APARTMENT HUNTING IN LA (a strugglebus saga)

hey guys and welcome to a very exciting video because I am finally finally finally hunting for an apartment in LA who could get my grubby little fingers on my catalogue I have been such a nerd for interior design for architecture I've been so excited to get my own apartment so it's finally happening or at least I hope so the situation right now is a little bit complicated right now I live in Westwood which is a college town right next to UCLA which is where I go to school I pay $1200 for a room and a bathroom that I share with two other apartment mates which is convenient for most students but I'm graduating early I'm graduating next month March and I want to get the [ __ ] out of Westwood not to complain too much because I know I'm so lucky to be able to afford a friend in LA at all but I'm just gonna say it Westwood is pretty [ __ ] ugly and to top it off Westwood is the most expensive neighborhood in all of LA yes more expensive than any of the beach towns the median price for a two-bedroom is $4,500 and that's because tens of thousands of students need to live within walking distance of UCLA so it really [ __ ] up the supply and demand anyways the point is after I graduate there's really no point for me to be in Westwood anymore I just found some letters to take over my apartment starting March 1st so that leaves me with just under a month to find my own apartment so I won't be out on the street so you know this is this is a lovely low-pressure situation right now so yesterday me and David already began the apartment hunt originally I did not want to take David along but I called the landlord and he refused to show me his apartment without having my boyfriend with me which is sexist as [ __ ] but that's an issue for another time I only got a little bit of footage because I didn't want to piss off the landlord any further because he was already offended by the fact that I was a woman apparently the first apartment was honestly pretty mediocre it was close to $3,000 for a one-bedroom and there wasn't that much that was special about it in my opinion the second apartment that we went to was a stunner but way out of my price range I am but I'm not completely willing to murder my bank account because of it but I'm back with a new hope today it is Sunday and I have two appointments to view apartments the first apartment is a 1-bedroom in Fairfax so let's go check it out on my way to view the first apartment I actually stumbled across this random open house and decided to take a look okay what what this is not fair what the hell this closet is huge this is like a whole nother room you could fit like a whole bed in here bathroom I've never really given a [ __ ] about bathrooms to be honest because it's just where you pee I'm not too concerned about that this one's nice [Music] yeah kitchen kitchen will do it too not like the most gorgeous thing ever but like at least there's a nice fridge a nice stove not like I really [ __ ] cook anyway so it's kind of perfect it is a studio and I was kind of looking for a one-bedroom but I mean this is pretty it's a pretty large amount of space and look at these [ __ ] windows [Music] okay now get online I really like that one god damn that window is so good it has the panels it's huge and it has the wood detailing around it which I've never seen apartments and I am actually a home for Windows kind of a problem the only problem is that when I called they require a credit score of at least 700 and I don't [ __ ] have a credit score because I'm 20 and nobody has allowed me to get a credit card yet so that might be problematic I also don't really have a verifiable income because I work for myself on YouTube and this is only been a real job for like 3 months so I know who the [ __ ] is gonna let me rent an apartment but on to the next one [Music] plus the second apartment was a 1-bed 1-bath which was perfect because that's ideally the size that I'm looking for it has a separate living room that I can use as my filming / workspace and then a separate bedroom for when I actually want to relax so my work and personal lives aren't like constantly intertwined technically speaking it checked all the boxes for me paneled windows hardwood floors closet space all good but for some reason I just didn't buy with it that much I think I could make it look pretty but as is it is a pretty generic apartment well okay this kitchen is gigantic not really sure about this fridge though this looks like the ice-cream machine from the 80s that we used to have the ice cream shop they worked at down the hallway is the bedroom which is a pretty standard 10 by 10 the square with a pretty small closet and here's the bathroom which was small but freakin adorable and would get the job done and I really liked the honeycomb tile on the floor alright update I'm went back to that first place that I had stopped by that has an open house and I ended up running into a property manager there he was a really nice dude and he was like okay like you so you can text me your email and see whether you want to submit an application so I'm not broken into him yet that I don't have a credit score but I think I might be able to work with him on like if I put more money down for a deposit or I show him my income since a lot of people in the building or also freelancers who work for themselves fingers crossed anyway then time got away from me I did not realize that it is already past 1:00 and I have another appointment a little bit away at one so I am boogie on all over there and fingers crossed that they will still let me see the place [Music] this third apartment was actually an interior designers wet dream I thought it looked pretty nice on the website but holy [ __ ] I was reverse catfished it looks even better in person the living room in and of itself is freaking gorgeous it looks like a movie set I don't know all of my video Shaun here would be so beautiful and it has a separate dining room which I could repurpose as an office or sewing room or something like that this apartment is more expensive than the others but it's a thousand two hundred square feet so honestly I was getting kind of worried that it would be too big for me like this bedroom alone is bigger than all the space I live in right now here's a peek into the bathroom apartments in LA has this big thing with preserving the vintage tile but honestly this tile is outdated for a reason regardless it's a large bathroom that would suffice for my bowel movements behind the building there was also this cute little backyard area that would be great for photoshoots or just having a barbecue with my non-existent friends so I just finished up with the apartment or I'm just chilling in a trash alley talking to a camera like a normal person an apartment Oh was god damn it's not fair how beautiful the apartment is but there are a few small problems first of all there's really nothing in this area other than houses you're like okay it's really quiet the houses are really cute it seems really safe but I would love to actually be able to walk to like a coffee shop or two stores to like some type of civilization secondly the apartment does face the street and it's a six-lane street so you can hear the cars going by most of the time it's just like a soft like whoosh which I don't think would pick up on my microphone but I don't want to run into situations in rush hour where I just can't film for like four hours of the day because people are going to or coming from work lastly they are through a large realty in site so I have to apply online they did say that it's okay if I don't have a credit score as long as I have guarantor x' but that also means I have to tell my parents that I am moving and that I have a job that they don't know about because I still haven't [ __ ] told about my youtube-channel things I have to figure out but like architecture elite that place is is everything I want the fireplace the wood beams the high ceilings all the closet space the windows oh so that is the last appointment I have for today but I think I'm gonna spend at the rest of the afternoon just kind of driving in circles and walking around the areas that I'm interested in looking at and see how many landlords are still [ __ ] living in the Stone Age and don't post those things online you have to actually like go and call them on a phone [Music] hi actually I'd be interested in leasing somewhere starting March 1st thank you so much Mike one down [Music] so I pulled over to this building because I have seen it on Zillow before and I am in love with this building I polish enjoy do you guys feel I might end up living here but it's like gorgeous little pink house so [ __ ] adorable it went off Zillow like last month but there's still nobody in the apartment so you might try to track down the number that was online and contact them and see if like the listing just got automatically removed or like the listing expired if it's still available god damn I am attached to that place hey guys it is the end of the day and I am back home I pulled a bunch of different numbers and Fairfax which is the neighborhood that I ideally want to rent in but nobody picked up probably because it's Sunday so hopefully I'll get some calls back within the next week or so I am compiling all of my footage and all the photos that I took up the places I visited all the notes that I took on this document basically I put all the notes about the apartments that I visited and that I'm going to visit in this one document I put the address how much it costs how big it is and little photos so I can keep track of everything the number for the contact person 10 out of 10 would recommend doing this if your apartment hunting because I get so anxious if I don't have everything listed out in front of me I got dinner with David and I just talked over all of my options the situation is a little complicated right now because our like times for moving out of our apartments don't really line up and we're not like totally sure if we want to live together in like six months he might come live with me or he might not which is complicated because that's like I don't want to spend too much on a place by myself or have too big a place but I didn't want to get an apartment that he couldn't move into without like talking to him first I don't know it's like the real [ __ ] that nobody talks about so I was just about to go to the site of this last apartment that I saw because I [ __ ] love it I wanted to check out with application is like it's through this place called apartment equities LCC and when I googled it the first result that came up was apartment equities LCC reviews I started looking at reviews for this place and I'm actually kind of concerned because this company seems a little bit sketchy the woman who I met was so nice but some of the reviews on Yelp mention her specifically and say that she was really nice when she showed the place but once they submitted an application which cost $44 which is like a little bit high for an application fee then they kept adding on additional requiring you have to have a cosigner and double the deposit or they would let you put down a deposit and then end up deciding that they wouldn't let you lease and then keeping your deposit which is the definition of a scam I also checked out the Better Business Bureau and they have two complaints against them they explained I was receiving no refund on the $2,500 deposit even though I only occupied the apartment two months and did not incur any damages though I honestly don't even know if it's worth applying or if I'm just gonna get scammed I apply shouldn't do it I'm never gonna get to see that fireplace again am I it is Tuesday and I thought I would bring you a little update from the apartment front honestly I thought in this video I would be going on more tours by now I was expecting to have like three different tour days I showed you guys a bunch of apartments but I have called every single property on my list three separate times left very nice voicemails asking if I could kindly kindly give them thousands of dollars every month in exchange for a place to live and lo and behold only two of these [ __ ] called me back the first one said hey we told them to take down the listing from Zillow because that place already rented the second call I got was from the pink building that one from Zillow that I stock that I am completely in love with it is quite expensive but it is a two-bedroom with so there is lots of space and maybe in the future David could move in with me this company requires you to submit an application for pre-approval before they even show you the property which included some background about Who I am a letter from my employer which I don't have but I guess I could write my own goddamn letter and my astrological sign what I don't even know what my astrological sign is he just said that one of the partners is into astrology like what are you going to do if I'm like a [ __ ] Virgo are you just gonna say sorry we're not gonna rent to you I think that's the definition of rent discrimination god damn it that's not the most la [ __ ] I've ever heard I don't know dude I thought this apartment hunt was gonna be a lot more fun than it is frustrating but I am so done with these [ __ ] landlords so for now I am going to be submitting an application to the studio again it's a little bit smaller than ideal but I've loved the area the building gave me really good vibes I like the manager and I think that's all important stuff because I really just do not want to get involved with like ask Annie or weird landlord and even though YouTube is going pretty well now I think it is always important to live within your means and I don't want to be stressed out about rent for months a month I really want to feel secure in the amount that I can pay also huge bonus this place is rent-controlled so right now it cost 1650 per month so it can only go up 3% every year so yeah I'm gonna walk to class right now probably fill out my application in the back of lecture and fingers crossed then I get accepted me and David are just about to go and take David to take his personal training certification exam but I've just got approved for my lease my lease got approved my application got approved so now I can sign the lease so now I have a place to live was gonna take a lot longer but everything has fallen into place and yeah now I have a place and it took like four days so thank you guys so much for watching this vlog sorry I only went and toured like three different apartments but I hope it gives you a realistic look into what it's actually like to apartment hunt in LA because it's kind of a [ __ ] it has like taken the soul out of me this week but see you guys next week and I will see you with an apartment makeover video and probably like a month and a half [Music]

Channel: bestdressed

Views: 1,503,584

Keywords: apartment hunting in la, apartment hunting in los angeles, apartment hunting los angeles, moing to la, moving to los angeles, how to find an apartment, i'm moving, moving vlog, moving to la vlog, apartment hunting tips, apartment hunting vlog, la apartment hunting vlog, apartment shopping, finding an apartment in la, how to find an apartment in los angeles, how to find an apartment in la, cost of living in la, cost of living in los angeles

Id: 6uIY6vZPGDw

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 21 2019