rented corporate housing in the area we wanted to move so we could check things out. It was cheaper and more comfortable than a hotel and let us really spend some time in our soon to be new home.

Best of luck and hang in there!

[DaveV]

Don't mean to be a wiseguy, buy try to be a lil resourceful.. You talk like you are trying to escape prison. You are free to go where you like.