I have some Questions / request from Iranian Living in Los Angeles! Please help me if you could!

[rahim22]

I have Questions / request from Iranian Living in Los Angeles!

Salam!

I am a Canadian citizen and I’ve been living in Canada (mostly in Toronto) for over 26 years! I am a computer as well as a boardlevel Laptop technician! I used to have a Laptop Sales & Repair shop in Toronto for more than 5 years; but because of the overhead (~$3500 a month) I closed it down and now I work for another company and myself! I also sell Laptop parts and accessories on Ebay and Kijiji! Everything seems good so far! But the Main problem I have here is the climate! Some of you may have already known or even lived in Canada, the winter here, is long, brutally cold and continuous and in average it goes for over 8 months! It is Depressing and most importantly it effects most business, especially Computer! In my case (when I had my store) the only people who made money continuously with or without bad weather were my landlord, hydro, phone company, my employees, etc.; if you get my drift!

Few years ago I went to Los Angles California and to be specific Tarzana street, to find out how I could live and work there! I didn't know anyone, so to be cautious, I stayed in a very cheap hotel for two weeks and searched around for a job and some business (computer, laptop) opportunities!

The result was, that:
A: Los Angeles has a much better climate than Canada and job-wise, especially in my field weren't that bad!
B: I enjoyed myself living there and I wanted to stay more, however my main obstacle was not being able to work there as a Canadian!

So, here comes my request!
I have lots of experiences on selling and repairing Laptop and desktop computer and I have $20,000 US in cash (I know it is not that much) and I would like to come to Los Angles and live and work there! Because I am freaking tired of this prolong Canadian horrible winter! Moreover, I don’t know anyone in USA and I greatly appreciate your help, probable partnership or even some advice!

I am not sure if I could mention my email here or not!
But if it is allowed, you can also email me your response at: raevag@yahoo.com

Best regards,

Thank you!

Rahim

 

[TeamMeli]

I lived in LA for most of my life and I also am living in Alaska currently and I lived through a Calgary winter so I know what you are going through but I guess your question is you want to live with someone and work with fixing laptop computers do I have that right? You can always find places on line which will partner you up with someone and that way you can pay rent. Just be warned before hand the climate in LA might be better than the climate in Canada but the rent in LA is more expensive and you probably will have an easier time finding a job anywhere in Canada. LA is too saturated people are leaving LA for a reason plus there are thousands of foreigners who own a computer repair shop just go by any major street and you will bump into a few of them. I'm not trying to discourage you or anything but I'm just letting you know it's not all roses in LA.

$20,000 cash can get you rent for a year if you are lucky to find an apt for $1,000 in a decent area. That leaves you with $8,000 for other expenses be it gas, food or miscellaneous so that leaves you with $667 a month to play with. The reason why I say you are lucky if you find something for $1,000 in LA in a good area is because believe it or not $1,000 in a good area is the price for a one bedroom in Anchorage, Alaska.

I wish you the best of luck you might want to look into finding someone to share a room with maybe you can get the couch and he can get the bed or vice versa if you want just a one bedroom and don't mind sleeping on the couch. That will drastically cut your cost down and now you only need to pay about $500.

 

[Bi-honar]

This was a CRAPPY winter in Eastern and Central Canada. Is there anyone out there who doesn't want to leave if they could?!

 

[Bache Tehroon]

Rahimjan,

As someone who has walked long miles in your shoes, I can sympathize with your feelings towards life in this uninspiring frozen hell.

I'm an IT engineer and have stayed/researched in California (San Fransisco all the way down to San Diego) extensively, hoping to eventually move there permanently.

LA is alright, but not necessarily my cup of tea. I'm a nature freak and as much as I hate the cold, I don't mind the occasional seasonal cold breeze. For me, the bay area and the counties just south of San Fransisco had more appeal than Southern California.

Anyway, I'm still very much into "move to California" dream, but more than the work-visa or logistics of the issue, I have found 'life' itself to be a major obstacle so far. Things just didn't happen the way I planned them and now I'm kind'a starting from scratch again.

I have a few questions for you and some private chat that we might want to take offline.

Most important one: Are you single? Any dependents?

If you're single, you have options.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

This was a CRAPPY winter in Eastern and Central Canada. Is there anyone out there who doesn't want to leave if they could?!

It's the same shit every year. Below freezing is below freezing and it fucking sucks.

 

[Zob Ahan]

How old are you & are you single? Do you have any kids? I have lived in LA for 27 years but without knowing your age & marital status it is hard giving you advice on a move to LA.

 

[rahim22]

Salam everyone!

Bache Tehroon and Team Melli aziz!

I got divorced less than a year a go from an Iranian girl in Iran! That means, in my Canadian documentation i was never married! Because, i never
applied to bring my x-wife to Canada! So, yes i am single and with no dependent!

 

[rahim22]

How old are you & are you single? Do you have any kids? I have lived in LA for 27 years but without knowing your age & marital status it is hard giving you advice on a move to LA.

I am 54 years old!

 

[The Matrix]

The sad part guys were going to have a really hot summer. There is never ending trouble in this country (Canada). The torture does not stop. Our weather is very unstable!

 

[TeamMeli]

Salam everyone!

Bache Tehroon and Team Melli aziz!

I got divorced less than a year a go from an Iranian girl in Iran! That means, in my Canadian documentation i was never married! Because, i never
applied to bring my x-wife to Canada! So, yes i am single and with no dependent!

Ok well thank your lucky stars you didn't get divorced in Canada or the United States. I think Canada is worse than US because even if you are just living together the courts will view that as a marriage and will split 1/2 of your assets plus you need to pay alimony so it could be a lot worse.

Ok now that I know a little more you are 54 so I'm guessing you don't want to partner up with some 22 yo college kid who is in party mode. You might want to look into renting a room from someone who owns a house and has an extra room to spare for like say 500-600. My friend does that in LA he rents from an old lady and he goes to grad school and works. I recommend that because I just did a craigslist search in the INLAND EMPIRE area of LA which is not known to be a good area and even there the average is $1,000. If you want to live in the west side it's going to be much, much more.

I don't know what you exactly want to do. Do you want to establish a business and open a computer/laptop repair shop? You are going to need a lot more than 20,000 for that my friend but 20,000 can buy you some time for your rent and you can always find a part time or full time job repairing computers. You can always save your money up and open up a nice business for yourself aziz once you save up the money. I recommend doing that.

 

[Zob Ahan]

^^I don't think any 54 year old wants to rent a room in a house dude. Thats for students.
If you want to live in a decent area in the San fernando valley (since you stayed in Tarzana) you need to fork out about $1100 a month for a 1 bedroom apt. People that do what you do for themselves charge about $70 an hour.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

Salam everyone!

Bache Tehroon and Team Melli aziz!

I got divorced less than a year a go from an Iranian girl in Iran! That means, in my Canadian documentation i was never married! Because, i never
applied to bring my x-wife to Canada! So, yes i am single and with no dependent!

I am 54 years old!

Alright then you're ripe for the ultimate lifestyle.

What are you doing in Toronto? Here's what you do:

1. Get rid of all you have and turn it into cash.
2. Buy a used RV (Recreational Vehicle) - I can help you with this
3. Make the RV your home - I can help you with this
4. Go to California and find multiple low-cost or free sites - I can help you with this
5. Find part-time or full time work or start your own computer business. (whatever you want) This is very doable.
6. Enjoy life
7. DON'T EVER GET MARRIED AGAIN


Seriously man, I'm not kidding. That's what I'll do in the future. I already got the RV and have made it a comfortable place to live, but I still got a few more years of corporate slavery left in me. Once done, that's exactly what I'm doing with or without children.

Forget about keeping up with the neighbors or what the society thinks of you. I have lived in my RV before and I find the experience/freedom unmatched by any other lifestyle. It's the best thing for a single man at your age.

Your $20,000 should be kept intact as much as possible. Save it for a rainy day.

 

[TeamMeli]

Alright then you're ripe for the ultimate lifestyle.

What are you doing in Toronto? Here's what you do:

1. Get rid of all you have and turn it into cash.
2. Buy a used RV (Recreational Vehicle) - I can help you with this
3. Make the RV your home - I can help you with this
4. Go to California and find multiple low-cost or free sites - I can help you with this
5. Find part-time or full time work or start your own computer business. (whatever you want) This is very doable.
6. Enjoy life
7. DON'T EVER GET MARRIED AGAIN


Seriously man, I'm not kidding. That's what I'll do in the future. I already got the RV and have made it a comfortable place to live, but I still got a few more years of corporate slavery left in me. Once done, that's exactly what I'm doing with or without children.

Forget about keeping up with the neighbors or what the society thinks of you. I have lived in my RV before and I find the experience/freedom unmatched by any other lifestyle. It's the best thing for a single man at your age.

Your $20,000 should be kept intact as much as possible. Save it for a rainy day.

lol I really agree with #7 the most Don't ever get married again and if you by some chance make that mistake again, at least sign a prenup. I agree the RV route might be the cheapest way to go and some of the RV's are nicer than living in a 1 bedroom apt, especially on your wallet you don't need to fork over 1K a month for rent. I have a few friends who live in an RV and it has a full kitchen, shower, living room and a nice bedroom. I also agree he should save the 20K for a rainy day but if he wants to buy an RV, he is probably going to need to dip into that money, at least for a down payment.

From the bottom of my heart I want to wish you the best of luck because I have been where you are it takes a lot of balls to just leave your comfort zone and start all over again. A lot of people don't have the courage to do that and they will stay put and be unhappy so I hope it all works out for you. If I come up with any ideas I will gladly email them to you. One thing you might want to consider is go to craigslist and click on Los Angeles and try to find either a part time or full time job. There are other websites like careerbuilder and monster.com but I'm sure you know that.