How do poor people..."survive "from LA's high mortgage payments/rents..? (health insurance, unemployed)

[matpa]

I'm moving with 2 roommates and we would like to find a 3br since we are all 25-26 year old. It doesn't have to be anything huge/fancy at all. We'd like to spend ~1800-2k if it's possible. We are looking all over LA, and aren't too concerned about where as long as it's not ghetto and has access to a lot of things.

Possible?

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by matpa

I'm moving with 2 roommates and we would like to find a 3br since we are all 25-26 year old. It doesn't have to be anything huge/fancy at all. We'd like to spend ~1800-2k if it's possible. We are looking all over LA, and aren't too concerned about where as long as it's not ghetto and has access to a lot of things.

Possible?

A 3 br for 2k a month? I don't know where you'll find that. Could be pretty ghetto. I see 2 br for 2k a month, but they're usually in places like Hollywood, Culver City, Mar Vista, the valley..which are good places, but you won't find a 3 br for that much there. likely your best bet is a 2 br and someone sleeps on the couch or shares a room

To put it in perspective and my 2 cents on this thread, I'm paying about 2k a month for a 1 br 1 bath (Somewhere around Weho or miracle mile in a popular area). That's about the going rate in the fun parts of town like West Hollywood , Miracle Mile, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Westwood. It's really gone out of control, I'm seeing studios going for 1800-2000 a month now in parts of Santa Monica and Brentwood. You'll see these seemingly amazing deals on Craigslist (like a 1 br for 1100 a month in weho) but take a closer look at those places and they're complete dumps with spotty management. You do get what you pay for.

The other option I see many young/poor people do is rent rooms. A few lucky people can rent rooms in fairly desirable areas for as little as 500 a month. Sometimes chores are expected, and you may have to deal with crazy older landlords.

Housing is extremely expensive here and people's perceptions are way off (read the housing wanted and budgets people offer on craigslist). There are deals out there but you have to look hard and often have to compromise.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by matpa

I'm moving with 2 roommates and we would like to find a 3br since we are all 25-26 year old. It doesn't have to be anything huge/fancy at all. We'd like to spend ~1800-2k if it's possible. We are looking all over LA, and aren't too concerned about where as long as it's not ghetto and has access to a lot of things.

Possible?

You can easily find something like that in SE LA County/Western OC. The average price I see for 3 bedroom apts in Los Alamitos is around 1700-1800. Walkable neighborhood, right next to Long Beach, etc. You can probably find similar deals near Cal State Long Beach

[808n310]

Originally Posted by matpa

I'm moving with 2 roommates and we would like to find a 3br since we are all 25-26 year old. It doesn't have to be anything huge/fancy at all. We'd like to spend ~1800-2k if it's possible. We are looking all over LA, and aren't too concerned about where as long as it's not ghetto and has access to a lot of things.

Possible?

If you're looking for more West LA-ish, you'll probably be in Palms or the less fun parts of Culver City...

Koreatown is also less pricey than say Miracle Mile or DT, and has ez access to stuff.

If you add the SFV there are tons of options in decent areas...my cousin is in a decent (clean, updated) 3br / 2ba apt in Northridge for about $1800 / mo in a 'managed' community of about 200 units...

[matpa]

Originally Posted by 808n310

If you're looking for more West LA-ish, you'll probably be in Palms or the less fun parts of Culver City...

Koreatown is also less pricey than say Miracle Mile or DT, and has ez access to stuff.

If you add the SFV there are tons of options in decent areas...my cousin is in a decent (clean, updated) 3br / 2ba apt in Northridge for about $1800 / mo in a 'managed' community of about 200 units...

Some areas that have been recommended to us are Long Beach and Culver City area so far. Is craigslist really that far off from reality? Because there seems to be a good amount of what appears to be legitimate listings in that range.

[bhcompy]

You'll find plenty available, but you won't find most of it in good areas. That's the thing. You don't want to pick blindly in LA. You want to get to know everything first.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I read this thread and am interested in understanding what someone considers a low, moderate, or high wage. I am sure all of us would have differant ideas. Not sure why anyone would have the idea that they are going to have a low income job and still have the idea of living in a high rent place or get upset about not being able to afford a high rent place on a low income. When you find out that the individual may be from a place that it was possible to do just that it is baffling. I wouldn't move to Malibu when I know that I can't swing the rent their. Why would someone move to LA and expect to move into a large home when they don't have the scratch to make it happen?

Pay in this area starts at a minumum wage of $8.50 an hour. You can work at In & Out for $10 an hour. You could also show up with an education and maybe some kind of career path. I am assuming that their is a reason to move to LA. Hopefully it is not to complain about how the residents are able to make it but more so because you have a job here. If you did your homework you would realize that to accept that job you need to make 3 X the monthly rent. So if you can find a place that cost $1,500 a month then you need to be making $4,500 a month, or $54,000 a year. That is gross pay. Why move here if you don't pull that off now?

Another thing about many LA area homes. Many don't have a need for AC or even Heat. So you have to pay $2,000 rent for a place but your water, trash, sewer, electricity, and gas are $120 a month. You could always move to Phoenix and rent a place for $1,000 and pay $500 a month to cool it. Oh and make less money. You would have cheaper rent though.

[Those Who Squirm]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Which most people in LA aren't.

How are you defining "professional"?

It's certainly not that tough to live here if you are content to rent. Obviously, the employment situation is miserable right now, but OTOH there are lots of vacancies, and rents have been going down.

Nearly every apartment building on my street has had a "For Rent" sign out in front, for at least six months.

[808n310]

Originally Posted by matpa

Some areas that have been recommended to us are Long Beach and Culver City area so far. Is craigslist really that far off from reality? Because there seems to be a good amount of what appears to be legitimate listings in that range.

There are tons of places out there, you just have to do the legwork and check it out in person. A lot of the listings in areas like Culver City, Palms, etc are going to be walk-up type apartments in small buildings of 10 or so units....so it's a very case by case basis.

Just figure out where you and your roomies want to spend the most time and go from there. If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Just have reasonable expectations, go see a bunch of units, and you'll have a good idea of what's out there for the money...

[SlowMotionApocalypse]

I work 32 hours a week at the low end (that's about all I can psychologically handle, when the day comes I can't make do on that, I will have to leave the area or just give up). I rent a room. A nice big room in a nice area. I totally lucked out to the point I don't really feel bad about having to abandon my own apartment when it got too expensive. But it's another old dump building.

I don't have a car. I don't have a health insurance. But I am pretty screwed if I ever get sick. Or even when I am forced at gunpoint to buy health insurance I can't afford. I AM going to have to go to a dentist at some point this year but not sure how I am going to have to pull it off.

I don't date. Haven't had a girlfriend in 20 years.

I DO go to a lot of concerts and club gigs, but not movies, cable tv or anything else that could be considered entertainment. This is actually some sort of compulsion but in the odd event a few times a year I find myself holding tickets to something that is suddenly in high demand, I do re-evaluate how bad I want to go to that particular show... It pays for a good chunk of my annual entertainment budget.

I also know some chicks who aren't even real hookers/escorts but might turn the odd trick here and there around the first of the month.

As far as other poor people... I know someone who lives in a converted garage with plumbing rented off a friend of the family and also recently abandoned a vehicle (and says he will never drive again) after getting caught driving without a license and insurance. Also currently unemployed and possibly unemployable, we will what happens when the checks stop coming in.

Another friend, who has never been gainfully employed and now in his early 50's was briefly living in a Ford Bronco he bought for cheap off a desperate tweaker when he lost his apartment but found a 90 something woman he met in line at the food bank, he moved in with her and is now her caretaker.

My roommate, who is probably poorer than me, just does extra work and odd jobs also recently abandoned his car when it got too costly to maintain and probably won't be able to get another one for awhile.