Bought in Long Island and want to move to LA (Los Angeles: apartments, rent)
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Yes, we lived in the ghetto of Queens bc of a family house and life my FIL had set up. We eventually had to buy our own home for our daughter’s school and neighborhood (Nyc schools are awful). I bought I’d love it out here. And I hate it. Can’t see life here another 10 years.
Yes, more pop and lively and a tiny bit more life/diversity. Everything closes at 8p and is very geriatric. NO nightlife at all.
I think that a lot of the suburban areas of LA would work. You’ve been here. Kind of know what you like. Just have to figure out how to make it work. Good luck!
The things is you mention "crowded" being an issue. Well it's pretty crowded here.
Santa Monica is very nice, do you have any idea what houses cost there and in other areas in the LA area? And what you get for that money?
You probably have a two story house on a 1/2 acre, which would sell for what around for what $600K, you just bought so you have no value in the home.
For $600K here you would be lucky to find a two bedroom home in a not so great area. Santa Monica over a million for a small home.
Sorry, the time to move to LA is when you're single.
How much nightlife can you have with a 3 year old? Who here would watch the child?
Nightlife as in restaurants and bars and a scene. With kids or without. I’m not referring to nightclubs. If we did want a night out alone, I wouldn’t find a place in LI with more than 3 people at a dark dive bar.
I do know SM prices based on my research. I’m not set on living there. Just describing that’s where I’d love to always hang out or work if I can’t afford to live. There are other good school district places I’d love to consider like around The Grove near West Hollywood, Pasadena, Glendale, Silverlake. Are any of those great school districts and or neighborhoods?
People said the same thing about LI- that you could never find anything less than $500K. There aren’t 65 choices, but there are a few you could choose from and you jump on it. All you need it 1.
Nightlife as in restaurants and bars and a scene. With kids or without. I’m not referring to nightclubs. If we did want a night out alone, I wouldn’t find a place in LI with more than 3 people at a dark dive bar.
I do know SM prices based on my research. I’m not set on living there. Just describing that’s where I’d love to always hang out or work if I can’t afford to live. There are other good school district places I’d love to consider like around The Grove near West Hollywood, Pasadena, Glendale, Silverlake. Are any of those great school districts and or neighborhoods?
People said the same thing about LI- that you could never find anything less than $500K. There aren’t 65 choices, but there are a few you could choose from and you jump on it. All you need it 1.
Glendale has OK schools, neighboring Burbank has excellent schools. Pasadena has terrible schools, South Pasadena has excellent schools. Keep in mind that you will pay a premium for areas with good schools.
You can still find a decent SFH in the $450-500k range but it's going to be in a sketchy area that isn't gentrified yet and will have terrible schools. Those homes will probably be shockingly small and outdated compared to where you live now. And even those homes might not be available for under $500k by the time you decide to buy. The market has been going up fast for years with no end in sight. People with that budget are buying condos in places like Santa Clarita (which is what I did) or buying houses in Palmdale/Lancaster and commuting 2 hours each way. When I was in the market 1.5 years ago I looked at a few houses that were around $450k in areas with good schools and they all needed at least $50k worth of work just to move in.
Also, if you live in Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena or anywhere in the SFV you'll never go to Santa Monica. You might make a few trips when you first move here but the traffic will get old real fast and you won't be going over to that side of town. If you want to hang out on the west side then live on the west side
Glendale has OK schools, neighboring Burbank has excellent schools. Pasadena has terrible schools, South Pasadena has excellent schools. Keep in mind that you will pay a premium for areas with good schools.
You can still find a decent SFH in the $450-500k range but it's going to be in a sketchy area that isn't gentrified yet and will have terrible schools. Those homes will probably be shockingly small and outdated compared to where you live now. And even those homes might not be available for under $500k by the time you decide to buy. The market has been going up fast for years with no end in sight. People with that budget are buying condos in places like Santa Clarita (which is what I did) or buying houses in Palmdale/Lancaster and commuting 2 hours each way. When I was in the market 1.5 years ago I looked at a few houses that were around $450k in areas with good schools and they all needed at least $50k worth of work just to move in.
Also, if you live in Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena or anywhere in the SFV you'll never go to Santa Monica. You might make a few trips when you first move here but the traffic will get old real fast and you won't be going over to that side of town. If you want to hang out on the west side then live on the west side
I am NOT interested in buying a home in California! Sorry, I just feel like that part takes over people’s advice. I just purchased a home in NY that we are keeping, and we are looking to rent a home or 3 bedroom apartment. We want to be renters in a good school district and live the life there before anything more serious like home buying.
This recent purchase almost killed us, so we can wait for the next one.
I loved Burbank actually! But you’re right, I can also stand to look on the west side.
But I know rentals come at a super premium. And I don’t know about schools. I do like Westwood, mid-Wiltshire and West LA. Any good schools there?
I am NOT interested in buying a home in California! Sorry, I just feel like that part takes over people’s advice. I just purchased a home in NY that we are keeping, and we are looking to rent a home or 3 bedroom apartment. We want to be renters in a good school district and live the life there before anything more serious like home buying.
This recent purchase almost killed us, so we can wait for the next one.
I loved Burbank actually! But you’re right, I can also stand to look on the west side.
But I know rentals come at a super premium. And I don’t know about schools. I do like Westwood, mid-Wiltshire and West LA. Any good schools there?
Generally if it is LAUSD school district then it's going to be bad. There are charter schools and other options but there are other people here that know a lot more about that then me.
Keep in mind that the rental market has probably been crazier then the purchase market for real estate here. Look for places that have rent control. Most of city of LA is rent control as is Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and many of the other cities don't have rent control. Even in rent controlled areas there are exceptions with newer buildings built after 1978, luxury buildings etc. The last place I rented went from $1880/mo to $2200/mo in one year and as soon as I moved out they rented it for $2600/mo. The major reason I decided to buy was just to lock in monthly housing expenses otherwise I would have already been priced out of renting in the areas I would accept living in
Having lived in LI, and LA and NYC as well - if you have a school age children you'd better budget for Private Schools in LA. The LA Unified district is at it's best, mediocre. At worst, it's dangerous for the students and teachers. Bussing to insure "fairness" in the districts mean that the areas that pay the highest property taxes end up having their kids shipped off to distant (and sometimes in the ghetto) schools. The world famous area of LA called "Bel Air" is merely a neighborhood in LA and not a separate city of it's own. The houses in Bel Air start at about 3-4 million and go up rapidly. A 3 million dollar home is considered a "starter" home in that lofty area. (Zip code 90077). Parents living in Bel Air can afford the best private schools and almost all of them do so - out of necessity - because they are in the LA school district and the schools their kids would go to are often in unsafe areas their parents would be afraid to drive through at night! Many of the "underprivileged' kids can't read or write even by graduation from HS! However the public schools keep promoting them regardless of lack of competency in core subjects! The Catholic Schools in LA offer a decent option starting at about $7000 for grade school. The high end private schools will cost you 20-40 k per year, per child, depending on grade level, etc. Scholarships are available if you do not make the kind of money it takes to pay that lofty tuition. HOWEVER, a little known fact is that Many of the most costly and top rated private schools have 50% or more of their students receiving financial aid, ranging from a few thousand per year up to a full ride, including tuition, books, fees, after school activities, etc. Most of those top rated and costly private schools have HUGE endowments and trusts that are used in part to fund many students there on full (and I mean full) scholarship. But forget about public schools in LA unless you want to deal with drug addiction by 5th grade and pregnancies even sooner! The exception is the Beverly Hills School District which is its' own entity separate from LA school districts. Beverly Hills public schools are top rated among the national ratings for public schools. However you have the cost of renting or buying in one of the most costly areas in the entire nation to contend with. The "entry price" for a single family home in Beverly Hills - not up in the hills but in the "flats" of Beverly Hills, can now be approaching 2 million or more. Check zip codes 90211 or 90212. Forget about 90210 (thats the zip for Beverly Hills Proper and into the real hills) unless you have piles of cash for an immense downpayment and an income of half a million per year or more. A large condo in Beverly Hills can go for 1.9m and up. LA proper is somewhat cheaper but not by a lot if you want to live in LA itself and avoid a ghetto areas, too. If you're going to live in the city, then I assume you don't want a 90 minute commute to get home each day. For many that's their only option because they do not have the cash for a downpayment of over 20% of the homes sale price and many, even then cannot get a mortgage once the bank factors in taxes, insurance, and utilities. Friends of ours in LA have house payments of over $18,000 per month and they put 2 million down on a four million dollar home! Taxes are 1.30 percent of your most recent sale price per year. Insurance can be from .5 to 2 percent of the value of the house per year. LA is NOT CHEAP. Not by a long shot. And unless you can afford Beverly Hills, private schools are nearly a necessity, not an optional nicety. People selling a home in the NYC tri-state area can usually manage the move to LA and even buy another home there. Others, coming from far less pricey areas like Ohio or the "rust belt" are totally in shock when they realize what it takes to live decently and enjoy life with all that the LA area has to offer. Be sure to explore your options. Many large companies who move employees into and out of LA often will offer tax free loans for as much as 50% of the cost of a home in LA to the employee. No payment, no interest due. You repay the loan when you sell the house. Lot's of people who can get such a perk have made serious money as the LA Market seems to keep on spiraling upward. Even the crash of 2008 didn't knock the lofty prices down by much. The suburbs got murdered in price drops during the crash, but the LA West Side, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills barely noticed it happening. The over 3 million dollar but under five million dollar homes took a hit - but even then it wasn't anywhere the huge drops other areas endured. And by 2010 they were back to previous levels and have since gone way above their 2008 prices before the crash happened. If you can get an interest free loan for 40 or 50% and you don't buy way the hell over your head, you could stand to make a LOT of money over 3-5 years of owning in LA. Sorry to ramble but I've been through that mill 2-3 times moving in and out of LA. My duplex in Hancock Park area of LA (zip 90036) that I bought for 975k in 1997 is as of last sale a year ago, going for 2.7 million. Even in 2009 after the big "crash" it sold for 1.9 million then! Damn I wish I'd kept it and rented out both units. Back then it was possible to break even doing so. Today unless the house is more than 50% paid off, you can't break even on rent, taxes and overhead even at 4500 per month per unit! And that's about what they're renting for, today. Guess I've given you a bit to consider. Wish you luck - and at least you will know something of what it's really like to live there. And yes, it can be truly wonderful. But LA has quickly become one of those places like NYC where it's hard to justify the overhead unless you're bringing in the kind of income where you can truly afford the good, protect yourself and your family from the horrors that exist there, and take advantage of all it has to offer from museums, to theatre, to the film industry and more. Just know it does not come cheap and the weather is nice, but the threat of earthquakes and fires is never far from your reality when you live there. n
I mean, rightfully so that they get away from Nyc. I lived in nyc (queens) 8 years before moving to the burbs. I commuted into the city 2 hours every day packed like sardines, blech. I was tired of it and thought we’d so adore Long Island. It’s not what I thought.
I did consider Atlanta though I’ve never been. So you’d recommend all those places over LA. If so, how come?
Oh no, I am not suggesting the other cities are better than LA, just saying based on your criteria these cities can be on your list as well.
On Atlanta, it’s biggest strength compared to other cities is low housing cost. It is a racially diverse city more so than LA. You can probably afford there with just one of you employed. I lived in a nearby state previously so we drove in to shop & eat on weekends. It has the “Southern Charms”. I love the Southern style architecture on homes. It’s the South so humid but everything grow there. Lots of trees and if you like gardening you’ll have successes there. No need for sprinklers, God provides the rain. We mostly visited northern suburbs (from Duluth to Marietta) and they are well-planned communities with shops/ restaurants mixed in in different neighborhoods. Traffics can be bad during commuting hours on the road. Humidity is something you’ll need to get used to.
Washington DC is an exciting city! Many great neighborhoods from Maryland to Northern Virginia. Great schools, culturally diverse, and there’s always things to do. The metro gets you to most places, but like NYC, the commute could be a killer. We lived in Old Town, Alexandria on the Virginia side. Very nice racially diverse neighborhood. Driving to work in DC would only take 15 minuets *if* no traffics but during commuting hours it could take 45 ~ 60 minuets. I take the metro to work and it takes about 45 minuets and it’s packed like sardines.
LA/ OC can match your needs if you choose neighborhoods correctly. Someone say in LA/OC you drive 45 minutes to see a 2-block radius city, then you drive another 45 minuets to do the same. I think that’s pretty descriptive . The biggest draw here is the weather. There are culturally diverse cities, Long Beach comes to mind. But you could also end up in sleepy bedroom communities or enthic ghettos, just saying...
San Francisco/ San Jose/ the Bay Area are crazy expensive even if you rent. I know someone who’s paying $2,000 a month to live in a trailer park. That’s just for the trailer space rental. You’ll need to buy your own trailer.
Do you need both of you working in the new city? If so, then decide based on where both of you can find employment. Even better, have both job offers before you move.
Nightlife as in restaurants and bars and a scene. With kids or without. I’m not referring to nightclubs. If we did want a night out alone, I wouldn’t find a place in LI with more than 3 people at a dark dive bar.
I do know SM prices based on my research. I’m not set on living there. Just describing that’s where I’d love to always hang out or work if I can’t afford to live. There are other good school district places I’d love to consider like around The Grove near West Hollywood, Pasadena, Glendale, Silverlake. Are any of those great school districts and or neighborhoods?
People said the same thing about LI- that you could never find anything less than $500K. There aren’t 65 choices, but there are a few you could choose from and you jump on it. All you need it 1.
A lot of LA suburbs are like LI suburbs. If you are moving to LA for a specific lifestyle, I think you have to look at specific neighborhoods. I am not a local (I live in San Francisco), but we visit LA often and know the area. I also read this message board a lot.
The areas that fit your desired lifestyle - Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Venice, Hermiosa Beach. In OC, also look at Huntington Beach. I truly think that those have want you want - younger families, CA beach vibe, more relaxed culture, a lot of bars, and restaurants etc.
Of course, these places are also pretty expensive. You would have to give up a lot. You would likely have to live in a two bedroom apartment. You would have to stretch to get a 3 bedroom. Your savings rate will go down.
I think that if you move to Glendale, or Burbank, you will NOT have the life you are describing. You will basically fall into the suburban life you have now. I just plugged in the amount of time it will take you to get from Glendale to Venice Beach on a Saturady at 10 am - it says 40-55 mins.Realistically, you will not be doing that drive very often. You would basically live in a suburb where you might or might not know your neighbors, shop at big box stores etc. There is nothing wrong with that. I like that stuff. But it sounds like that's what you are looking to escape.
As an accountant, you could probably find something easily here. My friends work for Big 4 and they say they are always looking for qualified people. Your husband might have a harder time as a lot of these jobs are unions and connections. Although, I don't know if he belongs to a national union and how that works.
Anyway, you are doing the right thing asking all those questions. But yeah, I do think what you are looking for exists. However, it comes at a price and you will have to make sacrifices to get it. I wouldn't move to LA to live in Glendale based on your post.
Having lived in LI, and LA and NYC as well - if you have a school age children you'd better budget for Private Schools in LA. The LA Unified district is at it's best, mediocre. At worst, it's dangerous for the students and teachers. Bussing to insure "fairness" in the districts mean that the areas that pay the highest property taxes end up having their kids shipped off to distant (and sometimes in the ghetto) schools. The world famous area of LA called "Bel Air" is merely a neighborhood in LA and not a separate city of it's own. The houses in Bel Air start at about 3-4 million and go up rapidly. A 3 million dollar home is considered a "starter" home in that lofty area. (Zip code 90077). Parents living in Bel Air can afford the best private schools and almost all of them do so - out of necessity - because they are in the LA school district and the schools their kids would go to are often in unsafe areas their parents would be afraid to drive through at night! Many of the "underprivileged' kids can't read or write even by graduation from HS! However the public schools keep promoting them regardless of lack of competency in core subjects! The Catholic Schools in LA offer a decent option starting at about $7000 for grade school. The high end private schools will cost you 20-40 k per year, per child, depending on grade level, etc. Scholarships are available if you do not make the kind of money it takes to pay that lofty tuition. HOWEVER, a little known fact is that Many of the most costly and top rated private schools have 50% or more of their students receiving financial aid, ranging from a few thousand per year up to a full ride, including tuition, books, fees, after school activities, etc. Most of those top rated and costly private schools have HUGE endowments and trusts that are used in part to fund many students there on full (and I mean full) scholarship. But forget about public schools in LA unless you want to deal with drug addiction by 5th grade and pregnancies even sooner! The exception is the Beverly Hills School District which is its' own entity separate from LA school districts. Beverly Hills public schools are top rated among the national ratings for public schools. However you have the cost of renting or buying in one of the most costly areas in the entire nation to contend with. The "entry price" for a single family home in Beverly Hills - not up in the hills but in the "flats" of Beverly Hills, can now be approaching 2 million or more. Check zip codes 90211 or 90212. Forget about 90210 (thats the zip for Beverly Hills Proper and into the real hills) unless you have piles of cash for an immense downpayment and an income of half a million per year or more. A large condo in Beverly Hills can go for 1.9m and up. LA proper is somewhat cheaper but not by a lot if you want to live in LA itself and avoid a ghetto areas, too. If you're going to live in the city, then I assume you don't want a 90 minute commute to get home each day. For many that's their only option because they do not have the cash for a downpayment of over 20% of the homes sale price and many, even then cannot get a mortgage once the bank factors in taxes, insurance, and utilities. Friends of ours in LA have house payments of over $18,000 per month and they put 2 million down on a four million dollar home! Taxes are 1.30 percent of your most recent sale price per year. Insurance can be from .5 to 2 percent of the value of the house per year. LA is NOT CHEAP. Not by a long shot. And unless you can afford Beverly Hills, private schools are nearly a necessity, not an optional nicety. People selling a home in the NYC tri-state area can usually manage the move to LA and even buy another home there. Others, coming from far less pricey areas like Ohio or the "rust belt" are totally in shock when they realize what it takes to live decently and enjoy life with all that the LA area has to offer. Be sure to explore your options. Many large companies who move employees into and out of LA often will offer tax free loans for as much as 50% of the cost of a home in LA to the employee. No payment, no interest due. You repay the loan when you sell the house. Lot's of people who can get such a perk have made serious money as the LA Market seems to keep on spiraling upward. Even the crash of 2008 didn't knock the lofty prices down by much. The suburbs got murdered in price drops during the crash, but the LA West Side, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills barely noticed it happening. The over 3 million dollar but under five million dollar homes took a hit - but even then it wasn't anywhere the huge drops other areas endured. And by 2010 they were back to previous levels and have since gone way above their 2008 prices before the crash happened. If you can get an interest free loan for 40 or 50% and you don't buy way the hell over your head, you could stand to make a LOT of money over 3-5 years of owning in LA. Sorry to ramble but I've been through that mill 2-3 times moving in and out of LA. My duplex in Hancock Park area of LA (zip 90036) that I bought for 975k in 1997 is as of last sale a year ago, going for 2.7 million. Even in 2009 after the big "crash" it sold for 1.9 million then! Damn I wish I'd kept it and rented out both units. Back then it was possible to break even doing so. Today unless the house is more than 50% paid off, you can't break even on rent, taxes and overhead even at 4500 per month per unit! And that's about what they're renting for, today. Guess I've given you a bit to consider. Wish you luck - and at least you will know something of what it's really like to live there. And yes, it can be truly wonderful. But LA has quickly become one of those places like NYC where it's hard to justify the overhead unless you're bringing in the kind of income where you can truly afford the good, protect yourself and your family from the horrors that exist there, and take advantage of all it has to offer from museums, to theatre, to the film industry and more. Just know it does not come cheap and the weather is nice, but the threat of earthquakes and fires is never far from your reality when you live there. n
lol didn't read
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. The biggest draw here is the weather. There are culturally diverse cities, Long Beach comes to mind. But you could also end up in sleepy bedroom communities or enthic ghettos, just saying...
