Looking for a Place to Live

Looking for a Place to Live Many students who are planning to attend a college out of town cannot afford nor do they want to live in one of the dormitories the universities may provide. These students will be looking for an apartment, usually with a roommate. Ive got some information for you, especially if you are going to attend one of the wonderful universities in Los Angeles, California, such as UCLA, USC, or one of the many Cal States and private and commercial universities that cover the city. For over twenty years, I managed properties in the Los Angeles area and hopefully have some good tips for those of you planning on making L.A. at least a temporary home while in school. Keep in mind that most cities are pretty similar in the way they go about this so the information here may  improve the chances of anyone anywhere in getting a place they want, so pay attention. Before you even get started searching for your new digs you need to do a little research. First decide what the maximum amount of rent you can afford to pay. And then because it’s Los Angeles simply expect to pay a bit more. Depending on where your campus is located, you need to decide on the area you prefer. You can use Craigslist as a tool for getting an idea of the rents in the different neighborhoods. They can change drastically from place to place. Also, ask around about the safety of neighborhoods. There are some places in L.A. that are more dangerous than others. For example some of the areas surrounding the University of Southern California are pretty tough and you may want to stay somewhere else.  Somewhere that an evening walk would not be a matter of will we get back home or not afterward? When applying for an apartment never tell the landlord or manager that this is temporary. Apartment owners didn’t dish out money for fresh paint and new or at least steam cleaned carpets and cleaning crews just so you can temporarily live there. They want a tenant who will stay a few years. Make it worth their while. Next, when visiting a unit, have your basic paper work ready, in case the manager is there and ready to take applications.  Basic paperwork would be copies of your Identification, driver’s license, school ID, bank documents, etc. Have a copy of your credit report also. Your credit rating has become the main decision maker for which possible tenant choices are made. So the higher your credit ratings, the better off you are. Don’t be too discouraged if your credit rating is not spectacular. Property owners vary and sometimes they will rent based on first impressions and interaction with a prospective tenant. So be sure to dress neatly at the very least. Also, the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles has a rental application that most owners prefer. You can get one online at AAGLA.  No offense to the Apartment Rental companies around town but, don’t waste your money. Craigslist and a little effort on your part will give you equitable, without the middleman. A word of caution based on an experience I had a couple years ago. I had posted a rental unit on Craigslist with the location and monthly rental amount. Just like I always did. This was standard procedure for me so, no big deal, right? I’d been doing this deal for many years. One day I got a call from someone who was at the building where the vacancy was and wanted to know why no one had met them there. I told them that I had not set an appointment with them and didn’t know what they were talking about. Also the rental amount they said they were given for the unit was much less than the actual rent for the apartment. They were irritated and hung up. I received a few more calls like that in between the regular calls I received from the ad. Something was up. I searched through Craigslist and eventually found another ad for the same apartment I was renting, but with a much lower rent. And … their ad said that they would be at the unit all day and that the owner was so desperate to rent it quickly that they had lowered the rent to this unrealistically lesser amount and it would be first come first serve for rental.  They also suggested that you go to FreeCreditReport.com and get your credit rating to bring to the apartment.  For convenience, the ad had a direct link to the free credit report site. This all sounds good right. Wrong! I clicked on the credit report  link and went over the details of the page carefully. It looked perfectly normal. All the details of the credit form were right. Then I did a google search for FreeCreditReport.com and went to their site from there. These two pages looked identical; however  there was a slight difference on the actual addresses in the browser. The page from the Craigslist ad was a fake. One of the most important pieces of information needed for a credit check is your social security number. These ads were collecting social security numbers for identity theft purposes. Pretty tricky devils, huh? Keep in mind this happens all over the country, not just in Los Angeles. So pay attention. Be careful, be prepared and go get that cool apartment for study, comfort, and maybe a little fun too.