IMO the best renting in LA is east of sunset, look in echo park, Chinatown, even NeLA. I’ve lived in apartments and houses, and if you look hard enough you can find houses that rent cheaper than apartments, especially in Chinatown (just moved from the crib in Chinatown.)
I grew up in CA, the way I find housing is skating and driving around and looking for “For Rent” signs. The people who post signs in their windows and yards aren’t usually posted on the web and are the cheapest. If you’re looking for dirt cheap and don’t care about the area or size of the crib, look for studios/1bds in Ktown west of Olympic. The area sucks and is run by local gangs, but shits mad cheap, especially when you get to Washington by the 10 freeway.