As a realtor in Los Angeles, here is some advice on how to rent in this market. I highly recommend that you look on a couple of places: Apartments.com and Zillow.
Believe it or not, Zillow has now adjusted their program; before they used to syndicate all the properties that were for rent on the MLS to Zillow. That's no longer the case. You have to opt into that. I highly recommend you look on Zillow because you may find a homeowner who wants to work directly with a tenant.
If you're looking for a rental, number one is don't be so oohed and awed by the fancy photos. If a homeowner got professional photos for their rental, great, they're going to get a lot more people and they're probably going to rent it for a lot more money.
I recommend that you look for the rental, that doesn't have good pictures. They took it with their iPhone. I promise you that place is golden and you're not going to have as much competition.
The key is being quick because the good ones do go fast. I recommend that as you’re going out there and seeing places as often as possible, that you have all your paperwork ready. You should have a clean application and have your references ready to go.
The bottom line is that you may want to buy a place, but you may not be ready. So, in the meantime, rent for a short amount of time, save up your money and then buy a place.
But that's just my 2 cents. If you have any questions or concerns, let’s talk.
Don’t forget to catch up on my weekly show, Taya’s 2 Cents, where share my two cents on different real estate topics from buying and selling real estate, owning a home and more.