<p>I guess the next thing DS needs to be concerned about, after he receives the car, is:</p>
<p>Where to garage the car? When to transfer his driver license from our home state to his new state and then how to register the car in his new state. I think I will mostly let him handle this work on his end by himself (but we will prepare any paper work, e.g., title of the car, that he may need from us.) Since he is still a student, this may not be so urgent - unless his state is as “picky” as California about car ownership, where the law is more strict. ) I remember DS told us that one of his classmates in college drove the car back and forth between his home state (which is California) and the state where the college is at for 4 years.</p>
<p>Our D still has not transferred her driver’s license, tho she does have her vehicle registered in CA, where she does park it. She just parks her car on the street, with the risks and some tickets that are entailed. S always had a rental that included parking (different kids). It is important for him to get the vehicle registered in CA–just go to the DMV in CA via AAA and it should be done rather quickly and fairly painlessly. I believe you have about 30 days from when the vehicle entered CA to get it registered in CA or you can get tickets that can add up.</p>
<p>So it seems registering the car should be done much sooner than changing the driver’s license.</p>
<p>When I moved into CA, I purchased a new car so the car was registered automatically by the car dealer (well, they just helped me to register the car.) I also had no problem in getting the auto insurance with my OOS driver license before I walked out of the car dealer (hey, their business partner got the extra business.) But in a year, the insurance company insisted I change the driver license to CA, saying that it is CA’s law that requires me to do so in one year otherwise they can not sell me the insurance - so I dutifully got my OOS driver license transferred (no need to have a driving test though.) I did not know AAA in CA could do something for me back then.</p>
<p>DS is on the other coast. I think AAA there also processes many things DMV may do. But I do not know the law in that state (CT). Hopefully, he will figure it out on his end before it is too late and I only need to send him the title (the car has been paid off so we have the cleared title.)</p>
<p>mcat - As far as I know, AAA in CT can only do license renewals. Everything else has to be done at DMV unless there have been changes to what AAA can do in the past few years.</p>
<p>Too bad they don’t have an auto train cross-country…</p>
<p>Why does he have to change anything regarding his car? My friend had NY plates for 8 years after moving to NJ. Is he trying to get CA residency?</p>
<p>It seems like the amount of time he will be there, changing his license and the license plate will be the least of his immediate worries.</p>
<p>It’s just what CA requires… 30 days. They have the most strict emissions standards of all states and want control over who is driving which cars there for any length of time. </p>
<p>FWIW… H says that D purchased her truck within a couple of days after moving to CA, but before she had her CA license. </p>
<p>Dbwes, thanks for asking. I arrived in LA last Tuesday and have learned something new every day. He still doesn’t have an apartment but he did submit an application today.</p>
<p>The real estate agent recommended to us has been pretty much worthless. We have exchanged about a dozen emails but he has not given us any potentials that were in our area. There a lot of apartments in this area so we don’t want to move to the suburbs yet.</p>
<p>We have tried Craig’s list, Westside, RadPad, Trulia, Apartmenthunterz, and just plain old walking/driving around the neighborhood reading signs. There is a LOT of pressure to make a quick decision because demand is so great. We looked at 6 apartments with one rental agent on Saturday. By the time that we were at the 4th apartment, the agent had received an online app from someone who had looked at the first apartment with us. I am trying very hard not to get caught up in the hysteria.</p>
<p>I don’t know if the whole city is like this but this area is extremely diverse both culturally and economically so it is a good idea to drive or walk around the neighborhood. Most of the online sites do have a safety or walk-ability score although I guess that could mean something else. I have been impressed with the friendliness of the people that I have met at the grocery store and laundromat but I don’t like the idea of S walking home from class alone at 9 or 10 pm. The Super 8 that we are staying at seems to be edging towards a not real safe neighborhood.</p>
<p>On the positive side–I found a Steeler bar where S can watch future games!</p>
<p>Shipping the car has moved way off our list of priorities so I will revisit that at a much later date. If he gets this apartment, the next issue will be furniture and how minimalist he can be.</p>
<p>Sometimes it is better to respect the hysteria. When my daughter was looking for an apartment in NYC, she had her employment letter, bank statements, and a check with her so she could submit her application before others could. She also learned to go through a listing agent rather than a regular broker to jump ahead of other applicants because listing agents do not like to share their commissions. In a very competitive market, it is generally very efficient, so if you have seen few apartments within your price range, location, then you should really just pick one instead of looking at every available apartment.</p>
<p>@lotsofquestions,
Welcome to LA. First if all, it never rains in sept like it did this morning and it usually is not this humid. Second, All of LA is not as culturally and economically as diverse as that area. It’s an area that has been slowly becoming gentrified thus you really have to look around with open eyes. I agree with the idea that if apts are being snatched up so quickly, then it is probably better to go without an agent (such as westside rentals) so that the leasor does not have to pay a commission to your agent and it will improve your chances of getting the apt. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice on the rental agent. That makes sense in such a strong seller’s market. We are anxiously waiting on one app. and if it doesn’t happen, then i will start walking around the neighborhood again. </p>
<p>Wow! While I was typing, he just got a call from the apartment asking for more verification on a credit issue. Of course I didn’t have it with me so I tried to call my husband who of course was not answering his phone. I managed to reach someone at the bank who said she would fax what we needed. Now waiting for a second call which I hope will come through before his one pm class. I left home without some of the critical papers that I should have brought with me. </p>
<p>Drama! S went off to class and I headed to laundromat. Just as I got the machine loaded with my clothes, S called to say that we needed $900 money order/cashier check for deposit. I headed to Ralph’s but their machine is broken so back to CVS. The ATM would only give me $400 but luckily I had a secret stashed $250. I also had the $300 in money orders that I had not used for the apartment deposit that never called us back. I sent him a text saying that I had gotten the money order(s) and he called between his classes. We can take the mo when he is done at 7 this evening. He is off now to complete the paperwork for casting his first movie and I am heading back to the laundromat.<br>
Next up will be trying to furnish/equip a totally bare apartment economically. Thinking a futon, a mattress and a table or desk and chair to start with. But at least the big worry seems to be over. By this weekend he should no longer be homeless. </p>
<p>@lotsofquests You sound like you are doing an awesome job getting your grad school son settled, even though you had many reservations in the beginning about being able to help out. Impressive!</p>
<p>I really appreciate all of the help and advice that I have received here. At my senior citizen age, I am pretty confident in dealing with every day life but some situations can throw me back to that period of major insecurity that I felt in my youth. My biggest fear in these situations is that everyone else knows that secret to success and I am still in the Dark Ages, using smoke signals to communicate while the world is using computers. Checking in with CC, I have the benefit of lots of experience and trial and error. </p>
<p>We got the keys to the apartment on Wednesday; he can move in Saturday. Yesterday while S was gone from 9 am until 11 pm (classes and then a movie/discussion), I arranged for electricity and gas. He could have done it online but the website said that it would take 2 business days to have the electricity turned on and we would have had no lights over the weekend. I told him that he needed to research internet plans, but when the gas company offered to transfer me, I agreed to listen to the information. AT&T seemed to fit his needs at a reasonable rate , so I took care of that, also. </p>
<p>His friends recommended an online furniture store that had some decent looking futons and sectionals. They also had a showroom that was supposedly 35 minutes away so I decided to visit. What an experience! Why did California name 3 different freeways with the same 2 digits? 10, 110, and 101? I had glanced at the directions before I started the car but I trusted my invaluable iPad to get me to my destination. When it told me to go from 10 to 101 or maybe 110 south, I thought that I had gone the wrong direction initially. Then, 15 minutes into my drive, my iPad quit. I managed to pull into, I think, a downtown exit and find a parking space. My iPad screen showed a bright red thermometer about to boil over. Although I am used to my iPad getting warm, that is the first time that it has gotten hot enough to shut down and here I am in an area of LA with no clue how to get home. I turned the AC on full blast, let it cool down, and resumed my trip. I found the furniture store talked to a very helpful salesady who said that they could deliver Tuesday or Wedneday if he orders this weekend. S and I will go over after his Saturday workshop and hopefully have everything delivered by Wed. If they schedule the delivery, I will plan to go home on Thursday. The nice thing about Southwest senior fares, there is penalty for canceling or changing dates.</p>
<p>I had hoped to do more touristy things during this trip but I think that will have to wait. With temperatures above 100 expected for the weekend, I think I will confine my outdoor activities to only the necessary. H is talking again about driving S’s car, so I might be back here after the October 5th wedding of my niece.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all of the helpful advice. I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone, but I survived and learned. S has also learned and will in the future know how to handle things on his own when his schedule is more accommodating. There is no way that he could have done all of the bank stuff without me here as a guarantor. </p>
<p>lotsofquests - I had a very last minute trip out to LA two weeks ago, as D2 was buying H’s car from him, so I drove it out from the Chicago area. I didn’t have time to make airline reservations for the flight home before I left, so I did it on the Saturday night before I was to fly home on a Thursday. I checked all airlines, and all LA and Chicago area airports. I am hesitant to fly out of Burbank (Bob Hope Airport) because you can’t get a direct flight from there to Chicago, but when I checked prices, flying Burbank to Chicago (through Phoenix) was more than $200 less than any other flight option, so I did it. My layover in Phoenix was about 70 minutes, so plenty of time to get to my next gate. From the area you have been describing being in, I think Burbank would be more convenient to get to than LAX, but again, you will likely have to have a layover somewhere. Also, Burbank is INCREDIBLY easy to get in and out of since it is so small; in fact, they don’t even have jetways; you walk from the gate out onto the tarmac, then up some stairs to get on the plane. But I just couldn’t beat the price ($236 one way, making the reservation five days before flying). </p>
<p>Re: “S was gone from 9 am until 11 pm (classes and then a movie/discussion).”</p>
<p>One thing I do not understand is that why these days the young generation are often expected to be under such a high stress, leaving them almost no time for everything else except “work” - especially this is true for some young men or women who are to break into a so-called “professional” field,</p>
<p>I once notice that even the young kids at my local elementary school and their parents were quite stressed out when the end-of-school-year project was due. There were more exhausted parents than kids toward the end of a school year. It is almost as if the “system” expects the parents to participate! Rant off. (I am actually “scared” because my kid will very likely move, maybe even more than once, in the coming years and often times he has extremely little time to talk to us - unless he needs our help badly, similar to OP’s situation.)</p>
<p>OP, I always think it is still good to have a GPS in addition to iPhone/iPad. I heard that in some state, it may even be illegal (at least not safe) to use a iPhone without using bluetooth/headphone while driving. I always make sure that everybody in my family has access to a Garmen/TomTom while he/she is driving.</p>
<p>Teriwtt, I checked for flights on Travelocity from any LA area airport for next week. The cheapest flight was $384. Southwest which doesn’t charge for checked luggage has a senior citizen fare which is fully refundable up to time of departure for $303. The refundable part is nice because who knows what might come up between now and next Friday! ( If the furniture can’t be delivered before Thusday, he won’t be available to wait for it because his first movie is scheduled to start shooting on Thursday). I won’t be carrying as much stuff home as I brought out but I still want to check my bags so I don’t have to carry between the two flights of my return trip.</p>