Thinking about buying a home but signing another lease instead? Welcome to Rental Diaries, where real people break down what it’s actually like to rent—what they pay, what they sacrifice, and what they’re still dreaming about.
Today, a Los Angeles native shares how she found the 1,200-square-foot rent-controlled apartment that has served her family of four for more than 16 years.
What was your home experience when you were growing up?
My earliest memories are of apartment living. We always had an upstairs neighbor or someone living right next door to us. Basically, from the ages of 0-13, I was never in a place where we didn’t share a wall with someone. Then my second brother was born, and our two-bedroom apartment got a little too cozy. Not to mention, we only had one bathroom, and as a pre-teen girl, that was tough. We eventually moved into a three-bedroom home in Orange County, which was much more affordable for my family than buying in Los Angeles. The new house was wild to me, because I finally had space of my own: my own room with my own closet and a bathroom I didn’t have to fight for (as much). But deep down, I think I missed the apartment.
What was your living situation like before you found this apartment?
Before my current apartment, my husband and I were in a small one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles, paying way too high a rent for what we were getting.
Did you ever think about buying?
We could either send our kids to private school or buy a house. Because the school district in the Los Angeles area we wanted to live in was not the best, we chose private school. And I wouldn’t change that decision for the world. We weren’t willing to give up location just to be homeowners.
What made you start looking for a new place?
Once we found out we were expecting, we knew we had to look for another place—one with a lot more room. But we didn’t move into a new place until our baby boy started crawling. Once a baby is mobile, you really start to realize how important square footage is. Also, parking was awful in that neighborhood. We had two cars and no designated parking spaces, which meant a few very expensive parking tickets if we forgot to move on street-cleaning days.
Did you have any non-negotiables?
I did not want to live in a place that opened up into a hallway. That felt way too claustrophobic. And we definitely needed two bathrooms (the secret to a happy marriage).
Anything else you were looking for?
Some areas of Los Angeles are rent-controlled, meaning landlords cannot raise your rent more than a designated percentage each year. We knew we wanted to take advantage of this.
Did you have a specific neighborhood in mind?
We knew we wanted to stay in LA proper. The rich culture of our neighborhood and our proximity to museums, restaurants, and parks made it very appealing to a family just starting out. I love that on any given outing, you can hear at least three different languages spoken. What a gift to raise a family in such an area.
What was the search like?
We literally drove around to areas we knew we liked and called the numbers on the “for rent” signs. We did find a few listings online, but we went about it the old-school way.
How long did you look before you found the rental you moved into?
We were looking for a couple of weeks before we stumbled on our current apartment.
How many places did you tour before choosing this one?
We toured about five or six apartments before this one. And they just started to blend into one another. Everything started to look the same after a certain point.
How did you find this place?
Remember Craigslist? We found the listing and set up a walk-through immediately. There’s so much competition in the city, so we knew we needed to act fast.
What was your first impression?
It was literally love at first sight. I could not believe how beautiful it was: big bay windows, hardwood floors, freshly remodeled bathrooms, and all new appliances, but with the charm of the 1920s building. It was almost too good to be true.
Any additional amenities?
Yes: two tandem parking spaces, a garage (although this amenity costs an extra $100 a month), a large, grassy front yard, and a paved backyard.
Was there anything that was less than ideal about the rental?
Because we are so close to major streets, you can sometimes hear rush-hour traffic.
Did you negotiate on the listed rental price?
No, because other people were interested in the place, and in fact, someone had already turned in a completed application. We wanted to give the landlord what he was asking for the place.
What do you think made your application stand out?
Our landlord’s wife immediately took to our son, who was just about a year old. I think that really helped us seal the deal.
Where did you get the money for the deposit?
We used the deposit from our previous apartment for the new one.
What are your lease terms?
We started with a one-year lease, and have been month-to-month ever since.
Did you make any decorative updates?
Over the years, we’ve painted rooms in various colors. And in the bedrooms, we removed the sliding closet doors to make the space feel more open. We’ve also implemented lots of space-saving furniture (stuff that does double duty or has storage) to totally make use of every inch of square footage.
Are you looking to become a homeowner in the future?
If it happens, it happens, but we are quite happy where we are right now. I think that Gen Xers and Gen Zs know that a house does not make or break you in terms of success. It’s not like our parents’ generation.
What do you love most about your rental?
Well, we love paying well below market value for this place. Rent control is an amazing thing. I also love the natural light from our bay and French windows. Other than that, I love our pseudo backyard. Yes, it’s where everyone parks, but not everyone has two cars, and most people are gone during the day and on weekends, so it provided a safe place for our kids to ride bikes and shoot hoops while they were little and even now to this day.
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