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Renting in Westside LA

Renting in Westside LA

Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:02 am
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Default Renting in Westside LA

I arrived in LA just under 2 weeks ago on my H1B visa ready to embrace the new way of living over here, only to find it's a complete nightmare trying to find somewhere good to live. I'm hoping someone with experience can offer me some advice here.

I'm working in Santa Monica and ideally need to be able to walk to work. I've been focussing on the West LA / Santa Monica area and am looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment under $2000 a month. The trouble I'm having is finding somewhere that has a good quality finish and doesn't cost $3k a month. I'm finding in a lot of properties that the kitchens and bathrooms in particular are pretty awful as they've never been updated along with the rest of the property.

I feel like I've exhausted WestsideRentals, Hotpads.com and Craigslist so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction or just offer up some advice.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:21 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Unfortunately, Santa Monica is an expensive area.

A budget of $2,000 is kind of low for most parts of LA I'm afraid.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:29 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Originally Posted by Sally Redux
Unfortunately, Santa Monica is an expensive area.

A budget of $2,000 is kind of low for most parts of LA I'm afraid.
I agree. My husband rents a tiny 1-bedroom, very old apartment in West Hollywood. He pays $1,300/month for that. The closer you get to the water, the higher the rent.

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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:39 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

That's a problem. LA has a population similar that of London and London has the same problem. Most people in LA would like to live along the beach towns, Hollywood Hills, or Beverly Hills but few can afford it anymore than most Londoners can afford to live in Chelsea or anywhere near the center of London.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:45 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Originally Posted by Michael
That's a problem. LA has a population similar that of London and London has the same problem. Most people in LA would like to live along the beach towns, Hollywood Hills, or Beverly Hills but few can afford it anymore than most Londoners can afford to live in Chelsea or anywhere near the center of London.
Indeed.

Culver City comes in a bit cheaper, of course you won't be able to walk to work but that's a little unrealistic in this town.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:50 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

It's a bit tricky as I have neither car nor licence yet and I've already started work, otherwise I would be looking to Culver City.

The other slight complication is that I get a $150 a month rebate on parking at work if I don't use it, meaning an equivalent apartment in Culver would have to be at least that much cheaper a month to make it worthwhile (not to mention the additional cost of fuel).
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 1:53 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

I don't know. If I could get a nice apartment for $2,000 in Santa Monica I'd move there myself
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 2:10 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Unfortunately if you lived in the San Francisco bay area, public transportation is far superior to LA with BART, Caltrain, Amtrak, light rail, even ferries, and a pretty decent bus system. In LA, you can't get around without a car.

Last edited by Michael; Oct 7th 2013 at 2:14 am.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 2:12 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Originally Posted by Michael
Unfortunately if you lived in the San Francisco bay area, public transportation is far superior to LA with BART, Caltrain, Amtrak, light rail, and a pretty decent bus system. In LA, you can't get around without a car.
It's generally awful in LA, but Santa Monica does have a bus system (as in 'Speed'). It might be worth OP checking how far out it runs.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 3:33 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Tried looking at college noticeboards for a house/room share?

Seems with a small budget, you're looking for shared digs if you want nice digs.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 6:55 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

When I worked in Westwood, a lot of my (adult) international students lived here:

http://www.westwoodvillaapts.com/home.html

It's halfway between Santa Monica and Westwood, right on three bus routes, including the Big Blue Bus 8 into Santa Monica. There are supermarkets etc within walking distance. The apartments are nothing fancy, but they're well-maintained, and there's stuff like a pool, laundry rooms, parking (for when you inevitably get a car!). They do furnished/unfurnished and short leases.

There are lots of similar apartment complexes in the area (Mar Vista-ish).

Agree with the others that $2000 is not going to get you much in Santa Monica itself, unless you want to share.

Last edited by MoshiMoshi; Oct 7th 2013 at 7:00 am.
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 8:06 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

I should point out, I know I'll be getting a car eventually, but my priority is finding somewhere to live first. I've looked into bus routes and that seems like a good option. Thanks for the info everyone!
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Old Oct 7th 2013, 6:17 pm
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

There are a couple on here, look like sublets, but for that kind of money you are looking at tiny, dated properties. As others have said, SM is one of the most desirable places to live. We would have lived there if we could have afforded it, but it was way out of our price range for what we needed. We've lived in 3 different rentals in California, and I'm yet to live in one with a modern kitchen, and I'm paying double what you are looking to pay.

http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Santa.../0-2000_price/
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Old Oct 20th 2013, 4:48 am
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Hi all, just thought I'd update this thread to say I managed to find a place for around $1800 a month. Someone recommended the Westside Village apartment community, so I started looking at that kind of thing and came across the West Park Village community in West LA / Brentwood.

They're in the process of completely moderising most of the apartments to a pretty high standard and although some of the apartments are just over $1500 a month, I decided to go for one that was a little more than that as it was ticking all the boxes for me.

Thought that info might help in case someone comes looking here in the future!

Thanks again.
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Old Oct 20th 2013, 6:23 pm
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Default Re: Renting in Westside LA

Originally Posted by ShadowBob
Hi all, just thought I'd update this thread to say I managed to find a place for around $1800 a month. Someone recommended the Westside Village apartment community, so I started looking at that kind of thing and came across the West Park Village community in West LA / Brentwood.

They're in the process of completely moderising most of the apartments to a pretty high standard and although some of the apartments are just over $1500 a month, I decided to go for one that was a little more than that as it was ticking all the boxes for me.

Thought that info might help in case someone comes looking here in the future!

Thanks again.
That looks like a good location
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