Apartment search - Hill crest versus ocean beach?

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

There is no such "policy" in California (or any state). Landlords have the right to decide who to rent to, and different landlords use different standards. But to even suggest that ALL landlords in California (or San Diego) require income equivalent to three times rent is absurd.

Also, if you were a landlord, you would definitely judge people based on their income. No landlord wants to rent to someone who can't pay the bills.

There is a difference between "judging" and "qualifying". Sure low income people may not qualify but that doesn't mean they are bad people. I wouldn't judge anyone based on their income. I would judge someone based on their character and how they treat other people. Good thing.. I am not a land lord.

[theoaks]

Originally Posted by Opt_10

There is a difference between "judging" and "qualifying". Sure low income people may not qualify but that doesn't mean they are bad people. I wouldn't judge anyone based on their income. I would judge someone based on their character and how they treat other people. Good thing.. I am not a land lord.

Go up to Show Low, AZ in the mountains and one of the apartments (name witheld) has various requirements such as income and credit. However, if they are not met, then they just ask for a higher deposit. That's typical for the Rocky Mountain West. Oro Valley AZ near Tucson there's a company that will rent to you if you have six months in the bank. Their rents, are $750 a month, so that's not really that much.

San Diego seems to be another story as does most of California. Yes, Opt_10, I would judge by their character, references, and I'd have to check the criminal report for sex offender status, etc. I wouldn't do a credit report since there are so many ways to interpret them. You could have a 700+ score (like with Crown management, above), yet still have lots of late payments.

Or, like me, you could have a score of 630, and absolutely no late payments, because I continue to apply for all Credit Cards that give me cash back on all purchases. As a result I've received hundreds of dollars (maybe even more) over the years. Every time you apply for a credit card, it puts an inquiry on your report, which keeps the score low.

A good landlord will see that I make my payments on time, and also earn money from my credit cards. I carry no cash, since every transaction with a credit card gives me 1% to 3% back.

I have no plans to purchase either a car or get a car loan, I work on my own car and know the top mechanics in Murrieta, Scottsdale, and Flagstaff, who give me great repair rates, so I don't have to worry about having low credit - at least not in AZ, NV. Of course, not everyone is in the situation that I describe, and if you don't have a score that's appropriate I'm very sorry about your circumstances and I wish that property managers had to be Licensed Realtors. In that case, they would know how to interpret a credit report.

[theoaks]

Originally Posted by sdsurfista

it is really just that pocket of OB, it is the worst in terms of homelessness in all of San Diego. Carlsbad is much much better.. Another weird thing going on is lots of H1B immigrant workers jammed in hotel rooms but that's for another thread lol.

There's little open space there, too, it's not the best neighborhood for me except places like that are more open to non-conformists like me compared to North County!

[Liz_7]

Originally Posted by sdsurfista

it is really just that pocket of OB, it is the worst in terms of homelessness in all of San Diego. Carlsbad is much much better.

No, downtown is the worst in terms of homelessness in all of San Diego. You see homeless people in OB, but downtown you see TENTS and multiple people sleeping ON the sidewalk. There are no homeless tents in OB and you'll rarely see people sleeping on the sidewalk.

Carlsbad is a separate city, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to compare it directly to SD in terms of homelessness unless your sole purpose is to avoid the homeless altogether. There are plenty of places in SD county that are not Carlsbad that have a better homelessness situation than OB or downtown.

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by Liz_7

No, downtown is the worst in terms of homelessness in all of San Diego. You see homeless people in OB, but downtown you see TENTS and multiple people sleeping ON the sidewalk. There are no homeless tents in OB and you'll rarely see people sleeping on the sidewalk.

Carlsbad is a separate city, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to compare it directly to SD in terms of homelessness unless your sole purpose is to avoid the homeless altogether. There are plenty of places in SD county that are not Carlsbad that have a better homelessness situation than OB or downtown.

Good to know. I guess downtown isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

[moved]

Yeah, I think you would get scared if you lived downtown.

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by moved

Yeah, I think you would get scared if you lived downtown.

Lol. No. I am not scared of anything. These replies are entertaining though.

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by Opt_10

I am well of financially although I don't want to spend my hard earned money on a rent rip off.

What exactly is a scam? Some one will advertise an apartment, make you sign the lease, pay the security deposit and they don't have a legitimate apartment? Wouldn't the police arrest such scammers? I can't imagine some one preparing a fake lease. Does this really happen? That would be crazy or are people being paranoid? Is scamming just stealing your bank info? I can't put my finger on why so many posters are brining up scam issue. Is it specific to certain neighborhoods?

I for one will not give my financial and credit card info to anyone that easily. So, what's the scare really?

I once had a stream of excited people showing up at my house out of the blue because it had been listed on Craigslist at a rental rate less than half what I could have rented it for if that's what I was doing, but I wasn't. After my spouse and I had turned away a stream of deeply disappointed people who'd thought they had a shot at a family-sized house in a great neighborhood near good schools for a low price, some of whom became quite agitated and argumentative because they didn't believe us when we told them our house wasn't for rent, we put a note on our door explaining the scam and asking that no one knock on our door.

I looked up the ad on Craigslist and there was my house, looking like a very legit ad. The scammers had lifted professional photos of the outside and inside of the house from Zillow, where they'd been placed by the previous owners before we bought the place. I then called the police and I reported it to Craigslist.

Another time some people I knew were about to rent a place site unseen but I found out in the nick of time and told them there was no home at the address the ad listed. They'd been given excuses why the owners couldn't show a local friend the house in advance (they were out of the country doing volunteer work for the needy or something, which is a common story used in these scams). If they'd sent the money to rent the place, they would never have seen their money again and they would have been left with no rental waiting for them. The bottom line is, no legit management or property-owner expects people to send them money without having seen a place first, and there are scammers galore out there.

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

But to even suggest that ALL landlords in California (or San Diego) require income equivalent to three times rent is absurd.

No, but many do. I know that because I am looking to move to one of two communities (one of which is San Diego) and most of the available rentals I've looked at in the first city require 2.5 to 3.5 times the rent, and I've just started looking in San Diego and I've seen a lot of listings that state the same requirements. I think more than twice the rent or higher is ludicrous given how a percentage of income people have to pay for housing these days. This sort of formula really discriminates against people who earn less but can still pay their rent.