kikihack

Just as we finally bought a place outside NYC, word has come down that a great opportunity exists for my husband in his company's L.A. office. I am tired of the hustle and bustle of NYC and the cold, so I welcome the change, but have no idea where to begin to look for housing. Since we own now, we will probably rent out our place here and find something to rent in L.A. to make sure we want to stay. We would like to stay within $2000 for a 2 br and within an hour's drive in rush hour to Westwood, where my husband's office is. We would love a little house, townhouse, or lowrise apartment with a yard or balcony. Since we are coming from a busy city, we would prefer a more relaxed, less city-ish environment. Does anyone have any ideas? How does one go about looking for a rental in L.A.? In NYC, an apartment search is a nightmare-- and you generally need to pay a broker 15% of your first year's rent to secure a place (which for a $2000 place is $3600)-- is it the same in L.A.? Thanks for the help!!

Patrick

I have no specific help for you, but I get the impression you aren't very familiar with LA and the various neighborhoods and cities. My suggestion is the first thing you do is rent an "executive housing" type apartment for at least one or two months. You would be foolish, in my opinion to move into a place with a lease without having first tested the waters, learned the driving complications and distances to work, and found what areas appealed to you. Trying to make a decision of where you want to live CANNOT intelligently be done long distance!

jtankers

I would recommend checking out Santa Monica, Venice, and perhaps Palms, Mar Vista, Culver City- all of which are less than 30 minutes drive (5-10 miles) into Westwood. Also, a little further away are the areas are the more southern beach areas, like Redondo, which are quite nice. Westwood itself has some nice areas, if you can find an apartment on the east side (the non-UCLA side). I lived in Westwood and Palms for four years and commuted into Westwood, and have seen many great neighborhoods where apartments rent within your price range- townhouses are more expensive, but can be found with some work. I would recommend finding an apartment in Palms or Culver City with a month-to-month lease, then branching out and exploring the west side in general so that you can decide on your ideal neighborhood at your leisure. Beware traffic, though- even living 15 miles away can spell an awful commute! Hope this helps a little bit (unfortunately, I'm biased towards the coast, so I won't offer any input as to neighborhoods further inland!).

jtankers

Also, a PS to my previous post- we've had good luck finding apartments through management agencies (they charge the apartment owner, so the service is free) that are easy to find using internet resources once you've narrowed down a neighborhood. We've also found some fabulous apartments by merely cruising through the neighborhoods and calling about the "for rent" signs- apartments in LA are easy to find, and you shouldn't have to pay a broker.

tracys2cents

If you can visit LA in the summer, you can probably find a rental for a couple of months while UCLA is on summer break - a sublet. Subscribe to the UCLA Bruin newspaper.

Check out yournorthvillage.org for info on the neighborhood surrounding Westwood.

As for an area to live in, Pacific Palisades might be an idea.

kikihack

Thanks for all the messages thus far. While a temporary executive move makes sense, given that I seem to be moving every year for the last ten years, I don't think I can take anymore moving around, especially with the stuff I have recently acquired for what I thought was going to be a long term home. Glad to hear the L.A. rental market is not as severe as NYC. We would definitely take some trips out there to check out the different areas. I am more looking for ideas on what areas would best suit us-- after living in Manhattan for 7 years in a cramped overpriced, unrenovated apartment, I think space would be key (800-1000 sq feet is enormous to my mindset) and clean air and uncongested living (I presume that notwithstanding L.A.'s "smog" reputation, L.A. still could not be as polluted as NYC). I am also interested in living near great farmer's markets or groceries with organic produce as I love to cook-- I am hoping this will be easier to find in L.A. with all the health consciouness. Thanks again for all your comments and especially if anyone has made a similar move and their experience.

hsv

If you don't want to be within city limits, you might want to take a look at the area around Simi Valley, Canoga Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village To the West and Malibu to the South West. I don't know if you'll be able to find anything within that price range, but it should be within that time frame you desire for the daily commute to the office.
Pasadena to the East is a bit more citylike but extremely beautiful, though might pose a problem during rush hour.
Take a look at www.coldwellbanker.com e.g. to get a first impression on what's available.

fdecarlo

kiki: You're not planning to rent forever, are you? I don't quite follow your logic against executive housing. Patrick's advice is exactly right -- neighborhoods, even within the same city vary G-R-E-A-T-L-Y in the L.A. area, especially on the west side. No one can tell you, for example, that Santa Monica is a good place to live, because there are both very good and very bad parts of that city. The same is true for most cities in L.A. with few exceptions.

If at all possible you should live somwhere temporarily for a month or two, to give yourself a chance to become aquainted with the area, and properly search for properties in good neighborhoods.

rjw_lgb_ca

fdecarlo brings up an excellent point. You really do need to come experience the city and learn a bit more about the neighborhoods and separate municipalities within the LA metro area. Santa Monica has great areas, some not-so-great areas, and all pretty expensive. If you know where to look, neighborhoods such as Mar Vista and Palms are good options; but some parts of these areas are kinda, shall we say, transitional. Brentwood is adjacent to Westwood (which itself has lovely residential neighborhoods), but it's pricey. The closer you get to the ocean, the more you'll pay and the less you'll get.

Don't rule out Beverly Hills and West Hollywood; there are relatively reasonably-priced areas there, but you do have to know where you're looking (especially in WH).

You could look into the South Bay, although your commute starts getting a bit longer. People love Manhattan Beach, but I'm ambivalent (too pricey for me). I prefer Hermosa Beach, actually. Laid-back attitude, young inhabitants.

I moved to Long Beach to be able to afford a place close to the ocean. I'm glad I did (I live in a great part of the LBC), but I drive an hour to my job in Santa Monica, and you have to choose your real estate very carefully in LB (some parts are truly rough, to be frank). It's all about how much you're willing to compromise.

If I had to suggest where to get some short-term housing, I'd say get a month-to-month in Brentwood, drive around and get oriented in the city, and then find a good realtor with Westside expertise. Others are steering you north, and that could work quite well for you. I really only know of the Westside and parts south, FYI.

But another important thing: LA is completely and totally different from NYC, and from the start you will have to accept and embrace that fact in order to be happy here. One does run into a number of disgruntled ex-New Yorkers complaining about the lack of good delis (not completely true), the awful mass transit (that one's true), etc. But I'll take the trade-off to have the sun, the fun and the fresh produce year-round. Best of luck to you, and welcome to California in advance!

lyb

>>you might want to take a look at the area around Simi Valley, Canoga Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village <<

DO NOT move to these areas if you don't want smog!!! If you truly want an area that will have as little smog as possible, stay on the Westside, Santa Monica, West L.A., Palms, Culver City, etc.....What you'll get there in the summer, is fog. Also, I believe that Santa Monica does have a Farmer's Market, though I wouldn't swear to it.

rjw_lgb_ca

lyb: Practically every city in the LA metro area has a farmer's market, but the Santa Monica Farmer's Market is the most famous (and not just because that old geezer drove his car through last summer and killed and maimed dozens-- including a friend of mine). It's going on today, in fact (as well as Saturday) right outside my office building. The best produce, most of it harvested yesterday, sold directly by the growers. The first hour finds buyers from practically every Westside restaurant purchasing tonight's fruits and vegetables....

lyb

rjw_lgb_ca,

I hadn't thought about the older man who ran into the farmer's market, I just remembered it from when I lived in Santa Monica while I was growing up, but since I've been away for 15 years...things do change.

Sorry to hear about your friend, I remember seeing the news about that awful accident. It was scary and sad to see.

rjw_lgb_ca

lyb: It was quite frightening for everyone-- I was, oddly enough, at DFW when the news broke on CNN and I was on the cell immediately (had I been in SM I might have been right in the thick of it). My friend was very seriously injured, but she's made a full recovery, thankfully.

But the Farmer's Market soldiers on. No one will keep us down! And they put them on all over the area. There's a big one down in Venice on Friday, a couple in Long Beach, the San Luis Obispo one, etc. Growers do very well with these direct sales efforts.

bossymom

You didn't mention if you had children, or plan to but school district is a big deal in the metro area. If you are looking for a great suburbean neighborhood very, very quiet, great schools, beautiful parks, nature trails, low crime, minutes to beaches try Oak Park you can check it out at www.oakparkupdate.com

Surfergirl

There's loads of places in Westwood and Beverly Hills, as well as West L.A. (all close to Westwood or in Westwood) to live. In Beverly Hills, you'll probably be on Olympic, but there's loads of really wonderful older (i.e. big bedrooms!) in four-plexes and the like that have real charm.

Westwood Village has a farmer's market every Thursday from about noon to 4 p.m. or, of course, Santa Monica.

Alisa

Hi,

First of all, if your hubby is working in Westwood, DO NOT move to Simi Valley, Westlake or any of those areas mentioned-particularly if you are renting. Your commute will be horrendous.

For $2000/month you will be able to find something nearer to Westwood.

First, the best rental site is westsiderentals.com. You pay $50 and get to search online, that will give you an idea of prices and types of apartments. No, I do not work for them.

Areas around Westwood

West: Brentwood is close by, fairly pricey but nearby restaurants on San Vincente Blvd. Crappy street parking. Some really nice aprtments and some older crappy ones. Generally a nicer and safe area. You would want to look North of Wilshire Blvd and West of the National Cemetary. The area below Wilshire gets a bit shady until you move farther West to Santa Monica.

Santa Monica is further West to the beach. Generally hip area--hipper North of Wislhire and mopre expensive. But lots of restaurants and shops. Clos to the beach if you want to get in to roller blading or biking. Usually more expensive--getting a house of really nice townhouse is unlikely for $2000. But a fun place for you to live while you get used to the area.

Other areas like Venice and Marina Del Ray have their shady spots, so if you look, check the area.

East: You get into the Century City/Beverly Hills/Rancho Park-great area and actually some affordable apartments. A bit quiter than Santa Monica. Look at Pico x La Cienega x Wilshire x Overland. Outer areas are not as nice.

Further along you get to West Hollywood into Hollywood. Some nice areas with a more "city" feel (althoughnot like NYC). Some shady areas but it can not hurt to look around. Bad freeway access, though. Follow Santa Monica Blvd from the ocean on your map and you will see West Hollywood. BTW, this is our gay area--great place to live, lots of shops and bars and restaurants.

Alisa

Cont:

South: If you follow Westwood Blvd a few miles away from UCLA you will get to Palms. Think Robertson x Venice x Sepulveda x National. Lots of apartments, most reasonable. Lots of UCLA students in the area. Less expensive, some really cool restaurants, but mostly a transient population (students, etc.). Reasaonably safe although not great.

Do check out Mar Vista, West of Palms--some cure areas, generally more afordable.

Farther south is Culver City--mixed area in terms of safety but some great areas.

If you go further South you might check out the beach towns--Manhattan Beach, Play Del Rey, Hermosa--usally smaller apts and more expensive. The commute will be worse because you have to tak ethe 405 freeway. I am sure RJW_LB_CA can be more help than I with these areas.

You might check out the Valley--Sherman Oaks, Encino. Hubby can get over the hill to Westwood easily and rents are slightly less expensive.

Alisa

One more thing-do not live in Westwood--you will be living around a lot of students and things can get rowdy on the weekends.

Welcome to LA! Westwood has a lovely Farmer's Market on Thursdays!

Alisa

Ooops, also, the two short-term rentals in West LA are the Oakwood Apts. and another crappy place next door on Sepulveda Blvd. Yucky!

O.K. now I will shut up.

crazymina

I'm a south bay girl, and believe it's worth it to live near the coast. Nice temps year round (it gets hot "inland") and better air quality.

I grew up in Manhattan Beach and love it. For 2000 a month, I think you can rent something small in MB (but forget about buying). You would have better luck in Hermosa, which I agree with rjw, has a great, hip atmosphere...without the high influx of tourists that Santa Monica gets. There are no "bad" areas of either town (Hermosa is only one or two square miles). What's also great about the South Bay is that neighboring areas like Torrance have lots of shops, making life convenient. And parking is WAAAAY better than the westside (which includes Santa Monica).

I've lived in Socal all but 4 years of my life. It's great to live, but trust me when I say this...only if you live in a great area (meaning an area YOU like) without a monster commute (unless you're native and used to our traffic...and even then it puts you in a bad mood!) So come, research and check it out. What may float my boat may not float yours.

But my vote goes to the South Bay (with the understanding that we're talking about a possible 1 hr commute to Westwood...which may not sound bad to you, but it's really aggravating when you know it should only take 20-25 minutes).