New to Los Angeles, get a CA cell phone number?

[IamReady2Move]

Thanks for the replies. I was looking for places near Fairfax and Santa Monica, which seems very popular. So I guess it's common for the area? Good point that it's not a good sign for those landlords.

As it happens, I called another place in WeHo, and someone answered immediately, and I'm going to look at it today.

Google Voice is a good idea, thanks for that.

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by IamReady2Move

I'm living in Whittier, and I'm looking to move to West Hollywood. I found some places on West Side Rentals, and called the numbers. Called 4 places 2-3 days ago, and got the voicemail.

No problem, people are busy. A few days have gone by, no one returns the call. I only left my name, number and the address of the property I saw online.

My cell phone number is still from the East Coast - I wonder if they think I'm moving here from far away? I've heard how a lot of people look for jobs and apts in LA long distance, make arrangements and then completely flake and change their minds.

But I''m in CA - I was thinking I should get a local cell phone? Just to make it clear I really, really am here?

You can get a Skype or Google Voice number and have it forward to your cell phone.. make calls using that number so it shows up as a CA number in caller ID. Best option before you decide to settle in one place.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by IamReady2Move

Thanks for the replies. I was looking for places near Fairfax and Santa Monica, which seems very popular. So I guess it's common for the area? Good point that it's not a good sign for those landlords.

As it happens, I called another place in WeHo, and someone answered immediately, and I'm going to look at it today.

Google Voice is a good idea, thanks for that.

WeHo is a very popular area, no question about it. Maybe only second to Santa Monica in terms of rental demand. But if you're willing to extend your boundaries a bit west and east (maybe to La Cienega, and east to La Brea, though I know those are two very different parts of WeHo) you will surely find something.

[drshang]

Originally Posted by 1200RT

I doubt it has to do w/ your phone number. In the 'modern' world, where people get a cell phone number and it stays with them "forever", its not uncommon to have an area code from another region. As mentioned above, a google voice number is one way to do it, but honestly, no one really cares.

IIRC, there was an in-depth discussion about this about a year ago, where someone was concerned about having an out of state number listed on his/her resume. The general consensus was not to worry about it.

FWIW, I recently relocated from Santa Monica to Orange County, and haven't thought once about changing my 310 cell number to a 949. I've had the same cell number since I emancipated myself from my parent's plan when I came to CA for college, well over 10 years ago. Before that, I had a 201 (northern NJ), which now belongs to my sister, who inherited it on the family plan we had at the time.

I agree with this. I think it matters very little and it's largely a case of people overthinking things. I didn't change my PA phone number for like 18 months, and no one seemed to care. If anything, it served as an excellent icebreaker since people would ask where the area code was from and it would be the start of friendly conversation.

[PDF]

I went ahead and changed mine recently. I think a local address is far more important (though doesn't apply to apartment search), and it seems many people never bother changing their number ever. But my reasoning was that I'm not going to come back to where I live now, so might as well get a LA area code.

[buzzkillb]

Originally Posted by IamReady2Move

I'm living in Whittier, and I'm looking to move to West Hollywood. I found some places on West Side Rentals, and called the numbers. Called 4 places 2-3 days ago, and got the voicemail.

No problem, people are busy. A few days have gone by, no one returns the call. I only left my name, number and the address of the property I saw online.

My cell phone number is still from the East Coast - I wonder if they think I'm moving here from far away? I've heard how a lot of people look for jobs and apts in LA long distance, make arrangements and then completely flake and change their minds.

But I''m in CA - I was thinking I should get a local cell phone? Just to make it clear I really, really am here?

Sign up for a google voice account and use a local area code. Have that automatically push to ring your cell.