Possible Job in Santa Monica, Where to Live with Wife and 1 Child? (Los Angeles: for sale, real estate)

[GlaiveGuy]

Hello All,

I have a possibility of a job at a great company in Santa Monica. I am coming from Connecticut where my wife and I have lived our whole life. Our son was born last year, currently 10 months old. I don’t know anything at all about Los Angeles save what I’ve been able to glean from Google searches in the last day or so.

Assuming I’d like to keep my commute to 40 minutes or less, where is a good place for a young family to live? We’re assuming a combined household income of $150,000 with my wife working part time to cut down on daycare costs. While a single family detached home seems out of the question, I’d prefer a town-home or condo over an apartment, 2 bedrooms minimum, 3 preferably since we hope to have another child in the next couple years. Good schools would be nice as well.

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. I’m currently spending 140 minutes a day commuting and it is resulting in me seeing my son for a grand total of an hour a half per day before he goes to sleep, I’d not want to live much more than 30-40 minutes from Santa Monica. I don’t want to cry every time I hear “Cats in the Cradle”.

Happy to answer any questions, and appreciate all guidance.

-GG

[echoParkDate]

Three bedrooms in a good school district, reasonable commute to SM is not going to happen on $150K a year. Not even close.

This job would need to be the absolute opportunity of a lifetime to make a move to LA worthwhile for your family. If the job is at a venture-funded startup, don't even think about it.

[GlaiveGuy]

Haha, How about 2 of those 3?

The company is solid, well established.

What sort of income would make a 2 bedroom doable?

[Mike121]

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. I’m currently spending 140 minutes a day commuting and it is resulting in me seeing my son for a grand total of an hour a half per day before he goes to sleep, I’d not want to live much more than 30-40 minutes from Santa Monica. I don’t want to cry every time I hear “Cats in the Cradle”.

Happy to answer any questions, and appreciate all guidance.

-GG

Santa Monica school district is okay. Culver City is OK. And actually some of the elementary schools in LAUSD out in West LA are okay, but, the middle schools and high schools are, in general, unimpressive.

I would really work on trying to live in Santa Monica or just south of there, even if your living space ends up on the small side. Culver City, West LA, Mar Vista, are all reasonable enough, but the commute could stretch past 40 minutes depending on the specific locations. But again, consider Santa Monica first.

In general the commute into Santa Monica from the east for work is really bad if you're working a normal schedule. Because there are only a few bridges/tunnels to get you over/under the 10 and 405 freeways, traffic tends to be terrible for commuters.

There is this light rail line, the Expo Line, that should open in a few months. If your job happens to be near a stop, and you can pick some housing near another stop, that'd be sweet.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

What sort of income would make a 2 bedroom doable?

Example: 2 bedroom apartments under $3,000. in SM = only 4 choices today on Realtor.com

http://www.realtor.com/homesforrent/.../price-na-3000

You do the math

[echoParkDate]

I assumed the OP wanted to buy a home. $150K is enough to rent an apartment near or in SM and have a nice lifestyle, provided you are OK saving very little.

But why?

A young family should not be pissing away $40K a year in rent. You need to be saving for a down payment, you will not do that living in West LA with a 150K household income. Its just too expensive here.

[GlaiveGuy]

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

[Brookside]

This particular forum seems to want to discourage newcomers for some reason.

OP, I have a good friend whose income is parallel to yours who commutes from Torrance to Santa Monica. He states it usually takes 40-45 minutes (although can vary widely based on traffic incidents).

He also just bought a 2 BRM condo there for $480K. He tells me that the schools in Torrance are considered good, although his child isn't in school yet.

I don't know what your price range is for buying or if you even want to buy, but there appears to be a handful of properties for sale in this range.

Good luck!

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by GlaiveGuy

Further out locations like Calabasas seem like they’d be too long a drive.

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

[BRinSM]

From a guy in a similar situation with respect to salary and family, make sure you rent upon arrival. There is no reason to rush into buying right now nor worry about schools. Plus, real estate anywhere near santa monica is astronomical right now. with only one child and your salary, you could definitely get into a nice apartment (maybe even a townhome). and for the person who mentioned spending $40k on rent, sometimes that's the price you have to pay to live in a city like LA. You can probably get away with spending much less than that though.

if you take the job, find a place that works for you and get to know the area. maybe your income will go up in the next couple of years and you can consider buying a place close to work. you'll also probably need to consider buying in the valley and commuting on the 405. traffic sucks though and this relatively short commute of ~15 miles can easily take over an hour.