La Puente is within easy driving distance of Disneyland, botanical gardens, L.A., waterparks, and more. Why ever even go home?
La Puente is a small city, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles
La Puente is within easy driving distance of Disneyland, botanical gardens, L.A., waterparks, and more. Why ever even go home?
La Puente is a small city, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. This is important as most people living here travel into Los Angeles or the surrounding communities for work every day. If you're looking for a good job in the city, you may want to reconsider, 99 Cents Only Stores, Burger King, and Jack in the Box are actually listed as three of the top 10 employers in the city. I hope you like carpooling to work if you want a good job.
Do you make a lot of money, own a business, a vice president of a Fortune 500 company, a politician? Because you're going to need the cash to live here. It's less expensive than Los Angeles, but that really isn't saying much, and a few neighborhoods like Industry are very close to the average L.A. price.
What Can I Get?
For a city of it's size, there are surprisingly few high-rise apartment complexes in La Puente, I guess they don't want to spoil the natural skyline. Most of the neighborhoods are made up of houses, and small apartment buildings. You can still find apartments for rent, ranging from small studio and 1 bedroom apartments to larger 3 bedroom apartments, but you may want to focus your search on medium-sized 3 bedroom homes in La Puente. This means you'll have to actually do some yard work, but you can consider mowing the lawn in 85 degree heat as a character building experience.
Finding a Nice Place
Before moving to La Puente, you need to realize that while the streets are relatively clean, the house market is a blood sport. There are a lot more renters than apartments, so you have to work fast when looking for a place.
Scout the Neighborhood First
Don't wait until you've found the bachelor pad of your dreams, to investigate the neighborhood. By the time you're done, the place will be off the market. Take a few days and scout out the area's you'll be doing your apartment search in beforehand rather than during your search. Check it out during the day, and at night, visiting the stores, restaurants and parks to see what they're like.
Ask the Landlord
Before you set up an appointment, ask the landlord a few questions about the property, either by phone or email, to save time. Ask him or her if there are any rental applications already being processed for the property, and how quickly they expect the place to be rented. You want to get a straight answer for these questions, so you don't waste time on a place that is already virtually sold. The landlord will exaggerate things a bit, but most landlords will only bend the truth and not break it into little pieces.
Do Everything on the First Visit
Don't plan follow-up visits over a week or so, the place will be gone before you return. Instead, have a list of questions written down and ready to go, so you can grill the landlord on the first visit. Also spend some time and give the apartment a thorough look through. Find any damage, possible concerns, and problems, ranging from peeling paint and carpet stains, to more serious problems. You may only get one chance to find this stuff before you need to make a decision, so bring a flashlight and someone who knows what to look for.
Have Everything in Order
Because of the housing demand, make sure your referrals, credit report, letters of recommendations, first-born child, and possibly your arm and leg are ready to go.
Industry: Yes, there is a neighborhood called Industry in the city. Why? I don't know, it just is. It's also one of the more expensive places in the city and made up of houses with nary an apartment to see.
South San Jose Hills: Another expensive community, mostly because so many of the homes are not for rent.
City Center: The prices are fairly reasonable here, and while it's still a tight market, you should be able to find a good place without relying on luck or blackmail.
Francisquito Ave.: This is an interesting place, the stores, restaurants and general cost of living is on the high side, but the rent is actually close to the lowest in the city. So if you don't mind leaving the neighborhood to find a good bargain, you can save money.
Temple Ave.: This area has the problem of having almost no apartments in a city. The vacancy rate in this neighborhood is virtually non-existent. You may get lucky here, but you should probably should give it a pass unless the landlord is related by blood.
S. Sandalwood Ave.: The least expensive place to live in the city, also makes this neighborhood hard to get a place to actually rent. Try your luck, but be ready to jump at the first good place that appears.
Hayland St.: This neighborhood probably has the most apartments in the entire city. So the market isn't quite so vicious here. The prices are nice too.
La Puente has been trying to develop itself, but it hasn't had much luck. There are some decent bars and restaurants, but nothing that would ever win awards or be known as the place to be. It even has trouble getting modern stores into the city, and the biggest business news is that Walmart will be opening a store there in the near future.
So, it's a nice, boring community, which is why you need a car to visit other places, if you want any kind of excitement. But if you want a quiet life, while having a job in the big city, you can make a nice little life for yourself in La Puente.
