Will this be enough to get me an apartment? (Compton: rental car, rental)

[motoman]

Originally Posted by OptimisticStudent

Wow. Yeah i heard about the 3x the rent for income thing. I just didn't know they were so strict on all the other stuff. I mean I'm not looking to move into a glorious apartment. I just want a starter apartment...just a studio or even a bachelor. I just really hope i can find a place that doesn't require a co-signer because I have NO ONE to sign for me. There's got to be some landlords they are more lenient out there right?

Paula, have you ever taken a good faith from someone if they didn't have a co-signer? I will have a job out there by the time I get there, but i wouldn't have been with them for a year, so is that co-signer a MUST or can it be overlooked?

I don't know how much you'll be making, but just remember that if you get a $1,000 apartment (which is basically a studio, one room, in a lot of places) you'll need to make $36,000 per year. So you'll need to be making at least $17 per hour and working 40 hours per week, with no vacations.

Just trying to put it into perspective for you.

You'll most likely need a roommate. I would say most people in LA have at least one roommate. It's the only way a lot of, I would say most, people can afford to live here.

[OptimisticStudent]

But how can that be. When i was in LA i knew alot of people that lived on their own in 1 bedroom/studio apartments. And they worked and also went to school. I did know some people that also had roommates...but there's got to be an apartment that's cheaper than that that i would be able to afford. I don't mind getting two jobs, that's fine, but i just can't stand roommates..i always had my own stuff growing up, even though i had a brother and two sisters, and that's just how i am...i don't like other people touching my stuff. If i got a roommate, we would DEFINITELY have to have two bathrooms...yuck!

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by OptimisticStudent

If i got a roommate, we would DEFINITELY have to have two bathrooms...yuck!

Boy have you got a culture shock coming to you or what! Fat chance of finding that, unless if you're looking at a brand new or very modern apartment with sky high rents. Two bedroom apartments in LA are usually 1 bathroom. Another thing too-- in many areas if you are fortunate enough to have a parking spot, it may be what they call "tandem parking," where somebody's car gets blocked and you may have to swap keys to move their car everytime you want to take your car (and vice versa). I've even seen triple tandem parking. And most apartments in LA are old, ugly, dingy looking buildings. Some have been "rennovated" on the inside, but a lot of times those are token rennovations so they can say a place has "granite countertops" or something and jack up the rent. If living in a nice, modern, affordable apartment with easy parking is a priority for you, I would suggest living in Phoenix. You can live in a palace there for less than half the cost of living in an ugly box in LA.

[JonathanLB]

Yeah I don't blame you. I understand what you are saying, just in case anyone else doesn't get it. I have never had a roommate either. When I went on some college tours, I told my parents I will not do the dorm thing, no way, no how. I saw those dorms -- I saw how hard it was to study with kids running all over, playing loud music, playing video games, it was like a party. And I don't work well at libraries either, I need a comfortable atmosphere to do lots of work. Everyone assumes that must mean I was trying to be spoiled and spend more money, but actually I saved money throughout college by NOT living in dorms! At LMU here in Los Angeles, where I started, I got a room in a lady's house for $500/month. It wasn't the greatest situation, and yeah I still had to be in someone else's house, but this was a 50-something lady, very quiet and a good environment, and I had my own room at least. Dorms were at least $650/month, for way less space than I had, total ripoff, so I saved money. Then when I transferred to Oregon State University, I was in a quad the first year sharing a kitchen and bathroom but at least I had my own room, $250/month, way cheaper than dorms. Still that isn't the same as "having your own place," so that was hard for me, very hard in fact. We had some roommate issues there because, yeah, we had our own apartment rooms, but we shared the common area and I only knew 1 of my quadmates, my good friend. One of the others had serious anger management issues, and this is an example of why roommates are a bad idea. The guy would play heavy metal at 2 in the morning, even later sometimes, while the rest of us were trying to sleep or study, and when we knocked on his door and politely asked if he could turn it down, he told us F*** YOU and kept playing, and slammed the door in our faces. We complained time and again to management, who were cheap, and they said they had "no complaints" with him in the 7 years he had been there (a total loser, worked odd jobs and wasn't even a student like almost everyone there was). I'm sure that wasn't true, because he was a constant problem and that was one of the only free quads, I mean 3/4 free. So we were talking about the issue one day, my friend and I, in his room with the door mostly shut but not completely. Somehow, he heard us talking about him, he stormed into the room without asking, got in my face and said, "Are you trying to get me kicked out?" I said, "We're just trying to find a way to live here that works for us all, and you don't seem to honor our polite requests to keep the noise down," so then he asked if I wanted to go outside and fight. I said, no, I don't. I don't care to fight you, there's no reason for that. He kept asking and moving around like a spaz, then finally went into his room and slammed the door. After that threat of violence, and we had filed a police report against him before, we told management either he goes or all three of us go, and we won't honor our lease agreements, we will take him to court because now we've been threatened with violence and that's no way to live. The management gave him 30 days notice and he was gone. Prime example of why roommates of ANY kind can be bad.

Then after that I got my own place off campus, $600/month, still cheaper than the new dorms, which my friend was in on STUDENT LOANS (really stupid), they were like $750/month for brand-new dorms. So the whole way I was saving money by at least having my own room.

A roommate situation where it's a two bedroom and you each have a bedroom, that's not horrible. It's not ideal, it's pretty annoying still if you share a living room and kitchen because you're going to have all sorts of issues with that, but that's at least tolerable. My issue is, and people may disagree with me, but I think life is not worth living or you're REALLY doing something wrong if you don't have ONE ROOM in the entire world to call your own. You need, as a person, to have one room where nobody else can come in there, and it's just for you. If you don't even have that, what a miserable existence.

I personally have a lot higher standards now for optimal functioning and it's not that I need some huge, luxurious place. I could live in a 400 sq. foot apartment, but I must have: 1) Perfectly temperature controlled area, 2) Quiet, 3) Safe. That's one reason I'm glad I have a condo because I just couldn't do the apartment living thing anymore. In college I made do because I drove home every weekend anyway, so I had low expectations during the week -- I slept when I could, I went to class, and I did homework. Nothing besides. Not any parties or fun, so I could do the whole living-like-a-monk thing. Now, I can't do that. My condo has two feet of concrete between me and my neighbors, on any side -- I can't hear them, and they can't hear me. I don't have to turn my volume down on my TV because it's 3 a.m. I also don't have most people's sleep schedules, I'm self-employed, I sleep from 3 or 4 a.m. to noon or so. I need to be able to have a quiet place to sleep when my body likes to sleep, which isn't midnight to 8 a.m. or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. or something, I am not a morning person. It also needs to be dark. And of course temperature is a big thing. Maybe some people aren't as sensitive to that apparently, but when I go to friends' apartments, I don't know how they live there. It'll be like 76 or something in their places constantly. I can't tolerate that. I need to be able to have it be a perfect room temperature, and at night I want it 67 or so, dark, and quiet. I can't get ideal rest without those three conditions. A roommate sometimes ruins the "quiet" issue there.

[motoman]

Originally Posted by OptimisticStudent

But how can that be. When i was in LA i knew alot of people that lived on their own in 1 bedroom/studio apartments. And they worked and also went to school. I did know some people that also had roommates...but there's got to be an apartment that's cheaper than that that i would be able to afford. I don't mind getting two jobs, that's fine, but i just can't stand roommates..i always had my own stuff growing up, even though i had a brother and two sisters, and that's just how i am...i don't like other people touching my stuff. If i got a roommate, we would DEFINITELY have to have two bathrooms...yuck!

Yes, you can find cheap apartments, but they may not be where you want to live. I live in West LA, near Santa Monica. In my building, a studio, which is one room, 300-400 sq. ft. (very small) and I think they are charging $800-$900 per month. A one bedroom is $1,295. A two-bedroom one bath is $1,795.

Some friends of my girlfriend just rented a two-bedroom place a few blocks from me in a newer building and they are paying over $2,000 per month. Some other friends of hers rented a 4-bedroom place two blocks from me for $4,000 per month. Yes, even with 4 people it's still $1,000 per month.

An ex-girlfriend of mine rents a room from a couple in a not so good area for, I think, $500 per month.

You can find "cheaper" places, but probably not as cheap as you are thinking.

It also depends on where you want to live.

[Hungry For Cheese]

Sucks...if I can't survive here...I know you won't...unless you make $20/hr. Good luck with that.

[ebuch]

Originally Posted by motoman

Yes, you can find cheap apartments, but they may not be where you want to live. I live in West LA, near Santa Monica. In my building, a studio, which is one room, 300-400 sq. ft. (very small) and I think they are charging $800-$900 per month. A one bedroom is $1,295. A two-bedroom one bath is $1,795.

Some friends of my girlfriend just rented a two-bedroom place a few blocks from me in a newer building and they are paying over $2,000 per month. Some other friends of hers rented a 4-bedroom place two blocks from me for $4,000 per month. Yes, even with 4 people it's still $1,000 per month.

An ex-girlfriend of mine rents a room from a couple in a not so good area for, I think, $500 per month.

You can find "cheaper" places, but probably not as cheap as you are thinking.

It also depends on where you want to live.

What apartments do you recommend near your area? A couple people have recommended me looking at the Santa Monica area. Planning that I get hired and move out to LA I can afford anywhere from 1000-2000 a month.

[XodoX]

That is so why I like West Hollywood. Rent control is just awesome

[firetraq]

Originally Posted by Hungry For Cheese

Sucks...if I can't survive here...I know you won't...unless you make $20/hr. Good luck with that.

is $24 n hour supposed to be a good wage?

and jonathanLB you really have issues haha.

[KnoxTown]

Originally Posted by firetraq

is $24 n hour supposed to be a good wage?

and jonathanLB you really have issues haha.