Santa Monica, Developers, Affordable rental units, and who really gets to rent those units (apartment, income)

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Yeah the $1495 isn't too bad if you are making in the 50s..but $1200 making under 36k is a bit high..

I definitely agree that I could see a lot of people claiming lower amounts to get lower rent.

It's hard to track stuff like family payments via Paypal, check or cash.

This is why I don't really agree with these types of programs.

1200 for a 1-BR or 2-BR?

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by munchitup

1200 for a 1-BR or 2-BR?

Studio, I posted a link to the company website with pictures, floor plan etc.

BTW, $1500/mo. is pretty high for someone making ~$50-55k. That would be right around 50% of your take home pay just on rent. If you made any more than that you'd be a raise or two away from having to move.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

Studio, I posted a link to the company website with pictures, floor plan etc.

BTW, $1500/mo. is pretty high for someone making ~$50-55k. That would be right around 50% of your take home pay just for rent. If you made any more than that you'd be a raise or two away from having to move.

Yeah and I know that personal finance gurus like Dave Ramsey recommend spending like 1/4 of your income on housing. Very hard in a place like L.A unless you make quite a bit.

I'm guessing some of the non Santa Monica areas might be more affordable..they should be at least.

I saw the list of buildings that have 'affordable' units in L.A County ..but doesn't show price ranges.
www.acof.org/completed_projects.php

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Yeah and I know that personal finance gurus like Dave Ramsey recommend spending like 1/4 of your income on housing. Very hard in a place like L.A unless you make quite a bit.

1/4 of gross income is probably good advice in most of the country but not LA. I moved to socal making $48k/yr. and I was paying $1250/mo. for rent in the inland empire. With car, gas, insurance, food, cable, utilities etc. I basically struggled to save any money at the end of the month. I can't imagine spending $1500/mo. on rent with a similar income.

[SpaceMonkyPunks]

I've heard nothing but bad things about those NMS apartments. Lots of college students, essentially a noisy frat house. Went to take a tour once...really, really pushy about trying to get you to put down a 500 dollar deposit, right away, just to get on a waiting list!

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

1/4 of gross income is probably good advice in most of the country but not LA. I moved to socal making $48k/yr. and I was paying $1250/mo. for rent in the inland empire. With car, gas, insurance, food, cable, utilities etc. I basically struggled to save any money at the end of the month. I can't imagine spending $1500/mo. on rent with a similar income.

Yeah I know what you mean. I feel you need about 100k or so to live comfortably and have money to put away. I don't feel like I spend much, but expenses to eat up most of my income. I did decide to buy a place but I couldn't rent one of those studios in Santa Monica for what i'm paying for my mortgage taxes and other expenses...of course the commute sucks though!

Average household income for L.A is 56k ..that's household income though.

Of course nobody wants to be AVERAGE or ..nobody should strive for average..but that's what it is.

Most struggle using government or family help or live with a bunch of people.

I think the idea of offering "affordable' housing in Santa Monica is a joke...if they wanted to get serious they'd get rid of rent control and open up the supply.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Yeah I know what you mean. I feel you need about 100k or so to live comfortably and have money to put away.

If you're single I think $70-75k is where it gets much easier in LA. Of course that is highly dependent on how much you spend on rent. To say nothing of how much you dedicate to discretionary spending like eating out, shopping, the type of car you drive etc.

Remember the average income includes a lot of poor people which drags that number down. Median income in your neighborhood is a more accurate number IMO.

[jm1982]

Good point and I'm sure the median income for renters versus homeowners is very drastic ..

Especially recent homeowners or renters

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkyPunks

I've heard nothing but bad things about those NMS apartments. Lots of college students, essentially a noisy frat house. Went to take a tour once...really, really pushy about trying to get you to put down a 500 dollar deposit, right away, just to get on a waiting list!

I follow housing developments on SkyscraperPage.com, and the developments in the whole L.A. area, and I've seen photo's of some of these glorified tenement buildings which they're building all over the L.A. area, the ones that rise 5-6-7 stories, and built out of wood! As fearful as I am with fires, I would never live in one of them! And I'm surprised they can get people to live in them!

I saw the post on future projects of Santa Monica, and I'd be struck dumb if any of them get built, without years of delays and fights with the notorious Nimby's there!

[rb29335i]

In Santa Monica a lot of the rent-restricted apartments are $1,708/month for 1BR with income restricted to like 58k. That's insane unless you had 0 debt + no car.