I'm sure it's all perspective. I warn people of the cost of living here. But it's a different ball game when you really add it up. As a single person, you're tipping your budget about $3000 as of 2016. That's rent, food, utilities, fuel for car and some entertainment. That's not drinking at bars. But paying for things like health and dental too.
I crunched the numbers when I got a notice of a rent increase as of December. It's not much and Incan afford it, but it got me curious about other places around here. So I sniffed around the rental area. Near where I live...and a few blocks down...in the REALLY shitty part of Van Nuys...is a little over $100 extra. I'm saying the less three-pools-tennis-court barrio, where there is street parking.
Yes, the market now is so ridiculously high, that rent is the new premium. Shit-holes are what you would pay as mortgage for a safe area outside of California. Not that expect them to give a shit. But that's what happens when this property is sold to foreign interest.
It's our damn fault. Because we're transients here. Gypsies with delusions of squatting. Bad tenants came and went and left horrible reputation that others pay. That is the nature of rentals. No respect paid. Especially in an anonymous town like Los Angeles.
The mystique outweighs the reality. To which many people learn too late. Or their alternative is too awful to consider. NOTHING crushes people more than hope gone unanswered.
Back to the real estate...if you plan on coming out here...find a one bedroom apartment with a close friend and split the time sleeping on couch. You save a bunch of dough and stave off uncertainty.
It's getting tougher out here.
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