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Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Old Jan 20th 2014, 2:39 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by lulublue14
I REALLY hope they're going to align his salary to the average a technical support engineer should earn (I have seen 70k). We'll see. Thanks for your input though, it made us realize what the different was between US and UK!
I know about the 90 days, I am giving myself 3 months to find a job, hopefully that will be enough! As you know about that, do you know if they can refuse the EAD? Or as long as you have the L2 they will give you a EAD?

Thanks!
They can refuse you anything. But usually they won't if you qualify, and getting a L2 should be easy, as long as you're married and dont' have a criminal background.

It costs a few hundred bucks though and though it should be valid for 2 years these days, it is still often only given for a year.

The maker or breaker could well be how much the medical insurance will cost you per month.

A lot of folks in the industry are contractors, they get more money but then have to stump the employer share of taxes on top. You won't have that option and won't be able to moonlight on other contracts on the side either.
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:00 pm
  #32  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

I would caution against taking an apartment that you have only seen online. If the photography is good it can make a dump look like a palace and you'll have no idea about the neighbourhood.

Have your husband's company pay for a hotel or short-term rental until you take a drive around and see what you like.
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:03 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by ScousePete
I would caution against taking an apartment that you have only seen online. If the photography is good it can make a dump look like a palace and you'll have no idea about the neighbourhood.

Have your husband's company pay for a hotel or short-term rental until you take a drive around and see what you like.
Hi there,

Thanks for the advice. Are you also talking about those residences which offer kind of standard apartments? I would never rent an apartment from Craigslist or something like that without having seen it but these residences seem to have a standard. Is that something you can confirm?
Concerning the neighborhood, I have been to LA before and hopefully know what is ok and what is not. We'll kind of focus on the universally acknowledged nice areas lol
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:09 pm
  #34  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

The EAD is a formality if you have an L2, it just takes a little time.
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:28 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by lulublue14
Hi there,

Thanks for the advice. Are you also talking about those residences which offer kind of standard apartments? I would never rent an apartment from Craigslist or something like that without having seen it but these residences seem to have a standard. Is that something you can confirm?
Concerning the neighborhood, I have been to LA before and hopefully know what is ok and what is not. We'll kind of focus on the universally acknowledged nice areas lol
Apartment locators can help with this too, taking your financial and other requirements into mind and making a good short list of properties that are safe, decent, and reasonable.

Just one caveat... find out what properties they are familiar with and talk to more than one locator if possible to cover all the areas you want to cover. I rented a place once that my locator wasn't familiar with. Big mistake. Though it was clean and neat and reasonable and the leasing manager was friendly and helpful and the maintenance staff prompt and competent, the neighbors... well, what's a few gunshots if they're not aimed at you, eh? lol...
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:31 pm
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by Speedwell
Apartment locators can help with this too, taking your financial and other requirements into mind and making a good short list of properties that are safe, decent, and reasonable.

Just one caveat... find out what properties they are familiar with and talk to more than one locator if possible to cover all the areas you want to cover. I rented a place once that my locator wasn't familiar with. Big mistake. Though it was clean and neat and reasonable and the leasing manager was friendly and helpful and the maintenance staff prompt and competent, the neighbors... well, what's a few gunshots if they're not aimed at you, eh? lol...
hahah oh my god. I will look at that option definitely, thanks a lot for the tip! I found that forum extremely helpful, thanks for contributing
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 3:35 pm
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by lulublue14
Hi there,

Thanks for the advice. Are you also talking about those residences which offer kind of standard apartments?
The photos online will be of the "show apartment" and of course it will look wonderful! The one you end up getting may not be quite as nice.

It also could back up to a busy street, be right next to a school playground, be across form a church or mosque that rings the bells or has calls to prayer all hours of the day or night. There are so many variables that I know personally I would like to see before making a decision.

One more point - the corporate apartment buildings will use management companies that will be quite strict about their criteria for renting, as you have found out. The Craigslist renter, who maybe only has one property (his own) to rent, may have more flexibility. Although they all will probably want to run a credit report, which offer up a whole new challenge for a new immigrant.
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 8:02 pm
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by lulublue14
Hey! thanks for your reply. I didn't know that 50k was bad lol he will get more information in the next few weeks so hopefully we'll get better news!
Well I didn't say I would get a well paid job but I should at least get the same amount of money and with a joint income of 100 000$ we'd be able to rent easily. That's what I meant. I work in television and I've been looking around and there seems to be a lot of jobs. I am currently working for FOX in the UK so I am not coming over with 0 experience. Do you think it will be hard?
Yikes! I'd be very very worried in your situation. $50k is nothing in LA, and no offence meant here, but if you are only expecting to earn $50k when you get a job, I'm guessing that's not a highly specialized job so you are going to be competing with a lot of applicants, who all have the right university and GPA's to fill out the standard application forms you have to fill out for that kind of job. On top of that, you'll have to apply for your EAD after you get here, so you are looking at a minimum of 3 months on only your husbands income.

If you currently work for FOX have you talked to your HR department to see if they have a HR contact in LA you could get in touch with. I'd say that is your best bet of landing a job quickly.
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Old Jan 20th 2014, 9:42 pm
  #39  
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Just to repeat (probably needlessly) what everyone else is saying... $50k in LA stinks!

When we lived in LA, my husband was on that as an academic researcher. I was on a J2 visa, which, like the L2, means you need to apply for an EAD and can't work until it's in hand. We had some tight times financially, and we are not big spenders! You can survive on $50k for two of you, but unexpected bills and big outlays (like buying a car) can be problematic. It also limits socializing, which is a downer when you've just arrived and want to make friends and contacts.

Re. the rental issue: we arranged our apartment prior to arriving, as we also have cats. I agree with what you've said about going for apartment complexes rather than anything on Craigslist. I know you can't tell everything about a place until you actually see it, but if you're an astute Googler and not too fussy then you might be okay; we didn't have any nasty surprises, and ended up in our place for 2.5 years. They wanted to see a copy of my husband's work contract, but I don't remember a specific income requirement.

Are you looking on the Westside? There are lots of quite reasonably-priced apartment complexes in the unremarkable zone between Santa Monica and Westwood. If you're concerned about safety, you can check out the zipcode's crime levels on the LA Times website.
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Old Jan 27th 2014, 12:12 pm
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

Originally Posted by lulublue14
Hello there,

Looking for advice from people who moved to LA/ or anywhere in the US where the rent was not so cheap.

Here is the situation:
My husband is being transferred to LA, he will earn about $50 000 per year. Unfortunately, I have to quit my job in the UK and find another job in LA when we arrive. However, we would like to have found a place there BEFORE we get there (with the Internet it's quite easy). Every single residences I asked said that we need to satisfy the salary = 2.5 times the rent. Unfortunately, with only my husband's income, we cannot satisfy this requirement at the time of application. Once I have a job, we would EASILY satisfy it though.

Anybody had the same issue? Any tips or advice? Is the only solution to stay in a hotel until I find a job and we can satisfy that requirement?

Thanks a lot
Lulu
Every single residences I asked said that we need to satisfy the salary = 2.5 times the rent. Unfortunately, with only my husband's income, we cannot satisfy this requirement at the time of application. Once I have a job, we would EASILY satisfy it though. – So you can talk to your tenant and give him a document from your husband’s job where his income is indicated (this way your landlord knows that he has a job) tell him that you will find a job as soon as possible ant give him the second document where your income will be listed. Contact the landlord directly and talk to him to show that both of you are responsible people that need some time to verify your income is 2.5 times the rent.
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Old Jan 27th 2014, 1:24 pm
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Default Re: Rental requirements issue - please help/advice needed

50,000 is right about where the median household income is for LA area, its not really that low of a wage if you ask me.
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