...or preferably the surrounding area.

So far I've found that Craigslist has  the best prices, but I wanted to post on here to see if any of you could possibly recommend a landlord with a great reputation that has apartments or houses available for rent or another on-line resource other than Craigslist.

It would be three of us - me, my husband and my stepson. We have pets and we'd like them to go with us.

We're trying to find something $800 or lower, and I know that's going to be tough. I've found a few nice places in Torrance - one is a three bedroom, two bathroom house for $650. I e-mailed that listing and I'm waiting to hear from them.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

We'd rather not live directly inside L.A. I used to live in Redondo Beach with my dad in the 90's and I love that area. My husband used to live just outside of L.A. in the 80's while he attended Grove School of Music, so we're kind of familiar with the area.

Trying to respond to your post but can't seem to get the one I wanted to send to go through.  OH craziness.  I sent you a PM.  Please check that.

Let's see if I can get my post to show here.....

Hi Stephanie :)

I got your message but it was blank!

Well that is certainly frustrating.  So what I was trying to tell you is that the only way you will find something for $800 or less in So Cal is if it is in a very bad ghetto area or the ad on Craig's List is a scam. It has become quite commanplace for scammers to place ads on Craigs List and then request alot of personal financial information and then disappear and rob your identity. Another scam is they place ads on there and request security deposits because they are out of state/country and are absentee landlords and when you get to the property to rent, there is no property. So if you are coming here with job offers, great, but you'll have to raise what you are able to pay.  You might find a studio or 1 bedroom in a so so area, but nothing larger in a decent area. 

On another note, if you are coming here and are going to look for work when you get here, keep in mind unemployment here in CA is at 12%.  At this point the only thing So Cal really has going for it is good weather.

Sorry to be such a downer, but I'd hate to see you get here and be in worse shape.  But if you are still hellbent on coming you can try www.apartments.com or www.realtors.com I've used both in the past.  I wish you good luck with whatever you decide.

Stephanie

I think that you may be able to find something along the line you are looking for in the Beaumont area. Thats about 2 hours south of L.A.
Not sure if you want out that far or not. My son lives out there and he says he loves that area.

Thanks :) I'll definitely check into that. My husband is a musician and really wants to live closer to L.A., but I'll see what he thinks!

Long Beach has a lot of pet friendly places for rent. I live here and love it.

nancy

Thanks Nancy :) Answering your PM now.

Jackie,

I live in Torrance.

The only way you will find a three bedroom, two bathroom house in Torrance is if your father is the landlord (that's me) or if it on the city strip or an otherwise undesirable location. 

The fair market value of the house I live in is about $2,200.

You might be able to find a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment for about $1,450.

You might have better luck with Lawndale but you need to be very alert about where you are.  There are some very nice portions of Lawndale but also some really bad portions.

Do you have job(s) lined up?  If so and you give me an idea where (what city), I might be able to give you a better suggestion as to a decent neighborhood in which to reside.

Lisa

I found a couple of places on Craigslist for $800 but haven't heard anything back yet.

I just need a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment or house because my stepson has let me know there is no way he's sleeping in the living room. :)

My husband and stepson are both on SSI and when they transfer those payments to California, the website says they'll get just over $800 a month which is a huge jump from the just over $600 they get here in Pa. We'll be using their checks for the rent, so technically I could look at apartments/houses up to $1600/month, but we're trying go lower than that (knock on woo).

With my degrees and background, I'm hoping to get a job in a hospital, medical facility or private practice doing medical transcription and/or medical coding/billing. If I can't do that, I'm hoping to continue doing the home health-care/group home thing that I've been doing here. I love working, though, so I will take anything I can get. I currently work 60 to 80 hours a week, so I'm not afraid to work my ass off.

Torrance would be ideal. Long Beach would be great. Anywhere that's under an hour from downtown L.A. is ideal, as long as it isn't actually in downtown L.A. I used to live in Redondo Beach with my dad in the 90's, and I love the South Bay area in general, but the apartments and houses I've found there are super expensive.

Michael (my husband) lived in the Studio City area in the 80's while he went to Grove School of Music and he'd love to find something in that area, but so far I haven't had any luck with that, either.

And now that you've told me you live in Torrance, I'm all about that!