Wishing to relocate to Southern California....rent and job ???

If you get a nice place in Southern California, sharing the rent with a roomate...how much would the monthly housing expenses run and what kind of deposits are usually required???
Also, how hard is it to get a job full time possibly in an office someplace...

Rent depends on location.. However for a single apartment rent runs anywhere from 700 a month (if you are lucky) to 2000.. if you are just starting out, you can look for roommates. Roomates.com is a good place to start..

The best place to look for apartments is Westside Rentals. They have the most comprehensive listing in LA. Depending on your credit, most places look for 1 months rent plus security deposit (which is 1 or half months rent).. If you have awesome credit, you can ask for just the security deposit. Full time jobs are hard to find because LA is mostly full of actors, musicians, models etc.. thus temp work is huge.. Not to say full time jobs dont exist.. they do.. Monster.com or careerbuilder.com those are good places.. You can even look for recruitment places like KForce or Adecco for help.

Cost of living depends on where you live but food it medium priced here.. but you can always just buy groceries.. Its good to have a couple of months pay saved up so that you can allow yourself to find a job.. If you cant find full time work, check craigslist and you will see a bunch of temp jobs avaiable.. promotions/office temp jobs are all pretty flexible so if you are trying to pursue acting or something else it can work..

Good Luck

It is very expensive!! If you want a roomie look around the colleges (UCLA, USC, Long Beach State, UCI, SDSU). Expect your portion of rent to be anywhere from $600 to $1000. The nicer the neighborhood and the closer to the beach you are the more expensive it is. It shouldn't be too hard to find a job. Temp agencies are usually a quick hire.

I relocated to southern California once, and I stayed about 3 years. It is a nice place to visit, but I missed my family and hometown. When I was down there, 10 yrs ago, rent was cheaper....now you are looking at at least $500-$600 each and deposits are usually first and last month. You should really find yourself a job before you go, so you can be assured of income. There is nothing wrong with finding a job and then changing jobs because it doesn't work out once you are there. Monster.com, etc. are websites that can hook you up with the area. I lived in Riverside (one-half hour from Orange County). When I was there I worked in real estate but that is not a regular pay check so I don't recommend it as a full time thing.