It’s that time ladies and gentlemen. Time to look for a new place to live and I am, as always, both excited and stressed about it.
Apartment hunting in this town seemed mind-bottlingly impossible when I first got here. How to pick which amazing area to live in? How to find available apartments when I do figure it out? Do I really have to pay sixty bucks for westside rentals?
Well, I haven’t found a place to live yet, but I have rejected westside rentals on principal. Eff you and your stupid business model, westside.
What I ultimately decided to do instead was just pick a place to live based on geography (I picked Los Feliz cuz I’m just fucking cool enough, okay?) and then spend a saturday afternoon walking around calling numbers on the rental signs.
I only actually saw one place, the manager buzzed me into the building and sent me to the correct apartment which was open and I looked at it. That was actually sort of awesome, I just looked at it without the whole sales spiel. It was small but had hardwood floors which take an unusually high precedence for my home criteria.
I’m looking for a studio or cheap one bedroom, personally, and I’m expecting to spend about a thousand a month. Apparently my flooring preferences bump me into a slightly higher price bracket, but I have only just begun. I’m not just in search of an apartment, I’m in search of a bargain!
So far, the best advice I can give is to be wary of online ads. If they say they are in a neighborhood, check the map! I went to look at a place that was “in Culver City.” It was actually a twenty minute walk from the nearest outlying car dealership.
And the best advice I have learned from living in apartments in various places, not specific to L.A.: if the apartment seems too good to be true ASK THEM IF IT HAS BUGS.
