The LA rental listing dictionary: 7 words and the question that settles each

An LA rental listing is written to get you to the viewing, and every adjective has a job. Most are not lies. They are the most flattering true word available. If you are renting from another city or country, you cannot walk in and see what the word is covering, so you need to know what to ask.

Here are seven words that show up in Los Angeles listings every week, what they usually signal, and the one question that settles each.

Words about size and age

"Cozy"

The unit is small, sometimes smaller than the wide angle photos suggest. Ask for the square footage and the bedroom dimensions. A cozy listing with no number is telling you something.

"Vintage" or "character"

The building is old. In LA that can mean hardwood floors, arched doorways and tall windows. It can also mean windows that no longer close well and a kitchen nobody has touched in decades. Ask when the last renovation was, and what it included.

"Garden level"

The unit sits partly below the ground or the street. Expect less daylight and look for signs of damp. Ask for a photo of the bedroom window from inside, at midday.

Words about work done

"Freshly painted"

Good news, unless the paint is doing a repair's job. Ask whether anything was fixed before painting, and look closely at bathroom ceilings and the walls under windows, where water stains get painted over.

"Updated kitchen"

"Updated" has no definition. It can mean new appliances, or new doors on old cabinets. Ask what was replaced, and in what year.

Words about daily life

"Walk to everything"

Walk to some things. Put the address in a map and route it to the three places you will go most: groceries, work or transit, and the gym or the park. The minutes are the answer, not the adjective.

"Pet friendly"

Usually pet friendly with conditions: size, breed, number, pet rent. Get them in writing. And a separate "pet deposit" is still security under Civil Code 1950.5, which covers "any payment, fee, deposit, or charge" taken as security, so it counts toward the overall cap.

What the listing almost never says

The year the building went up, the parking arrangement, which way the windows face, how loud the street is at night. Send those questions before you schedule anything. The guide to avoiding rental scams in Los Angeles covers the warning signs that matter even more than the words.

The takeaway. Every word in an LA listing is the most flattering true word available. Translate it, ask the one question that settles it, and get the answer in writing. When the answers still leave doubt, send someone to look: a Scoutmyplace visit puts every room on photo and video, with the report delivered within 24 hours.