1. Because of the economy, more folk are taking in boarders than ever before; when I was canvassing I saw 10 people (extreme case) in a one room apartment.
2. If you can find work that actually pays bills, then you have a better situation.
Why: (a) because then your work and your living situation are not tied together like living with a boyfriend or a fwb situation (which I'm seeing a lot more of advertised on CL, btw. Scary).
(b) Also, it's easier to negotiate a better deal when you aren't using labor dollars to pay for housing, especially if the labor dollars are not tied to some actual "rate". Eg, You work 4 hours at $10.00 / hour and therefore accrue $40.00 of rental payment; which offsets the $400.00 a month that you owe. At least that makes it clear how much work you're trading...
3. There are lots of adverts for rooms to rent on CL, on Roomates.com -- except you have to pay to play; and other venues. I like CL because it's predictably cheap and if you monitor it enough, you get a decent sampling of what's out there. (Which allows me to figure what's fair to charge for a room, and when I have my head buried somewhere dark). That will give you a quick snap of what rents look like in the area you are checking, and you can determine what is out of line, or if you are paying a little more for some extra amenities...
4. The area you wish to live in, especially if you are "not from around here", can be a significant issue. Both because you don't want to be too far from your work --- public transportation or personal notwithstanding; and also because you want to research the crime / violent assault statistics so that you don't get jacked up.
Eg, the Los Angeles Times http://projects.latimes.com/homicide/blog/page/1/ , and also http://spotcrime.com/ca
Depressing, but worth paying attention to.
5. Also -- in light of 3,4 specifically... using Google Maps to locate both the housing that you are interested in (including street view), and also to see how far it is from the work situation, and also the crime statistics... worth checking.
6. You want a clear rental agreement, with costs, terms and definitions; and you should plan on paying a deposit, unless you work out some other arraignment. (Eg, build deposit over time). But, always look for roommates in your social-economic level, and stay away from anyone who might have very different morals that are not yours! (bad things happen that way). The old joke about...
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