Today started off with a big dose of disappointment as we found out that the house we fell in love with and applied for won’t be vacant until May. I guess you have to expect that from an online relationship with LA, what you see isn’t always what you get.
So we’re back on the house hunt, albeit with a smaller field of candidates now. There seem to be fewer listings on Westside Rentals for the area we’re looking in now than there were a week ago. However, I am optimistic that we’ll get a place that will suit us far better.
My experience at finding rental properties is fairly limited. After living at college, my friends and I were successful in getting the first house we applied for, a massive 4 bedroom house with low maintenance yards in a cute little cul-de-sac. Since I moved out of that place seven years ago, I haven’t had to fill in any lease papers or hunt for rentals, so the excitement, wishing, hoping and luck to get a place is all quite novel.
In my initial searches on Westside Rentals (the place to look if you want to live in LA) I was totally unrealistic. I had a great time pretending I was leading an Entourage-esque life and looked at big mansions with pools, cool gardens and servant’s entrances. I think I even imagined having my own Turtle to drive me around so it didn’t need to be close to anything.
When I finally, and reluctantly, did the maths I realised that I could only afford to live in one of those places for a couple of months before my savings disappeared and sent me back to Australia. That’s what Hollywood does to you, it gets you dreaming of how life will be “someday when” and makes you believe you already have a million dollars in the bank.
Now I have a firm list of criteria, a strict budget and far more realistic expectations. I mean, I currently live in a little shack infested with creepy crawlies, a chimney that leaks water onto my stove when it rains and an outdoor dunny. Give me a bedroom with a window, a kitchen bench and a toilet down the hall and I’ll be happy.
a little cameo 