Southern California Apartment Rental Help (San Diego, Oceanside: appointed, apartment complexes, rentals)
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Hi all! My step-sister and I are planning to move to the southern California area pretty soon. We have set up a place to stay for a week and plan to look for apartments and jobs during that time...We'll be staying in Vista.
We currently live in southern Oregon...and I'm sure I'll get a lot of "Why would you move to Cali.. the economy is bad... it's expensive..." I've heard it numerous times.
But, the economy is pretty bad everywhere...and we just have an insatiable desire to be in Southern California, even if we only last a bit. I'm 23, my sister is 22 and we've never lived "completely on our own" before or been away from family support. So, this is a completely new adventure. We're ready to start our own lives, make memories, and just live a little.
But, since we only have a week to try to get things in line while we're down there, I was hoping to get some advice or helpful hints!
We know we want to live fairly close to the coast. So we've been looking at Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad. I've visited the area before and *love it*.
We'd like to keep rent at or under 1,000/month for 2 bedrooms. What are some good neighborhoods/areas/apartment complexes in these areas that we would have good luck at?
Any other helpful advice would be appreciated.
Please don't bother posting the whole spiel on how it's "not a good idea" for this or that reason...our minds are already made up that we're going to give it a shot.
Sounds like fun. Nothing cooler than just picking up and heading out.
With that being said, I dont know much about those area you are looking to stay. Have you done any searching?
Craigslist is always a great place to start but with some reservations. Here are some tips to search using c/l:
- If its too good to be true, dont even reply
- Dont always believe the photos
- Always get the conditions in writing whether its a contract or what have you
- Absolutely make sure this person is the owner. There is a ton of fraud out there right now with so called 'landlords" but they never own the property and just keep taking your cash.
I think just being wiser in your approach can leave more room for fun in the long run. Otherwise, go out and have a blast.
Thanks for the replies so far. Great pointers shmoov_groovzsd, I'll take note
And "moved"...I'm not too picky on the job. I'm not a "professional" yet or anything...so I was thinking I could just waitress or bartend and get base pay and tips...and I'll be taking classes online for last term here at my current college, so I'll be getting some financial aid from that...
Thanks for the replies so far. Great pointers shmoov_groovzsd, I'll take note
And "moved"...I'm not too picky on the job. I'm not a "professional" yet or anything...so I was thinking I could just waitress or bartend and get base pay and tips...and I'll be taking classes online for last term here at my current college, so I'll be getting some financial aid from that...
If you can find a waitress or bartending job, you'll be lucky, because it's not that easy. There's lot of competition here, and a lot of international students come here for the summer, and take anything they can get.
I would give yourself more than a week. I'm not sure any area would be condusive to finding employment in a week. But best wishes and it will be an adventure for sure. I did it a few times myself in my younger years. I don't regret it at all..
I would give yourself more than a week. I'm not sure any area would be condusive to finding employment in a week. But best wishes and it will be an adventure for sure. I did it a few times myself in my younger years. I don't regret it at all..
Well we're hoping we'll get at least a few leads in that week. We live about 12 hours away from the area right now, and we can't afford to stay there too long. I was kinda thinking that if we at least find an apartment there, we can use our moving money to hold us over for a month or two until we find a job...that way we would actually be there and able to search for jobs more diligently and easily.
Does anyone know if you have to have proof of income for most apartments?
Well we're hoping we'll get at least a few leads in that week. We live about 12 hours away from the area right now, and we can't afford to stay there too long. I was kinda thinking that if we at least find an apartment there, we can use our moving money to hold us over for a month or two until we find a job...that way we would actually be there and able to search for jobs more diligently and easily.
Does anyone know if you have to have proof of income for most apartments?
Yes you will need proof of income for most all rentals, whether or not you go through a private owner on craigslist or through an apartment complex. Also I'd recommend spending you primary time looking for an apartment in oceanside and vista. You are more likely to find something closer to your price range there than in coastal Carlsbad. I found a few places in Vista in the $1200 range and some places in Oceanside (that I didn't have time to check out) for a bit less.
Good luck on your job hunt! I am no help on that front.
Hello, I love your spontaneous, adventurous nature....just some info to consider from our existing situation.
My husband and I came to San Diego 9 months ago for a new business venture that unfortunately, due to some fraudulent education and information we received has already failed. That being said, it left us in a similar situation you will be in... in need of more affordable rent and both needing jobs.
We have been searching for both for several weeks and found neither, at least not in an area we felt safe in. We have been looking for a 2 bedroom for around $1200 and Carlsbad. Del Mar, Encinitas and La Jolla is out of the question(a small one bedroom is $1500) and we didn't care for the Oceanside and Vista area. We also recently read about Oceanside having some of the highest crime around San Diego...most of the two bedrooms seem to start around $1300-1400 and go up rapidly.
Also, you will need good credit and proof of income (2-3 times your rent amount) or banks statements with proof of affording several months rent and if you do not qualify for these, you may be required to pay 2-3 months rent and a security deposit up front. Its pretty strict...
My husband having a lot of retail management experience has only had 1 response to his many applications after 3 weeks and that one didn't pan out.
I am not trying to rain on your parade, but due as much research as you possibly can before you get here so you have a realistic idea of what you might be facing. A week is what we gave ourselves when we came and we are in a beautiful apartment....paying $1800/month. And we are NOT near the coast or in any other fancy area up north, rather we are in La Mesa(east county). You can find much more reasonable rents in this area, but we didn't know and didn't have time to find out, which is my point exactly.
So just keep doing what you are doing and gather as much info as you can ahead of time to be prepared. I wish you guys lots of good luck!!!
My husband having a lot of retail management experience has only had 1 response to his many applications after 3 weeks and that one didn't pan out.
I can identify with what the above poster said. We moved out here last June because I got a one year residency. (We also have/had some financial aid money as a cushion for our move.) My spouse and I assumed he'd be able to find a job in...something. It took him 2 months of full-time searching and applying to find a part-time position that paid $8 an hour, (which was a start but wasn't going to make up the difference in needed income to cover bills). What's interesting is that once he found that job other jobs started coming up. Between June and January, he'd worked for seven different company's, in three different cities doing everything from office work, to emptying TJMaxx stock trucks in the morning to teaching yoga and doing some personal training to (finally) management work. We are finally starting to be able to save money again. He used mostly Criaglist to find the smaller more local jobs, but the legitimate ones were weary of hiring someone so new to the area (He secured two positions this way). He also found applying online to large grocery stores, and large chain stores...like Walmart/Target/Sam's etc. to be a time efficient way to apply for multiple jobs at different locations (He secured three positions this way).
All of this is to say that when you come out be open to taking a couple low pay part-time jobs in different areas to pay the bills.
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Southern California Apartment Rental Help
