City Year LA Orientation Guide May. 2015 | Page 52
Advice from AmeriCorps Members
There is a lot to consider when looking for housing for your service year. Below
are tips from former AmeriCorps Members to help guide your search.
Location:
Be as close to public transportation (buses or Metro) as possible (within
½ mile of a metro station is ideal!). Los Angeles sprawls out far and wide
and this will allow you to easily commute to and from work and exciting
areas to explore
Be wary of “metro-accessible” housing in rental advertisements—use
Google maps to find real distance and walkability
Living outside of Los Angeles proper can be challenging and add significant time too
Landing a great place:
Most leases are signed within 3-6 weeks of your move-in date.
The apartment market is competitive. If you get the first apartment you apply for, GREAT! If not, move
on to the next one, fast.
If possible, walk around the neighborhoods you’re interested in and look for signs with vacancies. Often
times you’ll find places that aren’t posted on websites.
Connect with other AmeriCorps Members via the Facebook page to find potential roommates.
Save up some money and head out a week early to find housing.
Paying for it:
Set aside one paycheck per month for rent.
Keep in mind other costs such as parking, gas, utilities and relocation costs. You’ll have a lot of upfront
costs when moving to a new city including travel to L.A., security deposits, utilities startup fees,
furniture, and more that add up!
Avoid loans or credit cards to pay for your living expenses in LA. It’s a great way to ruin your credit
quickly. Bad credit can really hurt your apartment search or even hurt your chances at getting a job.
Things to look out for:
Many apartments in LA don’t have large utilities included. Plan accordingly when looking for housing. If
you need to buy or rent one there are always cheap ones on craigslist.
Laundry in unit is very helpful, especially if you don’t have a car to transport everything.
If Laundry is not in the unit, account for that in your budget.
Make sure apartment/house has good maintenance protocol.
Plan to save $1000+ in order to make a down payment on housing and cover food costs at the start of
this adventure!
Ways to save money:
Look for places with utilities included in rent.
Look to individual rooms in houses that are already occupied.
Partition bedrooms to share and reduced rent costs.
Consider not having cable.
Consider living at home with your parents, if possible.
Consider living in a less “trendy” neighborhood.
Do research to see if your apartment building or county has assistance programs for paying utilities due
to economic constraints.
52 | C o r p s M e m b e r O r i e n t a t i o n & R e s o u r c e G u i d e
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