A year-long rennovation of/addition to our house means my wife, two labradors, cat, and I will be homeless for 12 months starting in March. We still have two months, so it is really too early for looking at/locking in rental options, but we will be in Asia for the first half of February, so I have started early. Lots of possibilities so far - but my FT spirit is having heartburn thinking about spending all this money on a rental without any type of return. Thought I would turn to the creative folks here and see if anyone has any out of the box ideas on maximizing my rental need?

When I moved out here 4 years ago, I was able to priceline rooms near LAX for $31/night for a couple months, so I did pretty well in reducing cost. I was travling about a week each month, so my montly 'rent' ended up being about $700/month and I had maid service, Internet, TV -- and in the two stays at the Crowne Plaza free breakfast thrown in with my status! Plus I earned a few miles too (stays at Marriott and SPG properties). So I felt like I got the best out of the system I could. But that approach will not work so well with the pets this time around.

Checking out craigslist, the MLS, and driving around to open houses, I think a house with a yard on the westside (or almost anywhere in LA for that matter) is probably going to run me $2700/month minimum (and I could definitely spend more). So that is $30,000+ -- and on top of that I have to hand someone about $6000 in deposit fees for a year.

Have looked at options like Execustay - actually some great properties in Marina Del Rey - and with our corporate discount the monthly rate is almost equal to renting a house. Tricky thing will be not having a yard for the dogs -- even with the properties' policy seeming to allow for them (though a lot of the placs say a weight restriction may apply - my labs may have to go on a diet!).

Also thought about vacation ownership down in Orange County and doing a commute - though I think those properties are pretty expensive and would not really work for what I need? Best other use of miles in this situation is a friend who will accept use of my airline miles and hotel points as barter for use of one of their duplex units (which has a small yard). And I actually have enough points to barter for several months of use - but want to keep that as our emergency plan for now.

So anyways - that is my situation. Any interesting ideas or thoughts would be appreciated. I am hoping there is some angle on this I have not thought about. And if there is, I have no doubt a FT'er will have it!

You can certainly rent a house with yard for less than $2700/month. Have you looked in the San Fernando Valley? I just saw a two bedroom advertised for $1800.

And, there are lots of houses for rent in L.A. I hear the advertised rents are negotiable, if you have decent credit. The end of the housing boom has left a lot of spec buyers very interested in renting out houses they bought for the now non-existant appreciation.

Yes, have seen that if you go to the central or northern end of the valley or east towards the Inland Empire, you can certainly get a house for a lot lower (i.e. have seen nice places as low as $1500-$1600/month). I guess my definition of 'LA' is more limited than it should be - Westside, Hollywood, Southern valley, South Bay. If I leave the Westside, would probably prefer to head south before going to the Valley or East (just based on where I work and needing to come to our house in Santa Monica often too).

Anyone with any experience on how much they were able to negeotiate off an advertised rental rate would also be useful knowledge. And even with a lower rent, the same question on any angle to get miles/points/other benefits still applies. Thanks!

We had to leave our Westside apt, and we wound up in the Valley. Big mistake. Hours and hours to get over the Sepulveda Pass. Now we are in Long Beach, much milder weather and an easier commute. Too bad they don't or won't develop the Westside.

You only have 2 options. One is to renovate and the other is to move. (Assuming that continuing to live in your old 70's-style (?) abode is not an option.)

Just spend a lot of time thinking about the realtor's fee (6%), were you to move, not to mention the premium you would pay for moving into a house that has already been renovated. That should make the cost of the rental easier to bear.

My need is: Help me to convince my wife that it would be better to do a major renovation (rental costs included) than it would be to move. The rental is "throwing away" $30,000 or so. The moving is "throwing away" a few hundred thousand, the way I look at it.

We already decided to renovate (1940 Cape Cod 2-story, we are the second owners). And since we bought it 4 years ago, we will do fine after the work is done - rent included in the cost or not. But I am greedy - I want to maximize whatever angle I can! There are lots of ways to justify/rationalize the sunk cost of the rent (extra cost of the addition. avoiding a broker’s fee) – however you treat it, I have already ‘lost’ $30k. It is sort of like a receivables account in default – I am looking for ways to squeeze anything else out of it.

I am also lucky in that my brother has a broker’s license, so only have to worry about 3% if we were to sell. I have done the math of our house for current value with permits and plans ready to go and moving into something finished vs. our total cost in after construction - it ends up being close with the rental thrown in (it should not be close - call it the Santa Monica government multiplier on cost of construction) - but we do come out a little better renovating. But that math is just theorhetical for us - we love the house we are in and are not selling - hard to put a price on being able to get this great old house we lucked into to be almost exactly how we want a new house to be (but with the old charm and style).

So really, my question is not about my renting per se - just how to maximize the act of renting as a stand-alone issue from the reasons for renting. All the other info is just sharing background (though if you have a good rental idea for us, it will be background well shared!).

Depends on where and when you bought here in LA? But if you want, I can show her all the flyers I picked up today at open houses (I hit a few to see what buying options I have too). It being a nice day and just after New Year’s resolutions, lots of people were out, and I saw a few good quality houses which will do fine, but more than half of my stops had price reductions of some kind. $15-30k, and sometimes it was a second or third reduction. For most people (anyone who bought 2004 and before) they will still make a lot on their houses if they sell, but looking at what is sitting on the market vs. recent sales, my take is prices are back to a few % above where people bought 12-15 months ago. Two I saw today are people who bought fall 2005 and need to sell for whatever reason. Decent enough places, but they will each lose $20-50k if they can sell at their current asking price (these are in the low 700s, mainly in Westchester and West LA – houses are asking a few thousand above their '05 purchase price – but as mentioned they have to pay the 6%).

I am not an economist, but my thoughts are that the housing market (except for great properties) will dip back a few % below 2005 prices before hitting a strong support level in the spring (basing this on what I could buy now with my potential rent payment @ current interest rates vs. what the same payment would have translated to @ 2003/2004 rates, talking to a bunch of realtors the past few weeks, and looking at things like rent to mortgage service ratios of income properties on the market). Anyways, if you sell now but wait a few more months before buying, then I think your wife might be right on the move vs. remodel. But if you move now, I think you are buying into a declining market, and that is definitely worse than what your return from a remodel will be. Probably not hundreds of thousands in loss... but you never know!

have you looked at rentals in craigslist? I have plenty of friends who swear by it.

My primary tool. Too many hours spent searching the housing posts already. If knifeandfork lets us know what his/her rental needs are (another recent post here in the LA forum) - I can probably provide the best query structure to make craigslist somewhat organized!

Lots of houses available for rent on CL. Some of them sort of reasonable, some of them not (even have my eye on a few that continue to be vacant). Definitely a lot of optimistic landlords. Noone is really interested in me yet since I do not need their place until March. But I am not worried about finding a place when the time comes. Just on how to find the most for my dollars.