Looking for Advice re: LA

Hoping some readers can help me out... it's possible I'm going to be out in LA for a few weeks in April / May / June, nothing totally for sure yet, but I'm hoping I can get some meetings for sitcom staffing season and see what happens.  I started looking on Craigslist, just to get a sense of how easy/difficult it would be to find a place to stay if I go out there, seems like there's a decent number of sublets... but I'm guessing there's some other resources I don't know about.  I saw there's a UCLA housing site, with a bunch of public listings but there's a section that requires a UCLA login.  The part that seems more frustrating than the sublet is having to get a car, especially since I don't have a car now so I'd have to pay for the insurance through whatever rental car place.  I found one site that rents older cars for $800/month, insurance included, but most of the rental car places look like they're at least $1000 with the insurance.  I'm not sure if I'm missing some other (hopefully cheaper) option that exists.  I played around on the FlexCar site for a little while (you sign up and pay per hour), but I'm not sure that would end up being cheaper and I'm guessing wouldn't be all that convenient.  I know enough about LA to be skeptical that the buses and limited subway could really be a plausible option if I'm out there for more than a day or two, and I'm pretty sure cabs would be more expensive and also not that convenient.  So maybe the rental car is the best option... but I wanted to write a post and see if anyone had any other ideas / knew any sites for housing or cars / could let me borrow a UCLA password / knows people looking for subletters or car-borrowers / etc.  Thanks.

Comments

[anonymousreader]

Jeremy-

Before it was revealed that you were AL, I remember that a lot of lawyers from LA wrote to him suspecting that they knew his identity. I bet that if Anonymous Lawyer threw out a bleg looking a sublet/rented car situation, he'd find some takers.

[cvy]

does this mean your pilot didn't work out?

[Ilan]

try "westside rentals"

[Jeff]

My friend has been living in LA for about a year with no car. He rents an apartment downtown, and from there can subway/bus/taxi to most places. But he also rarely goes out during the week, doing a lot of work from home. If you're going to be going out everyday for meetings or whatever, that wouldn't work.

As for how to find a place to live, westside rentals and CL are your best bets. Being Jewish, you might want to look at shuls in the area you want to live, because they often have bulletin boards or other rental type listings.

By the way, for the car thing: I'd recommend you buy a used car in good condition. Most of the people I've known who do that end up selling for about the same price a few months later, and so the only cost is gas/insurance. Just pick a car about 8-10 years old in good condition, and it won't depreciate much in a year or less.

One last thing: if you're in CA longer than a month (I think), you have to get a CA drivers' license, which includes a written exam.

Shoot me an email if you want any more advice.

[anotheranon]

Re cars: (1) most credit cards give you basic car rental insurance; you should be able to waive any insurance fees on top of your basic rental rate; (2) most consultants/traveling biz people get great car discounts - check your address book and ask friends for a favor; (3) you can also check out sites like swapalease.com. You'd essentially be taking over someone's car lease. Price/duration vary greatly, but with some negotiation, you might be able to find something under $1k/month. Good luck!

[mary]

I had a great time using westside rentals. Moving to Culver City, and eventually to Mar Vista. A few of the places I called were rented, but for the most part the service was good. The beauty is that they have operators on live chat 24/7 and that i can call to get an actual person, and never a machine.

I didn’t find out about westside rentals from a friend, or from their signs. When I moved from Arizona I made the tragic mistake of using two other companies who i won't mention, but my only good experience came from westsiderentals.com at least for los angeles and santa monica apartments. Look, i'm not saying that 60 bucks isn't a lot of money, i know it is... but how often does one move? anyway, i paid it and i'm happy... my 2 cents.

[carol]

I registered with westside rentals 1 month ago , after doing research for many days. Because I found them better than any of the other rental company. They really do have large number of different apartments,condo,house etc.. for rentals purpose. And their relations with landlords in increasing day by day.
I had wasted many days in researching all these things . And found one result that westside rentals are the best company , if you want to search your dream apartment quickly.

[gary]

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They really have good relationship with their landlords. And number of options they are providing to their clients are increasing day by day.

[eric]

I am really enjoying my hassle free tenant life by registering with west side rental. There is almost no interference from the side of landlords. I just came to them before 3 months , after just completing my lease period with my previous landlord.
I am really thankful to westside rentals for providing me with such a nice apartment.

[clark]

Landlords love this company. I tried calling places by driving around and they were asking me if I was a member of WestsideRentals.com. I guess they do free credit checks. Hey, smoke em if you got em I guess. I joined.

[tina]

I liked each and every thing about Westside Rentals. From the day i called them to this day.They are really best in this business. Their services are really worth $60 , as you get the discounts and many offers after registering with them. I love westside rentals.

[Ray]

Folks it was very nice to get my apartment from westside rentals. I had tried various other rental portal , but found westsiderentals.com to be best in this business in all ways.

[alex]

My company gets a discount to WestsideRentals.com and a landlord actually was able to see who I worked for and contacted me. They made it so landlords could tell I had a job at a great company and added “Employment Verified” to my profile. Very nice! Apparently they’ll set up the same deal for any company…

[ray]

I see those WestsideRentals.com signs everywhere! They’re even on office buildings now. I don’t get it…you have to pay to sign up? My buddy in Pasadena said it’s totally worth it though.

[dan]

Three times i shifted in last 10 years to LA , and from starting i took services from westsiderentals.com . All, times their services got better and better.

[amit]

I had seen rental man's video . That was really cool,,i liked this way of westsiderentals.com to advertise.It seems that their popularity is on high these days.

[patty]

As a landlord i am really thankful towestsiderentals.com ,, all of my 3 apartments are on rent now,,and i no more take any pain to publicize for my apartments.

[bruce]

Westsiderentals.com are giving 'member discounts' to the people registering with them. Which include insurance discounts, cable tv discounts and list continues....

[perry]

I got apartment 2 yr earlier from craiglists but there were some hidden costs that they had never talked before signing of lease. That was really bad ,,and at that time only I had decided to leave it after 1 yr ,, then I got my second apartment through westsiderentals.com ,,,which was an excellent deal I say,, they gave me hidden benefits which they has never talked before ,,,,that was awesome ,,I love westsiderentals.com .

[ware_da]

I am a landlord , and must admit that westside rentals are not only doing good job for people to find apartment for them ,but also for landlords like me. Actually, I prior to in contact with WSR I was really worried about getting people to fill in my apartment. But my all problem got solved when I contacted WSR ,and all my apartments were filled in just 3 days.

[lang]

I got various discounts from westsiderentals.com like discount on TW cable installation, gym meemberships, moving services and many others .This make their registration cost of $60 worth.

[umar_d]

Can you beleive westsiderentals.com have 18000 listings to choose an apartment from ,,,i couldn;t believe when i heard it more ,,i nm sure tht i m giving going for them soon.

[moniz]

Registering for just $60 with westsiderental.com and saving a lot of money and time that would be wasted If anyone search an apartment by their own, I think is a better decision.

[orson]

@ umar_d Listings of westsiderentals.com are now over 19000 now. ,, thats really the great news for the people searching apartments in los angeles or santa monica.

[orson]

I am sure you guys must have heard about ‘rental man’ ,,, he is amazing and its nice that he is working for company like westsiderentals.com. Westside Rentals are offering services and discounts that haven’t been offered till now by any of the rental portal.