Moving family to LA for job in Century City: schools, neighborhoods, commutes. Overwhelmed. (Los Angeles: rent, loan)

[1200RT]

Just to solidity a few things that have been said... I'd highly recommend one of the incorporated cities mentioned (CC, SM, etc). City of LA has some demons to work out, and while there are some beautiful areas surrounding century city i.e. Brentwood 90049, Westwood 90024 (albeit, probably slightly out of your budget), i'd still look elsewhere. We left SM for Pasadena a few years back.

[DKM]

Get ready to really adjust your idea of what 2 to 3 million should get you in a home. Of course you're overwhelmed, this is a huge metropolis, and Century City is right in the middle of the most expensive part of it.

I don't live down there but I wanted to give you the general advice of mapping out private schools into your budget so you can consider living in more areas with less than great schools. For example the south Sherman Oaks area north of Beverly Glen. People do commute down Beverly Glen or Benedict Canyon.

The lawyers I know who work in Century City mostly live in SaMo or Palisades. It can't be that bad of a drive or they wouldn't do it. But your budget won't go far in either. She should ask people at her firm...

[Social Democrat]

Great that you will be here in person to check out the different areas and drives. Hopefully restaurants will be open for outdoor dining at least so the trip isn't a total drag.
You might want to check out Century City adjacent Chevoit Hills in addition to the other areas while you're cruising around. Live close to the office and your wife could ride a motorcycle or scooter to the office - take advantage of the great weather!

[DrPangloss]

Thank you all for your thoughts!

I'm choosing to think it will be solvable, at least more so than not. We have the luxury of patience, since our house here has already sold and we were able to set a flexible closing date.

With Private Schools, how do many get their kids to/fro?

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by DrPangloss

With Private Schools, how do many get their kids to/fro?

Hopefully you can find a carpool.

[1200RT]

Originally Posted by DrPangloss

Thank you all for your thoughts!

I'm choosing to think it will be solvable, at least more so than not. We have the luxury of patience, since our house here has already sold and we were able to set a flexible closing date.

With Private Schools, how do many get their kids to/fro?

Nanny, Au pair, stay at home parent...

[Cloudwalker]

Crossroads and New Roads are very close to Expo Line and bus stops. Some schools like Milken at the Skirball Center have a van pool with stops in the westside. Quite a few kids get to Pali High by bus, either through the schools own bus services, Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, or Metro, the LA bus (there's one that runs from Westwood along Sunset).

[DrPangloss]

Originally Posted by 1200RT

Nanny, Au pair, stay at home parent...

Maybe I can take my middle schooler to whatever school I end up teaching at. That would be convenient!

[Grune D]

There will be joy, plenty of restaurants open and nearly back to normal.
Good luck on your search. You should be able to find something in the $3M range with no issues you just need a good realtor that can point you in the right direction.

Originally Posted by DrPangloss

This has been super helpful! I really do appreciate it. I've spoken with some PFLAG groups for advice with my LGBTQ+ child and -- honestly -- people in general have been generous with their time and insight.

My wife and I plan to spend a joyless week in LA at the end of March driving everywhere -- while not being able to enjoy any of the food and places because of COVID -- in order to get a better sense of distance and time. We recognize that drives will be skewed with less traffic, but it is better than having no idea at all. Our plan is to stay near century city so that we can effectively use it as a jumping off/return point on drives.

@cloudwalker: One kid will be entering 6th grade, one will be entering 9th, and the third will be off to college (this kid could not handle us moving cross-country and not having space for her for summers and breaks - we might multipurpose her room while she's away. a 3 bedroom house + a studio ADU would be amazing). South Bay to me means Manhattan Beach to Redondo. On balance it seems that Palisades would be a better commute (not great) and houses are comparable between Manhattan Beach and Palisades. But I'm still new to the search.

@socialdemocrat: there's another BH house in the better district that looks like it'd be perfect for a "not super nice for people form the midwest please call us the Walshes" vibe! I'll try to find the link. Yours is way better but the high school looks meh.

[DrPangloss]

Originally Posted by Grune D

There will be joy, plenty of restaurants open and nearly back to normal.
Good luck on your search. You should be able to find something in the $3M range with no issues you just need a good realtor that can point you in the right direction.

Thank you!

I've already seen (online, so I take it for what it is worth) some nice places that fit our range. The realtors I've spoken with don't seem to have much info beyond what I can glean myself from zillow/redfin. Is there any sort of pre-MLS listing service in CA? Here they call it the "Top Agent Network" or some such silliness. However, that network got our house here sold in a weekend with competing bids.