Moving from ATL to LA. Need studio for 1k/month. Please advice. Thanks! (Long Beach: apartment complex, rentals)

[Prius07]

Hello Angelinos,

In next couple of weeks I will be moving from hot/humid Atlanta to LA.

I just finished a school and I don’t have a job yet. So, I will be looking for studio or small 1 bedroom apartment before I get back on my feet. My housing budget is 1k/month. I’m sure that without a job I would have to pre-pay my lease and that’s fine.

My ideal location is at/around Redondo Beach. Is it possible to find something there? I want to live alone, no roommate or room sharing arrangement.

I found my apartment search rather difficult because there is no single website that would list all available properties available for rent. I looked on Craigslist, and it seems that most of the Ads are from old creepy guys looking for young female roommate. Also, I looked on some major apartment renting sites, but it seem like inventory is limited and not all available properties are listed. It is so much easier here in GA…

I’m also wondering for how much are those small guest houses renting for and how to find them?

Also, I will consider renting in the Valley before I get back on my feet, but I heard it may get very hot there. How bad is it? Hot weather was one of the reasons I’m leaving Atlanta. Should I consider Orange County instead?

Please let me know. I would love to hear from someone who was in “my shoes” and went through this “starting new life experience.”

So, to summarize, here are my questions:

1) Redondo Beach studio 1k/month---Is it doable or just a pipe dream?
2) Should I rent something in the Valley before I get back on my feet? I read that Burbank, Sherman Oaks or Studio City would be good places to start? $1k OK for studio there?
3) If Valley is too hot, should I consider Orange County?
4) Best website to search for apartments? How much are those small guest houses renting for and how to find them?

Thank you for your time and help. Also, please recommend a specific apartment complex that you know, if any.

Thanks!!!

Robert

[disgruntled la native]

1. I don't know the REdondo Beach rental market thoroughly, but that sounds definitely on the low side. You would likely get something in nearby Torrance

2. Yes, budget works for Burbank, even Sherman Oaks, iffy for Studio City but maybe nearby it

3. Yes! Great underrated area and much cheaper than LA.

4. Craigslist, Padmapper

[thelopez2]

There is westisderentals dot com. If your parents are willing to consign the lease, it will be easier to get a place. Apartment and places and be found by driving around and looking for signs in the area you want to live. Too many people are using the free sites and there are too many scammers.

[Prius07]

Originally Posted by thelopez2

There is westisderentals dot com. If your parents are willing to consign the lease, it will be easier to get a place. Apartment and places and be found by driving around and looking for signs in the area you want to live. Too many people are using the free sites and there are too many scammers.

Thank you for your response. My parents cant help me, because I'm grown up and they live in Europe...

Sorry, I should have been more clear: I was non-traditional student; I'm 38, I worked as a mortgage broker for over a decade, and when the market tanked, I went back to school and earned BBA in Finance from Terry College of Business (UGA biz. school.) I have some money saved up, so I can pay upfront.
Unfortunately, I don't have a time to drive around. I will do the road trip ATL to LA, and I need to find something when I get to LA. I may need to stay in the motel for 1-2 weeks and use that time to look for place. Thank you for your input!

[Prius07]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

1. I don't know the REdondo Beach rental market thoroughly, but that sounds definitely on the low side. You would likely get something in nearby Torrance

2. Yes, budget works for Burbank, even Sherman Oaks, iffy for Studio City but maybe nearby it

3. Yes! Great underrated area and much cheaper than LA.

4. Craigslist, Padmapper

Thanks, I'm now leaning towards Burbank. It seems like a decent place to start and I may have a good chance of finding job in that area. I can always move 6-12 months later to Redondo Beach. How bad is the weather, is it really hot? I'm moving from Atlanta which is really hot/humid.

Any idea for how much are those small guest houses renting for?

[disgruntled la native]

Burbank is a great place to start. People often overlook it because it's in the Valley but it is affordable, fairly centrally located (to DTLA, most of Valley, and Hollywood and not terribly far from eastern LA county), safe, clean, lots of amenities, young, diverse.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

1. I don't know the REdondo Beach rental market thoroughly, but that sounds definitely on the low side. You would likely get something in nearby Torrance

2. Yes, budget works for Burbank, even Sherman Oaks, iffy for Studio City but maybe nearby it

3. Yes! Great underrated area and much cheaper than LA.

4. Craigslist, Padmapper

OC isn't much cheaper than LA. It's pretty comparable to LA. Even Santa Ana or "Garbage Grove" aren't cheaper than comparable neighborhoods in LA. Seal Beach and Huntington Beach are somewhat cheaper than LA County's beach cities or the other OC beach cities, but they're still quite expensive.

Long Beach, OTOH, is cheaper than LA or OC.

That budget would work for North Burbank, which is run down, ugly, noisy and close to some really bad neighborhoods but is safe and has good schools. Also for North Hollywood/Noho, Valley Village, and the parts of Sherman Oaks that used to be the nice part of Van Nuys.

Agree with #1 and #4.

[JohnG72]

Hi, relative rents a 1bd on Crenshaw north of the 405 in Torrance for $950/mo. It sat vacant for two months prior to that. 5 minute drive to the eastern edge of Redondo Beach.

Honestly don't know why people so over estimate rents in LA.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Hi, relative rents a 1bd on Crenshaw north of the 405 in Torrance for $950/mo. It sat vacant for two months prior to that. 5 minute drive to the eastern edge of Redondo Beach.

Honestly don't know why people so over estimate rents in LA.

No overestimating here. I said OP could afford Torrance, PROBABLY not Redondo - unless there's some small fry landlord who hasn't caught on to the rental market. Your relative lives in Torrance.

[HarryKerryJr]

Redondo Beach is great for bars and adjacent to some "bad" areas providing that section of the South Bay lots of burglaries and other problems from those criminals who have easy access to commit their crimes. Redondo and Manhattan Beaches are beautiful themselves with nice people and places to live, but the affluence attracts the wrong element who live in adjoining areas too close to these cities that make it an easy and more than incidental target for them to commit crimes. This also exists in many other areas I know and have personal experience where there is affluence neighborhood that is adjacent to "problem" areas. It is the ONLY negative (well, the drunken bar patrons is #2, I guess) I have with Redondo and Manhattan Beach area.