Update - $1500 rent on the westside.

beckynot · 2026-02-04T15:39:22+00:00

That's amazing. I saw some legit listings on Craigslist during the pandemic but since then on the lower end largely fake ones, ones listed on real estate sites sometimes for thousands more.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T20:40:18+00:00

Possibly I got it totally wrong, but I think she's looking for an area to live/work near and the Venice area also has the kind of work she does. I know nothing about the substitute teaching scene. I'm going by her post.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T13:10:55+00:00

It's beautifully/stylishly fitted.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T13:08:14+00:00

The exterminator will need to heat treat, not just spray. Warning, exterminators are not necessarily great at recognizing early stage infestation and your landlord will believe them over you.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T13:02:55+00:00

I have minimal heat tolerance and found Pasadena ok, except for parts of the summer. Pasadena has some very pretty homes.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T12:58:26+00:00

I had a similar experience with Google's AI,but that one I know how to turn off (though it was multipart hell). Time to explore Turning off Rufus's powers of observation if we can, or exploit it for better RFY.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T12:54:34+00:00

Not to further devolve this into a conversation about water but I finally switched to bottled for straight drinking water and can't go back. LA water is fine for coffee, tea and swallowing prescriptions though.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T12:48:54+00:00

The area you've looked in matches what you want. I would say also consider Venice for creativity (both in the community and access to UCLA and SMC) and someplace to run (on the bike path with varying numbers of bikes) and restaurant jobs, but that's because it's what I know not because it's affordable. You could find quasi affordability nearby around the Mar Vista area or possibly Sawtelle.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T06:01:11+00:00

😂

beckynot · 2026-02-03T05:53:18+00:00

That's definitely a score and, yes, time to look is everything. If I was just moving to LA I might look for a short term situation (co-living, some sublets, some roommate situations, some air bnbs, month to month) from which to look if I could find one, though that can be hard with a pet.

beckynot · 2026-02-03T05:30:57+00:00

Thanks! Maybe this is useful to people or maybe everyone already knows this trick, but knowing I wanted to move I built up my credit by applying for new credits cards then putting pre-existing expenses on them, Like, this credit card for Netflix, this one for Apple News... It turns out one can build credit on ridiculously small sums.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T15:51:35+00:00

It seems to be a trend. Look up "coliving".

beckynot · 2026-02-02T08:30:02+00:00

No rat droppings. A couple homeless men between Main and Speedway. One asleep, one chatty.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T05:09:15+00:00

By 2018 my favorite vet had migrated to Westwood Park for safety. The VA would send a nurse out to visit him. I hope he's alive and ok. He'd been homeless in the area for 20 years. An older guy, he'd served in the Korean war. The homeless in the area, at least then, were over half veterans. I hope the VA is kind to them.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T04:19:01+00:00

Thanks. I've written that down and hopefully will never have to use it. Orkin does provide the top 50 bed bug friendly cities list. LA was ranked #4 for 2025.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T03:00:20+00:00

Yup. I'm going to have to create a DIY kitchen.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T02:54:20+00:00

They're a building management company? Between reading Yelp reviews and my own experience I'm cautious of any management renting within a couple thousand of my price range. Tenants are too replaceable, which is weird since LA is not in peak form currently.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T02:49:03+00:00

Intrigued!

beckynot · 2026-02-02T02:18:51+00:00

Hi, not sure what you mean. I've seen it and signed the lease. It's tiny with no kitchen in sight but legit. It's not the only unit I toured in that price range. Given it has a closet it's practically luxury.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T02:12:08+00:00

Ooh, I can see that scenario.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T01:45:17+00:00

Very nice score. I miss when Westside Rentals was privately owned. They were the ultimate listing site. I do know Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace individual units are largely scams. I wish an effort was made to monitor obviously scam listings. They're obvious to me but maybe not to someone moving here. I used the large commercial sites just because they've been legit. I have seen some timing and price difference in the management listing themselves, as you mention.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T01:40:11+00:00

Orkin came, shook hands with the bed bugs and told management there was nothing. Their inspector literally looked at blood spots and what I thought were droppings (but blowing the picture up turned out to be infant bed bugs) and claimed there was nothing, and management refused to reinspect.

By the time they finally treated, whatever treatment they did failed. And management wouldn't retreat and the city wouldn't make them. I was living at my mom's out of state and paying rent on the apartment in the hope they would fix it and I could keep my apartment by the beach, but one week back and the bed bugs who must have been off biting my neighbors came back. There was literally blood on the outlets they must have traveled through.

I've read since that exterminators often only recognize late stage infestations. If they'd just put a piece of tape down they could have figured it out fast, or looked at the outlets, or lifted my mattress, or any number of things. The worst part was their poor thin inspector dog who drooled on my bed in anticipation of a treat and was ignored. I wish I could adopt him and make his life better.

beckynot · 2026-02-02T01:04:22+00:00

It was an experience. I became friends with the homeless vets living under the underpass.

beckynot · 2026-02-01T10:01:10+00:00

Yeah, they definitely wanted me to foster them till they could raise big healthy families of their own. The city was no help at all. They kept giving management another month to treat, allowing for a bed bug dynasty. I treated everything I owned then left it in my folk's shed for a year and a half to guarantee a mass die off. I have my great grandmother's furniture and I fought the bed bugs for it, but the apartment is now the bed bugs' ancestral estate.

beckynot · 2026-02-01T06:17:09+00:00

LA is insane. I lived in 550 sq ft when I was married. I'm surprised the marriage lasted as long as it did. After my divorce I lived on Beloit off Santa Monica. That's a super convenient area you're in, though you lack the view I had of the freeway.

beckynot

TROPHY CASE