Homeless, Jobless, and Poor pretty much describes about every recent graduate that makes the big haul out to L.A. to start living the Beautiful Life. But just like the CW show tanked, moving out to LA can be equally as terrible (well, maybe not that bad). So let me dispense a little hard-won advice equally useful for a transplant or a native in transition.

Let's tackle the first issue: Homelessness. It is a great advantage if you know someone in the area and can ask them to crash for a week or two. But THOU SHALL NOT STAY TOO LONG (the eleventh commandment)!!! This is a “Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma’am” operation folks – get in and out as quickly as possible, while being the best house guest possible.

“What’s the best way I can be a fantastic house guest?” You ask. A few quick bullet points:

§ Do not use the air conditioning

§ Wash your dishes and pick up your clothes

§ Be ACTIVE in you house hunt – the less productive you look, the sooner your hosts will begin to despise you (thus the sooner they toss you out on your ass)

And the biggest factor:

§ GIVE THEM MONEY. Yes, you are poor, but guess what – chances are you stayed home a month longer while your hosts were house hunting in LA outside the cozy comfort of Mom and Dad’s money. You’re using their electric, gas, water, internet, and television. So CHIP IN, cheapskate!

But I digress, let us continue…

Get a Westside Rental Account. A Westside rental account is probably the easiest and most efficient way to search for apartments/houses/etc. It is recommended as the number one site, and is only $60 for 60 days ($1/day in case that seems like way too much). Create one account, and then share this account with everyone you know so that you lower the cost of the membership (less than $1/day). I recommend signing up about a week prior to arriving to LA so that you can familiarize yourself with how the site works, and also to cross check the areas that you are looking for apartments with the safety of those neighborhoods at LAlife.com. (You might not have heard, LA has a few gangs…)

Stay organized and focused. If you already have roommates, be sure that you already agree on how much you are willing to spend, whether or not your parents will cosign, or if you will be willing to put down a double security deposit. Stick to those agreements once they have been made or you’ll find yourself starting a square 1 and ready to kill your roommates.

Select a point person to be the main contact for finding apartments. (Note: This does not mean they do all of the work!) Even though Westside Rentals is good, allowing multiple people to use it can get confusing. It’s good to keep a notebook to keep track of the apartments you are looking at and any thoughts you have on them. Staying on top of this is incredibly helpful, and gives you less of a headache.

Research. You may be new to renting, or renting in the real world as opposed to a college town so it’s important to protect yourself from getting screwed. Know if your area is rent controlled, and what the laws are if it is or isn’t, and other general rental laws. One helpful fact, is that Los Angeles rental Laws dictates that a landlord/company can only demand up to 2 months rent as a security deposit if the apartment is Unfurnished, and up to 3 months rent as a security deposit if the apartment is furnished.

How do you find this information? A simple google search will work or call the town’s city council.

Be Attentive and Ask Questions. Whether taking a tour of an apartment or signing a lease, be sure to cover all of your bases. Triple check all areas of the apartment for any potential issues that may arise, and check the lease for any rules about having guests, noise violations, and the process of making a complaint to your landlord.

For example, my dishwasher doesn’t open fully unless the fridge door is open (the bastards got me on that one! I had to bring my own fridge).

Check out the parking situation by looking at any guaranteed parking; if parking isn’t guaranteed, make sure you check what street parking is like during the evening.

Laundry hours are a potential problem. If you’re working in the industry, you might not get out of work until 7, 8, 9 o’clock or later. Plus you have to factor in the commute. A lot of apartment complexes have laundry hours from 9am-9pm, which means you will only be able to do laundry on the weekend. Ugh!

Home is Where the Heart Is…and Hopefully not where the Cockroaches are. To be honest this is California, even the nicest places have a cockroach or two (They just enjoy top shelf).

Republished with permission from Mike DeHart, our very own Lazy Bum.

Mike DeHart is borderline obsessed with new media and harnessing emerging technologies to make people's lives easier and more cost effective. With an urge to one day retire and open up a half baked dessert shoppe, old Italian style pizza place (the rectangular kind with the think crust) or maybe both under the same roof; he's learning all he can about personal finance and savings all while keeping up with the Jones' in the online world. Spelling and sometimes homonyms tend to become afterthoughts for Mike and if caught should be swept under the virtual rug. Mike is also passionate about socially responsible businesses and you can read more about that atFromDeHart.com.