Southern California

Thinking about renting out a property between Paso Robles and the Mexican border? Whether you own a condo within walking distance of the sand, a family home in one of the quieter valley suburbs, or a small apartment building in a city where two-thirds of the population rents, Southern California offers it all. With seventeen offices from San Luis Obispo down to Chula Vista and out through the desert, we know a thing or two about this half of the state.

Those offices look after single-family homes, condominiums, small multifamily buildings and commercial space. The work is the same in each city — marketing the property, placing a resident, collecting the rent, handling maintenance, sending you a statement every month — but Palm Springs is not Pasadena, and what the law asks of you in the City of Los Angeles is not what it asks of you in Ventura County. A good many of the owners we do this for do not live in California at all.

With a population of roughly four million residents, Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, and taking in the whole of Los Angeles County and its smaller cities the urban area passes ten million. The city is a hub for arts, design, entertainment, sport and media, which is what draws people to it and what keeps the rental market tight. The high cost of housing is the main reason living here is so expensive: homeownership is out of reach for a great many residents, and as a result something close to two-thirds of the population rents, much as in other large coastal cities. Low vacancy and high demand together are why average rents here run well above most of the country.

Long Beach, on the coast just south of it, offers a mix of beachy charm, cultural richness and a tight-knit community, and it has become a destination for transplants as much as for tourists. Jobs come from education, aerospace, technology and healthcare, and the port adds its own in homeland security, environmental protection and public service; Boeing, Frontier Communications and the Aquarium of the Pacific are among the larger employers. It is also one of the most walkable cities in Southern California, with restaurants, shops and attractions in close reach of each other and a genuine bike culture on top.

Orange County and San Diego have both spent years near the top of the national competitiveness tables. A RentCafe study of the 134 largest rental markets scored each on how long an apartment stays vacant, occupancy, the number of renters chasing each unit, the share of residents who renew, and how much new supply arrived that quarter. Orange County came in at number 11 with a score of 89, 39 average vacant days and 96.3% of apartments occupied; San Diego at number 13, scoring 87 with 34 average vacant days and 96.2% occupied. The West Coast entries had the lowest renewal rates of the whole top 20, which is worth knowing before you budget for turnover.

Out in the desert, the Palm Springs market runs on different fuel. The city has long been a tourist destination, but since the pandemic pushed work into the home a good many more people have considered moving there permanently. It is not an inexpensive place to buy, though it is cheaper per square foot than the state average, and that combination — a lower price per foot and the chance of a larger property — is what keeps attracting investors. Short-term letting is common here and heavily regulated, from the registration certificate to the point person the city requires an out-of-town owner to name.

Santa Barbara sits on the coast just north of Los Angeles, on the longest stretch of south-facing California coastline, and is sought after by families and by anyone after a quieter, better-looking place to live. It stays small — 88,665 residents at the 2020 census, 91st in the state by population — and its economy is unusually diverse for its size, spread across service, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, finance and education, with the service industry alone accounting for more than 35% of employment.

Officially San Buenaventura, Ventura lies between the two, with a population of 110,763 at the 2020 census and a reputation built on its beaches, its historic architecture and a friendly sort of community life. The County of Ventura is the largest employer, taking in over 15% of the working population, and the city is also home to Patagonia. Further inland the Inland Empire, the Antelope Valley and the southern San Joaquin Valley around Bakersfield answer to a different set of numbers again: more space, lower entry prices, longer commutes, and tenancies that tend to run longer than they do on the coast. Each office page carries its own pricing, the manager responsible and a direct number.

Finding the right neighborhood is extremely important, and not always easy, especially if you don’t live near the area. There are a variety of factors that will have a big impact on a family’s life, particularly local school quality and nearby attractions such as libraries, parks, museums, or movie theaters — and those are the same factors that decide how long a tenancy runs.

In San Diego, as one of the most desired neighborhoods in the city, the biggest attraction of Del Mar Heights is its location. It sits along the coast, offering plenty of beautiful beachfront property, and with little more than 13,000 residents it is a friendly, tight-knit community. Local schools include the Del Mar Hills Academy and Del Mar Heights School, both with excellent ratings, and it is a vibrant neighborhood with a plethora of family-friendly activities, including Powerhouse Park, Crest Canyon Park and Torrey Pines Golf Course. Solana Beach is another seaside neighborhood, known to have one of the highest average incomes in San Diego, with exceptional local schools and plenty of personality in its coffee shops, parks, and restaurants. Encinitas is one of San Diego’s most popular residential areas, home to over 62,000 residents.

Up the coast, Long Beach is not only one of the most walkable cities in Southern California but across the country. You’ll find that the majority of restaurants, shops, and attractions are in relatively close distance from each other, and it has a thriving bike culture with its bike paths, bike-share programs located around the city, and a general bike-friendly atmosphere. There are also plenty of options for public transport with the Long Beach Transit bus, Passport bus, and water taxis. The city offers a rich and diverse art scene showcased amongst its theaters, galleries, and museums, from the Museum of Latin American Art to the Long Beach Playhouse, and it has stood among the top cities in the country for LGBTQ+ culture and inclusivity.

Further north, downtown Ventura is a lively cultural center, featuring museums, galleries, shopping, and dining, as well as the Mission San Buenaventura, a historical foundation of the city constructed in 1782. The Ventura Harbor features a retail center, restaurants serving fresh seafood, and fishing boats, and it is home to the Channel Islands National Park Headquarters, where boats depart to the Channel Islands every day. The Ventura County Fairgrounds offers cultural events year-round, and the Majestic Ventura Theater is a popular concert venue that has hosted Red Hot Chili Peppers, Van Halen and Johnny Cash among many others.

None of this is decoration. A resident choosing between two comparable houses is choosing between two neighborhoods, and the one with the school, the park and the walk to dinner is the one that re-lets in a week instead of a month.

The best way to prepare for a rent increase on a Southern California rental is to work out which ceiling applies to your property and build it into a standard procedure, rather than recalculating it one tenancy at a time. Under the Tenant Protection Act the ceiling is not a single statewide figure — it is set per CPI area, and it changes every August. Every line below links to the page it was taken from so you can check it yourself.

The state figure is a ceiling, not the whole picture. The City of Los Angeles has its own rent stabilization ordinance, Santa Monica sets its own annual allowance, and unincorporated Los Angeles County runs a separate scheme again — each with its own percentage, its own registration and its own just-cause list. Those sit on the office page for the city they govern, where they can be read against the ordinance itself rather than flattened into a statewide summary.