Possible Job in Santa Monica, Where to Live with Wife and 1 Child? (Thousand Oaks: 2013, apartments)

[ashpelham]

Part of the price to pay if you really want to live. I do really want to live there, and I assume that it's going to cost much, much more than my home I own in Alabama. Or rather, the BANK owns, and I pay rent to. WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING when you RENT an apartment or another owners home.

For those of us not born into wealth or getting multi-million dollar signing bonuses, we will not, nor should we, be shut out of an entire state. It's nice, but it isn't that special. I'll move there, just like the OP, if I want to. And if I can make the budget work, I'll enjoy the heck out of it.

So much outright rightous indignation on C-D these days.

[iama30something]

I just bought a 2 bed condo in the Santa Monica for $445k, monthly payments with HOA, taxes and insurance are $2600. I'm in the Pico Neighborhood, which is the least desirable neighborhood in Santa Monica, but it's plenty safe and I bought it from a family who was living there before me for 10+ years. It can be done.

[ad244]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Calabasas may be possible IF you live on the east end of Calabasas near Topanga Canyon (the route to the ocean/Pacific Coast Highway), and IF the job is close to the ocean and on the north end of Santa Monica or near a fast route to PCH. The school district is superior.

Las Virgenes Unified School District - Home

This.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

Maybe a better question is: Where do people who work in Santa Monica who have families generally live?

You're on the right track, you just need to adjust your rental budget to reflect the reality of this area. It's literally one of the most expensive places to live in the entire country. Spend some time on Craigslist or West Side Rentals to get a realistic idea of the going rents in this area. If you're expecting to get a 2000 square foot 3BR townhouse for <$3k a month, well, can I interest you in Riverside? Santa Monica, Brentwood, Venice, West LA, Mar Vista and Culver City are all going to be possibilities. You'll just pay more for less space in the most desirable areas. People live in the valley when they want "affordable" housing but trade lower housing costs for longer commutes.

[Mike121]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

Maybe a better question is: Where do people who work in Santa Monica who have families generally live?

I used to work in West LA near Santa Monica. The people with children at that company lived all over. The nearby ones lived in West LA, Sherman Oaks, Mid-City, West Adams, Brentwood, and (the slums of) Beverly Hills. The far away ones lived in South Gate, Palmdale, and Diamond Bar.

[Big-Bucks]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

Research has pointed to Culver City, West LA, or Mar Vista as locations within our price range with a few smaller units in Santa Monica itself possibly. Further out locations like Calabasas or Thousand oaks seem like they’d be too long a drive.

Nicest cities first...
1. Santa Monica
2. Mar Vista
3. West LA
4. Culver City (kind of a dump in my opinion. Too close to the 'hood.)


Calabasas and Thousand Oaks are both really nice and clean! However you get the Valley heat up there. I think the long drive would drive you insane. Not exactly 100% safe to traverse Topanga Canyon or Malibu Canyon road twice a day either.

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by iama30something

I just bought a 2 bed condo in the Santa Monica for $445k, monthly payments with HOA, taxes and insurance are $2600. I'm in the Pico Neighborhood, which is the least desirable neighborhood in Santa Monica, but it's plenty safe and I bought it from a family who was living there before me for 10+ years. It can be done.

OMG, are you for real? How big is your condo? 1200, 1400, 1500 sq ft? how old? Sorry for my sudden burst of questions as zillow returns zero results even with 600k max limit, plz inbox your realtor info

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by Mike121

I used to work in West LA near Santa Monica. The people with children at that company lived all over. The nearby ones lived in West LA, Sherman Oaks, Mid-City, West Adams, Brentwood, and (the slums of) Beverly Hills. The far away ones lived in South Gate, Palmdale, and Diamond Bar.

Damn...diamond bar, their lives were literally wasted in their cars on weekdays

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

I have a possibility of a job at a great company in Santa Monica. Assuming I’d like to keep my commute to 40 minutes or less, where is a good place for a young family to live?

Did you mean a 40 minute commute or less round trip or one way?

There's a thread here about someone who appears to be in your age group who bought a condo in Santa Monica recently; granted, he said it was a fixer, but there's nothing wrong with that. Will look for that thread.

Edit: here it is; scroll to the last few pages (p.23). //www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...buy-house.html

[GlaiveGuy]

40 minutes each way is about my maximum. I've been doing 70-80 minutes each way for over a year where I am and it is driving me insane to both be in my car so long and also see so little of my son.

Appreciate the advice everyone! I think the name of the game is to leverage my income to rent a nice house in/near my job and save/increase my income til I can afford to buy something close (or life situation once more changes).

For the record I am coming from Fairfield County, CT so I am well acquainted with high cost of living :-)

I've see reccos for WestSideRentals, are there any other good sites to find rental listings in/near Santa Monica? I've used Zillow already.


Of course this is all subject to me actually being OFFERED the job, but I'm the type who likes to have all the information at hand haha.

Thanks again!

GG