A TALE OF TWO RENTERS: LONGTIME RENTER FINANCIAL PITFALLS OF SERIAL RENTING VS. SECURITY OF STAYING PUT.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

Having paid my monthly rent of $1,414.16 for December, I have bought myself another month inside my one-bedroom garden apartment in Los Angeles's trendy Park LaBrea.

Two months ago, I marked my sixth anniversary of living inside this gated city-within-a-city complex with its own junior-sized Olympic swimming pool, dry cleaners, cafe, free movie screenings -- even a putting green.

Except for the pool, I don't use any of it. But I like knowing that I can.

Outside my front gate, it's a five-minute walk to Farmer's Market for THE best people watching anywhere -- and of course The Grove, home to one of the city's best movie theaters.

If I use the back gate, it's also a five-minute walk to LACMA, where the Friday night jazz beats the art, in my opinion. And when friends are visiting, the LaBrea Tar Pits are a hop, skip and a jump.

So, who has it better than me?

A single, gay man living in a nice pad within a 10-minute drive of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

For me, it's always been about location, location, location. I could never afford to buy a home in the neighborhoods where I have lived and haven't lost a wink of sleep over it.

But according to some people -- well, a lot of people -- you'd think I've been spending all of my rent money on crack cocaine!

I've heard this over and over again, from relatives to virtual strangers: ``Don't you ever want to buy a house?'' ``You pay HOW MUCH for rent? That's more than my mortgage!'' ``Don't you ever want to settle down?''

I try and take the high road and not say things like, ``Who asked you?'' or ``Would you like me to buy a house like yours, in Hemet?'' or ``Are you saying I should skip vacations in Europe and South America so I can stay home and hose down my patio?''

I shouldn't judge them and they shouldn't judge me. It's a matter of personal choice and the truth is, I never really have wanted to buy a house or even a condo.

I know I would never do yard work, I like the idea of calling the landlord when something goes wrong, and like the psychological feeling of knowing I can get up and go wherever life leads me (even if I hardly ever move!).

When I moved to Park LaBrea in October 2000, rent was $1,148 which was quite a climb from the $750 a month I had been paying to live in Long Beach's Belmont Shore neighborhood where I took a terrific apartment in June 1993 for a whopping $590 a month and stayed for 7.5 years.

My cool pad was off Second Street and a short walk from restaurant row where places like the Shore House Cafe, Panama Joe's and Malvasia were regular haunts, the beach was a mere two blocks away and there was no better place to read the Sunday paper and sip something hot than The Library coffeehouse on Broadway.

Living in this neighborhood was a priceless experience but buying in this neighborhood would have been an impossibly pricey experience. I would have put too serious a dent in too many of life's many pleasures for me.

So, in nearly 14 years, I've lived in just two places and been a happy renter the entire time. Before Long Beach, I spent more than two years living on Newport Beach's Balboa Peninsula with two roommates where from our rooftop, we had an ocean view (if you craned your neck a certain way and it wasn't overcast). The peninsula was always the place to be for bike riding, rollerblading and people watching. Everything was a short walking distance from our three-bedroom place on 20th Street. We split rent of $1,400 three ways and were able to enjoy the best of Newport Beach life for people in their 20s.

Our landlords, who never raised our rent a nickel in two years, owned Newport Beach's famous Crab Cooker restaurant. It was so nice to be able to stop by and pick up a bowl of clam chowder on your way home from work.

I've loved the places that I've lived in even if I didn't own them. I wouldn't trade in the experiences, the adventures and the surroundings for anything - least of all a mortgage.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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