For some people it's enough to just read about L.A. and live vicariously through what they hear about it from websites, TV shows, magazines or people they know who live in L.A. For others that's nowhere near enough and they won't stop dreaming about L.A. until they move out there themselves.

If you love the idea of living in L.A. and have thought about packing up your belongings and asking your real estate agent to help you to start a new life in L.A. you might want to get the low down on the L.A. market beforehand to give you an idea of what it would be like in terms of cost of living in L.A. You can't just put up your current home for sale one day and buy an L.A. condo the next.

First off, you don't know if there would be any L.A. condos available that you would like. Secondly, you also wouldn't know if you'd be able to afford the real estate market prices in L.A. That's where researching the L.A. market before moving comes into play, as you can determine whether or not the money you spend would be enough to live off of in L.A.

So, let's take a look at some numbers, shall we? The current average home in L.A. sells for around $365,000 and the average condo on the market in L.A. goes for just under $310,000. Now that you have that financial information you can compare it to current prices in your area to see if you can afford to move out to L.A. or not.

In addition to real estate prices you also have to factor in other costs such as transportation, groceries, clothing, and moving/re-locating costs. L.A. is not the cheapest city in the world to live in so you better hope that you have yourself a high paying job waiting for you once you move there or you get started on your job search quickly.

The current cost of living index average for the United States is 100 and L.A.'s is at 137.4, which is very high and makes L.A. one of the most expensive American cities to live in. Do you have enough money saved up in your bank account to move to L.A.? Will the profits you make from selling your home give you enough financial flexibility to afford the L.A. lifestyle? You need to answer those questions and many more before you decide to make L.A. your new home.