Landed a job in Venice. Rent expectations? (Los Angeles, Vista: extended stay, 2014)

[DPfb2460]

Hey everybody! I just landed a job in Venice, so my soon-to-be wife and I (both of us are 24) will be moving from the East coast to LA sometime late summer or early fall. I'm currently trying to figure out how much to expect to pay in rent. Hopefully there's somebody who can help me out!

MDR and Santa Monica both look really nice, as does Playa Vista. Not too sure about Culver City, Mar Vista, and any other surrounding neighborhods. Safety is the most important thing to us, along with having a short commute to work and living somewhere that has a decent night life. (Side note: my fiancee currently doesn't have a job lined up, but she works in the medical field. Is it reasonable to expect to get a medical job anywhere other than downtown LA?)

Here's the problem: I was really trying to avoid spending more than 1800/month for a one bedroom apartment. Is that even realistic in these areas? All of the apartments that I've seen have rents starting in the low 2000's. I'm hesitant to use Craigslist as it is not particularly reliable where I currently live; my biggest fear is landing in LAX and realizing that I've been scammed (either no place to live or the apartment isn't as listed). We could probably afford paying up to 2400/month if we had to but I think we already have sticker shock: our current apartment is only $700/month.

How do most out of towners find a good, solid, reasonable place to live without visiting the properties in person? Any good tips or suggestions?

Thanks for the help!

[jamills21]

Padmapper.com

Walkscore.com

[thelopez2]

Renting sight unseen is always a risk. You can hire an agent or deal with a large management company. $1800 a month for a 1 br should be sufficient. Mar Vista would be the cheapest apartments since it the least well known, along with Palms. $2400 might get you a small house.

Most out of towners might stay at an extended stay of a short time. If you shop at the end of the month for an apartment, you get the left overs, if you shop at the beginning of the month, you'll end up staying at the extended stay longer but get better selection.

There is also westside rentals dot com

[disgruntled la native]

Santa Monica is the priciest and 1800 might not get you much there. But for the other areas 1800 is more than sufficient. It just depends, but you may strongly consider MDR, Playa Vista, or Culver City.

Since your budget is fairly high you can deal with one of those large corporate buildings that help you rent from across the country. Even though I feel they are overpriced, you do generally know what you're getting into versus some 5 unit family owned building.

Medical jobs in Downtown only? No. What does your wife do? There are hospitals everywhere.

[BRinSM]

$1800 should get you a nice place, although don't expect to be walking distance from the beach. something to consider, the archstone in marina del rey has monthly rentals, so if you have some extra cash to burn on your first month of rent (you will pay a premium for a month to month rental), you could always get a room there and move after finding a permanent place. MDR is super close to venice, you should be able to walk or ride your bike to the office.

as for medical jobs, it's not clear what your wife does. anyways, LA has a lot of people so there is a large medical industry for all of us. education and experience will really effect how easily your wife can get a job.

[JohnG72]

Within 3 blocks of the culver city downtown area. 2bd/1ba should run 1500-1800, nice area with walkable bars and restaurants, and 5 - 20 min commute from work in Venice depending on where in Venice.

Try to stay at an extended stay place for a month when you arrive and apartment hunt from there. There's a few of those type places off the 405/Howard Hughes Pkwy, which is just south of culver city.

[yby1]

Culver City is probably the safest of the places you've mentioned. You can find a 1br there for $1800.

[DPfb2460]

Awesome, thanks for the replies so far! My wife will be looking for a job in medical administration, so she's pretty flexible. It's good to hear that there are lots of medical buildings around -- it really increases her shot of getting a job close to home.

For reference, my job will be pretty close to Venice beach, and close to the Santa Monica/Venice border.

It seems like living somewhere short term would be a good idea, although having to move twice would be a bit of a hassle. Would we just put all of our stuff in storage for a while? Also, do any of these areas have rent control? I'm also curious if time of year plays a role in how much rent is. Thoughts?

[thelopez2]

Rents don't change seasonally, since we don't have seasons. You should be able to find a place in a week, think of it like a vacation and live out of a suitcase while your stuff gets shipped. Between Thanksgiving and New Years, people don't move a lot but you don't see prices fall significantly. Santa Monica is rent control. Older apartments in Los Angeles City are under rent control, Culver City is not.

[yby1]

Culver City has no rent control, so you are at the mercy of the landlords. There is debate goin gon about adding rent control in CC.

http://www.laweekly.com/informer/201...-control-fight