Frugal Living in Los Angeles - Renting or Buying a Home

In Los Angeles the biggest expense is renting a home or buying one. Rents in west-side of Los Angeles are much higher than on the east-side

Median home prices in Los Angeles top half a million dollars, and rents are higher than 1,000 dollars.
If you want to buy a home, California has one of the highest foreclosures rates, and prices are lower in many places

For those who want to rent a home, California is considered a renter friendly state, and the renting industry is regulated by rent control laws

If you want to rent a home in Los Angeles, your rent could not go up more than 3-5% over the previous year's amount

If the landlord pays water, gas, and electric those costs are also allowed to rise. Taking in a roommate might affect your rent by about 10%

Take notice, some cities are not in the Los Angeles, even though are close by: West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Culver City, Marina del Rey, Ladera Heights, Inglewood

Like in any city, renting needs time for searching, and today you have websites which list homes for rent or sale. Be carefull, many websites will charge you money, but there are some which offer free listings, and doesn't require a registration or payment for there services. One of the best is Craiglist, which lists rentals, houses, and roommate situations, house swaps.