Moving to LA with my 4 years old daughter! Office near LA Country Club at Santa Monica Blvd. Where to live?

Question

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I plan to take a job offer from a bank located at Santa Monica Blvd across Los Angeles Country Club.

It's a manager level position, 5am to 1pm, Monday through Friday. The most challenging part of the job is it's uncertainty. If I make money for the company, I take a 10% cut. If not I might lose my job next year.

That's why I am hesitating to buy a house, although the up front payment from this company can be used a down payment for a moderate house.

My daughter will turn four next year. I want to send her to pre-K. So here comes my question: which area to live that has good public school and not too expensive? Will the school take my daughter if we live in an apartment? Do we have to own a house in that area?

I don't mind driving a little bit if traffic is not bad 5 am in the morning.

Thank you all for your help!

Answer 1

You are going to want to rent because you will not be able to afford to buy anything remotely near there. I am not kidding or being mean, just look at realtor.com with the zip code of your bank.

The public schools will allow you to enroll your dd with a rental address.
BUT unless she has a disability or is ESL she will not qualify for public preK.
There is traffic at 4-5am all the way to the inland empire. The kicker is going to be trying to sort out how to pick up your girl if you get off work at 1 and she gets out of school next year in K at 2 :30 you may not make it unless you rent really close to your jobsite. You need to talk to the relocation person to see what apartments are close and find a private daycare that opens early so you can leave her at 4am and have them drop her at a preschool so you can pick her up after work.

Do the math to cover gas, food, rent, daycare, preschool etc.. do the math VIP. And you can not sell a house with no equity in it to walk away from CA after one year without losing your savings/down payment.
Please come out and see the area you are considering before accepting the job.
And understand the crime there especially the long beach gangs are busy there at night, the west side lunatics and moving a little girl into that. She will have no yard to play in, no playground to walk to, you will sit in the car for an hour trying to get to the beach on the weekend.
Check Megans law off the lapd site before signing a rental agreement. My gf forgot to do it and had to pay a ton to get out of her lease when she found out how many of her neighbors were registered sex offenders. And that was in a very popular gated community. Good Luck to you. That is a fun area for college students and singles.

Answer 2

Down payment for a moderate house? LOL. Houses cost $400K for small ones in Los Angeles, more in the outlying cities.

If you look at real estate ads, you'll see that one of the selling points will be "Temple City Schools." Maybe the realtors are on to something. Temple City is a few miles from Los Angeles, but it's still relatively nice. You may need to look into renting a house. Good luck.

Answer 3

Depends on how much you can afford for rent. Stay west of Robertson Blvd & North of Venice Blvd. Santa Monica is safe but pricey. Ditto for Malibu. Hollywood Hills is affordable but has an artsy community. Call the personnel department from the bank and get some first hand advice and suggestions.

Answer 4

I'm not from there, but since I don't know anything about Los Angeles, those you're asking, I can't say for sure however, I was thinking of a website to see if it can be of any help to you -- you can always ask questions on that website, or something. Hopefully, you get good responses. Good luck!

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/

But use with caution -- Get a lease if you want to rent a place.

Answer 5

Traffic should be ok at 5 am