wikigardening

Hello, I'd be grateful of any advice as I'm moving with my family - husband on 01, me and two children (11 & 6) on 03 to LA at the start of July. We are going to Los Feliz as the schools are good. I am worried about renting a house and wondered if anyone had opinions. I worry (a lot about many things!) but one is that is it going to be hard to rent without a credit history? Will I be turned down by lots of landlords? School starts on 20th of August, if I get there 10th July will that give me enough time to rent a place and be in before term starts or should my husband go out earlier? My plan so far was to airbnb for a month and that would be enough of an overlap. I have a budget of $4500 dollars a month and need a three bed place.

Thank you for any help and if there's anything else you think I need to worry about please let me know!

Lucy

SanDiegogirl

Without a credit history expect to possibly pay additional up front rental charges. e.g. 1st month, last month, security deposit, plus a couple of additional month's rental.

If you have employment in the US, then take the employment letter to any place you go to see as proving you have employment with a decent salary will definitely help.

username.exe

I can't help in terms of your questions on schools, but in lieu of no credit history or jobs we offered an increased deposit and demonstrated long term funds in it bank statements. The property mgmt company was more than happy with that.

Pulaski

I'd recommend focusing your search for houses rented by private landlords as you will get to deal face-to-face with the owners and you will likely find much more flexibility than dealing with a corporate landlord or a large property manager/agency

Start looking at postlets.com as it is a rental property aggregator that (I think) is pulling records from other rental web sites.

mmhendrie

you mentioned you were doing Los Feliz because of the schools - I know you're more focused on finding a place to rent, but i feel the school subject is worth some additional background. I don't know that Los Feliz has great schools (that's not to say it doesn't, I've just not heard that), Los Feliz is more known as a hipster neighborhood - but for folks with kids in LA, schools are a *major* source of heartache. Schools vary in quality drastically here, and there are some areas that have a substantial mix in school quality.

For example, I have friends who bought a house in Westchester before they had kids, but in anticipation of having kids - because of the good school rep. in Westchester. Now they have a kid, they've found that their particular block was assigned to one of the crap schools in Westchester. Obtaining transfer permits to different schools can be very very difficult, and tuition for private schools on the westside averages $26k-$32k per year, for 5yr olds and goes up from there.

Therefore, if you've done your homework and decided Los Feliz has a great school(s) you want your kids to go to, make absolutely sure the place you rent is in that schools catchment area, and also that it's not a charter school which hands out places on a lotto system. You want to put yourself in a position where you're entitled to go to the school you want, not relying on a lotto draw or permit application.

Have you vetted the commute time from where-ever you/your husband will be working to Los Felix? Schools are a major source of heartache for all LA parents, but commutes are the major source of heartache for all LA residents....

wikigardening

Thank you all so much for the help. Hopefully we will have some money to get started so great to hear that that helps to gain tenancy. My husband is freelance, so he won't have a job offer to show. I will definitely check out postlets.com, so far I have just been stalking zillow.
re schools: We went to visit the middle school and although it massive in comparison to Uk schools I think that it's improving as was 6 and is now 8. It's a worry though as I know the scores aren't everything. I will triple check the catchment areas carefully. I think that what makes renting and getting a place quickly enough and with no credit so stressful. Thank you for helping me!

mmhendrie

out of interest, what sort of visa are you coming here on?

mmhendrie

Culver City has a reputation for good schools if the westside interests you.

mmhendrie

oh nevermind - i see you referenced the visa type in the OP

wikigardening

We did a recce and went to Culver City, I liked it and you're right the schools are excellent, but I thought it was right in the middle of the city. Los Feliz was slightly more further out and with Griffin Park I felt like there might be better air. I also love the hillsides round there. It's all a bit sticking a pin in a map!

Pulaski

Postlets and Zillow are linked, I think under common ownership, so you'll probably find they show the same info.

mmhendrie

if air quality is an issue you might want to check out some of the air quality studies - generally the further from the coast you go the worse it gets: Mapping Los Angeles's Better But Still Terrible Air Quality - Curbed LA

mmhendrie

anyhow, that stuff aside - i think your best bet is to put some feelers out to landlords - type up a good standard short email you can send to 4-5 landlords that describe the circumstances, i wouldn't focus too much on the negative of the non-credit rating, but mention it, and ask what their terms would be. Obviously state you're moving from england - aside from that explaining the credit rating, people mostly have positive stereotypes about us when it comes to things like reliability, honestly, etc. - rightly or wrongly, I find it helps.

That way you'll see exactly what they typically want, and you have a couple of months to get things in order if there's anything that proves particularly tough.

I've been a landlord and used tenants with poor credit when i felt there was a reasonable explanation. Your particular circumstances might be more common in the Los Feliz area also, with the more artsy types (less traditional work, 9-5 etc.)

dj6372

Be careful with going inland the heat and humidity can be stifling
Culver is nice but can get fiercely hot/humid in the summer, and not all apartments/condo's have A/C
I live in Marina Del Rey, which is close to Culver but we have a sea breeze to keep the heat down!
At the moment I am leaving work and at 4pm it sits at 90 degrees, by the time I drive 30 miles home its a comfortable 72 degrees

mmhendrie

yeh, i was gonna mention the heat, but i didn't want to pile on, as it sounded like they'd driven around and gotten a liking for Los Feliz - but most of the Brits tend to hug the coastline - if you stay within 3-4 miles of the coast, the temperature is fantastic year round, but can become quickly unpleasant in the summer when you leave that area. Although I'd disagree mostly with Culver getting that hot - it's hotter then the coast, but its rarely more then a couple of degrees and still much cooler then downtown & beyong/the valley etc. I live in Ladera Heights and we've done fine without AC for 10yrs+. I'm always amazed at the swings in such short distances. I live and work on the westside, it'll be 75 degrees and co-workers who live in the Valley (just 6miles north of our office) will be telling me its 95-100 at their places...they have a bigger swing in 6 miles here then you'd see in the entire UK.