I would recommend palermo. There's plenty of places to live that are nice too, but to me this is the best spot. Holly wood is ok, but Soho is much better imo.
Craigslist seems to be the best way to avoid a "finders fee" by most of the realtor agencies here. I had one place ask me for a finders fee equivalent to 1 month's rent + pay 6 months up front. That seemed pretty ridiculous to me.
I ended up finding a place on Craigslist. I'm sure I pay more than I should, but I ended up with a decent place in Soho and a landlord that can communicate in English.