I'd start with finding an agent in LA, and then ask them which tool they think is best. As far as pictures of a house, most of the popular sites will have the same photos and generally the same info. Those sites are populated from local MLS sites.

I do agree with Stan Z about considering renting for at least 6 months to get a feel for the area and where you'd ultimately like to be. Yes of course it sucks having to move more than one time, but it would suck even more if you move to an area you consider less than desirable, for whatever reason.

We moved from California to the Philadelphia area last spring. We put our furniture into PODS for storage and later moving, and drove cross county with a dog and a mini-van stuffed with essentials. The area we were looking at needed to be close to where my son lives, so he got a PO box for us, so I could forward mail. We took a by-the-month furnished apartment and started looking for houses when we arrived. The complex specialized in corporate short-term clients, it was lovely. Rent for a 1 bedroom was $3000 and included everything from cable and wifi to housekeeping services. Then we started looking for houses. We were fortunate to find something quickly and get an accepted offer. In our case, the house was nice, but we'd have preferred a single-level, which is quite uncommon in this area. More than the house, we have a fantastic yard, a quiet street, great location, and are 2 miles from our son and his family. And incredible neighbors bringing gifts of cases of beer, cakes and dog treats as we were moving in. We had the PODS delivered two days after we took possession and hired a local moving company to unload. (We were professionally loaded back in CA, too.)

I agree with the prior comments - LA is HUGE and you need to figure out where you want to be (if you don't already know). Further, if renting for a bit is an option that sounds like a great way to go.

Having said that, here in SoCal my favorite online resources are

www.redfin.com

www.realtor.com

www.zillow.com

Good luck!

I made the move from Boston to LA. If you thought the Boston area was expensive, you are in for an even higher priced market. The best RE website is REDFIN. You can sort listings by town and you can look up sold prices going back from last week to many years.

Where will you work?

Do you have kids?

MA has one of the best public schools systems in the country, but CA is at the bottom of the list, so you have to choose towns carefully if you have kids. The towns with top public schools cost much more and retain their RE values during market dips. Look up Proposition 13 for some background on the CA financial issues.

If you hate the cold and snow, you will love the weather in LA. No humidity in the summer is amazing. No mosquitos! If you have pets, ticks are not a big issue here.

Rent first, you really don't want to make such a big purchase when you don't know the city. You've also just missed the spring/summer market, when more homes are offered for sale due to people wanting to move during the school summer break.

I would really suggest you get a realtor. If you are relocating because of work, your company will probably have a contact. The reason is that in a new city it's hard to tell what are the good and bad areas, and there can be pockets of bad ares inside the good ones. We rented sight unseen when we moved to a new city, and it turned out to be a recently built pocket of houses in a relatively bad area. When we bought a year later, we got a realtor who basically drew a map for us where in the city to look. The school ratings are a decent guidance but not 100% reliable. You can see those in Zillow or Redfin or whatever site you will look at.

Rent, rent rent! We moved to LA from St Louis 35 yrs ago. To say it was culture shock, is an understatement. We ended in a neighborhood we'd never heard of and no realtor had ever mentioned - Hancock Park. We adored it but local realtors considered it a neighborhood where only "stuffy" people live. Guess that's what we are. We were so lucky to have a small faculty house in which to live until we figured out where we wanted to be. Yes, we did end up charging private schools for our daughter - that was good, too!

I agree LA is too big to consider, you would do well to narrow down a smaller area. Redfin is great, you can view the house and the neighborhood from afar.

I think the OP left the building?

maybe the OP is busy packing for a trip to LA? I tried showing a few houses through skype/facetime for such long distance customers, but I don't think the experience was very good. I think the shakiness to the image is a problem, but provided you have a steady hand, what other tips do you pros have for such a showing?

I have video taped homes before for clients that refused to make a trip into town before purchasing. Not one time has it turned into a sale. Usually the tape causes the buyer to have more questions than it does to answer any. I don't like being a buyers eyes, ears and mind 100% when it comes to showing homes. I have since stopped putting myself in this position.