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# Shopping for digs
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/shopping-for-digs/
- Published: 2006-12-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:24:19.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*With preoccupied shoppers, landlords are cutting rents*

CITYWIDE — The holidays are a wonderful time of year for apartment hunters as those seeking a place to live get a breather in Santa Monica’s competitive rental market.

While most people are out doing their last minute shopping, landlords are also “shopping” for tenants as they become desperate this time of year to fill vacancies in their apartments, said Anthony Yannatta, chief executive officer of apartment search company WestsideRentals.

“This is the one time of year when the supply and demand imbalance actually weakens and renters have some purchasing power,” Yannatta said on Monday.

The demand for housing decreases as apartment seekers ease off on their hunt for a place to live because they become preoccupied with family commitments and are busy planning for holiday events. The period from Nov. 15 until the end of December is also an unpopular time because the days are shorter and because the cold weather forces hunters to stay at home.

At WestsideRentals,Yannatta has seen listings stay posted for a longer period of time, an average of four to five days longer than in the busy season of summer and fall. When demand is low, landlords become flexible with move-in dates and security deposits, he said. Sometimes, landlords will even slash rent if they become desperate enough.

The change is more apparent in other Southern California communities since Santa Monica and other Westside communities are desirable all year long. But there are fewer people searching in Santa Monica too, Yannatta said.

Maria Pietroforte, president of apartment search site, Move.com, said on Monday that both occupancy and rental rates are currently on the rise and statistics show the trend will continue into 2007.

Yannatta suggests tenants who are on month to month leases should take advantage of the slow market around the holidays by switching to a November to November or December to December leases.

“Do holiday shopping at clearance sales in late January and shop for yourself to take control of your biggest expense,”Yannatta said.

But those who have put themselves out there in the rental market have gotten burned.

Karyn Saunders and her husband have until Jan. 1 to find a new place to live. The couple already submitted their move-out notice because the landlord was going to raise the rent by $50.

The couple is looking for a one bedroom apartment in the Westside for about $1,000, about $300 less than what they currently pay for a one bedroom in Brentwood. Saunders’ husband is currently a student at Santa Monica College and is planning to increase his time in the classroom and cut his work hours to concentrate on his studies.

“We find it stressful,” Saunders said on Monday. “I had three instances where the manager did not show up for the appointment.

Over the weekend, the couple submitted an application for an apartment they “absolutely loved.” The manager called on Sunday to say they would get the apartment pending a credit check. The news was less than positive on Monday as Saunders found out the manager had posted the wrong rent.

“It was actually two hundred more,” Saunders said. “It crushed us both.”

Saunders is specifically searching in Santa Monica, Palms, and Mar Vista and has bookmarked on her computer about 20 different Web sites for property management companies so she could constantly check for vacancies. Compared to May and June when students are moving out of their apartments, finding a place to live around the holidays is gruesome, she said.

“People are so busy right now, they don’t want to move,” she said. “We wish we didn’t have to move because we’re not able to put up a Christmas tree.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 19, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)