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Apartments in the Fairfax VA, Washington DC area.
Sartoris
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello Help/Advice Forumgoers!
I recently got a job in northeastern McLean, VA at a location close to the Potomac. Yea me!
I currently live in Knoxville, TN and the closest I have ever lived to the area in question is in Ellicott City, MD during an internship.
I am currently scouting out apartment prospects to get an idea of what rent and other costs will be. My main problem is that I have no real idea of what traffic conditions are like in the normal heavy commute times. Well, that is to say, I have no idea except that they are terribad.
It would really help to know what my expected commute would be from various bedroom communities in the area. My job site is located off the George Washington Memorial Parkway so if I could get some roundabout commute times from places like Fairfax, Falls Church, Reston, Herndon, Bethesda, Potomac, and Annandale that would be Awesome with a capital A.
Also I'm currently looking at one bedroom apartments that me, my fiancee, and our two cats will occupy. I realize that the rent is going to be significantly higher than my two bedroom $600 (nice) place here. Currently I'm expecting anything from $900 to $1600. However, I have no real desire to rent above about $1200.
I would prefer less than a 45 minute commute to work but I can live with whatever I can get. Taking public transportation is unfortunately not possible.
I have mainly, but not solely, focused on living in the Northern VA area because I have heard people say that VA state taxes are better than MD. Any and all advice on location is of course helpful.
Also, if you have any great tips or information on the area, whether or not it has to due with traffic or apartments, please share. I will be moving to a totally new place where I will not know anyone except my fiancee. She, fortunately, knows two people that live in the area. So advice and tips about what is fun and entertaining is very welcome.
Thanks for the help!
I recently got a job in northeastern McLean, VA at a location close to the Potomac. Yea me!
I currently live in Knoxville, TN and the closest I have ever lived to the area in question is in Ellicott City, MD during an internship.
I am currently scouting out apartment prospects to get an idea of what rent and other costs will be. My main problem is that I have no real idea of what traffic conditions are like in the normal heavy commute times. Well, that is to say, I have no idea except that they are terribad.
It would really help to know what my expected commute would be from various bedroom communities in the area. My job site is located off the George Washington Memorial Parkway so if I could get some roundabout commute times from places like Fairfax, Falls Church, Reston, Herndon, Bethesda, Potomac, and Annandale that would be Awesome with a capital A.
Also I'm currently looking at one bedroom apartments that me, my fiancee, and our two cats will occupy. I realize that the rent is going to be significantly higher than my two bedroom $600 (nice) place here. Currently I'm expecting anything from $900 to $1600. However, I have no real desire to rent above about $1200.
I would prefer less than a 45 minute commute to work but I can live with whatever I can get. Taking public transportation is unfortunately not possible.
I have mainly, but not solely, focused on living in the Northern VA area because I have heard people say that VA state taxes are better than MD. Any and all advice on location is of course helpful.
Also, if you have any great tips or information on the area, whether or not it has to due with traffic or apartments, please share. I will be moving to a totally new place where I will not know anyone except my fiancee. She, fortunately, knows two people that live in the area. So advice and tips about what is fun and entertaining is very welcome.
Thanks for the help!
Sartoris on
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The Washington Memorial Parkway is one of the horrible highways. Again, though, it's all about DC. If you're heading AWAY from the city in the morning and TOWARD it at night, you're avoiding the major traffic problems.
The apartment search, at least in the D.C. area, is pretty awful right now. It'll improve sort of with the changeover of administrations, etc. that'll happen in the beginning of January. A ton of people will leave the area, and another metric fuckton will move in.
Essentially, stay as far from D.C. as possible to save yourself time, money and sanity. It's a great place, but it's a giant pile of crazy. Good luck!
You're working at the CIA, aren't you
Unfortunately, I have no idea what rents are like out there since I live in the city.
My money is on a defense contractor. They hire like mad in that area.
My wife and I used to live in Alexandria (2005-2006), rent for a 1-bedroom was $850 then, looks like $950+ for the same place now. Was a pretty crummy area (near Landmark Mall) now that I look back, but at the time we moved in without seeing it in person because we needed something fast.
Currently in a condo in Annandale, rent is $1300 (was $1200 when we moved in), but with utilities included.
As RUNN1NGMAN said, unfortunately this target is rather low, although you may luck out. If you're considering McLean or Tyson's Corner, be warned that a lot of places in that area are going to be more expensive than the norm, although it might balance out if it lowers your commuting costs.
I've not much idea what the daily traffic is like in Knoxville, but i'd wager that it's probably much saner than here. In my experience, 495 and most of the other major highways tend to be both incredibly crowded and fast moving at the same time....Expect people to drive pretty aggressively, and don't assume anyone is going to follow the rules about blinkers, ramps, changing lanes, etc. until they actually do. Really just an environment you have to get acclimated to - if there's any way you can visit before you actually move and drive around a bit, that probably wouldn't hurt.
Don't assume that your commute will always be short just because you live close, too - my wife works about 5 miles away in Falls Church, and it can still take her 30+ mins to get home some days if the traffic's bad.
Deathwing has a very important point. You don't really have any idea how close two places are to another until you try to travel between them in rush hour.
I used to drive all the way up the GW from Alexandria to McLean, a few years ago. It's not so bad going in that direction, so anything you get with access to that road should be ok. (And it's actually kind of a nice road to drive along- there are trees, river, bridges, monuments.) You can probably get a reasonable apartment in the East Falls Church or West Arlington (Ballston) area, especially once you get a mile or 2 from the metro. These places probably won't be as nice as the apartments, in the modern/remodeled sense, but you can certainly find one for a reasonable price that's in a decent area and not falling apart.
Don't even look in MD. Every Potomac crossing outside of DC is a choke point.
Once you move there, post another thread asking where to eat. I'll write you a novel of a post in that thread.
edit-
You learn, fast, driving there every day. I'm in the midwest now, and I'll take "efficient" DC drivers over the passive-aggressive bullshit I have to deal with out here.
Also, you'll pickup little tricks for getting around, and learn when to avoid certain roads or interchanges. It's ultimately not as bad as it will initially seem.
This actually isn't typically the case; it sounds like common sense, but usually what actually happens is the folks getting their pink slips stick around and try and work for lobbyists, non-profits in the area, or private enterprises that have government interests in the area. So housing in DC during administrative turnover is not actually a zero-sum game. January/February is typically the absolute worst time to buy property or find new rental property in the District, and the best time to sell if you want to move (but most people don't, since the best leverage they have for their next job is administrative experience in the Federal government, which tends to keep them here).
I grayed the quote instead of highlighting it red, though, because there are some weird market fluctations here that are interesting. I saw a house in Georgetown selling for less than a million last month, and that's the first time I've heard of such a thing in years.
...the crazy thing is that it occurs to me I probably know you.
I rented with these guys for 3 years when I was living in Alexandria, VA which is in Northern VA. The prices are for all utilities included and are some of the absolute best in the area.
Good luck, you'll love it there.
I actually live in ellicott city, maryland (not exactly close to a metro station), and one of my friends leaves home at 6am and takes the metro to get to his job just SE of DC. That's just to give you an idea of what kind of commute you could expect if you live that distance away.
One of the tricks with this year that hasn't happened in awhile will be the massive changeover of parties. I think it's certainly true that a lot of folks will be staying for private enterprise, but my anecdotal evidence suggests that a fair number will also be leaving the city this time. That's purely anecdotal, though.
Also, be glad you aren't renting a Hill place in January. Obamafever has completely messed everything up.
The party changeover would have been more significant if the House and Senate hadn't changed hands two years earlier--2006 was actually a better year for turnover on the Hill because the majority party in each chamber gets significantly more staffers on all the committees and subcommittees, so a ton of people lost their jobs with nothing to go to in the administration. But most of the Democrats who were here in 1999 when Clinton was in office still lived here in 2000 when Bush took over, and the only thing I expect will make a significant difference this time is that the current administration is so loathed that perhaps some people would rather leave government work altogether and forget this ever happened (Clinton left office with an approval rating around 60, Bush is going to escape with a rating around 30).
LOL, sorry about that. I work for the other side on elections, and the one down side is I'm sincerely sorry to put you all out of a job.
Prices are ~1200 a month for a 1BR apt, room rentals, condo's, etc are also abundant around here, with pricing ranging from a few hundred less than that to considerably more.
As someone mentioned above, the term "close" is very much different depending on where you are going and when. I live approximately 2.5 miles from work, I don't have to hit any road larger than 123 for my commute. Going into work is a 5-15 minute trip, coming home with no traffic is the same. However... during rush hour, my trip home is roughly 30 minutes... throw in bad weather and it's closer to an hour, an accident and I've been stuck for 2 hours before getting home... just things you have to think about. 495 is a mess during rush hour in most places... avoid it if at all possible.
Looks like I will be trying to find a place fairly close to Mclean. Especially since if I didn't my major commute directions will be TOWARD DC in the morning and AWAY from it during the evening.
I suppose I can find a way to swallow $1600 a month in rent. The job does pay well.
My only other question is does anyone have any good resources to use to locate apartments and condos in the area? I've been trying with some success to just use the standard sites (rent.com, craigslist, etc.).
Any other advice and tips are always welcome.
Thanks
The direction of your commute doesn't really make too much of a difference in Northern Virginia. Everyone is going in every possible direction. The only predictable traffic that follows the into/out of DC pattern is I-66 and US-50. Every other freeway and road gets jammed up in every direction in the mornings and afternoons. At least living in Northern Va and working in Mclean, you can take local roads for the majority. It might not be faster, but it will save your sanity a little bit.
I'll be moving to the area soon as well and your approaching the point where you may be able to purchase a place. (I'm considering it) Give redfin.com a try and see what they've got. If your there for a bit now's the time to buy.
-Terry Pratchett
I'm going to have to disagree there. When the market is basically crap and they are STILL erecting brand new condo buildings all over the place, that's not a good sign. They're going to be giving those things away by the time everything's said and done. There is way more housing available right now than people who want to buy. That's good if you want to buy and stay there for a long time. Not good if you're looking to buy and then sell in five years.
Craigslist and other similar sites are your best bets to get a more varied feel for the prices in the area, there's tons of apartment and Condo properties around here.
Agreeing big time. Do NOT buy a condo around here unless you are committed to staying in this area for several years, job or not. I know a few condo owners around here that are trying to sell even their part of it... and it's a no go. You will probably wind up going upside down on your Condo if you buy one, at the least you will probably be unable to sell it and will be forced to rent.
Unless you are buying a house with appreciable property, stick to renting something for now, prices are most certainly going to tank on many Condo's around here before long if that is the kind of place you want to live in... snatch one up then if anything.
This. If you're looking to stay in the area for a minimum of five years, then maybe consider making the purchase. Don't buy a place now just to buy a place.
Good info for me I guess. For the first time in my life I can actually afford a place, but the whole military thing means I've got to be extra careful.
-Terry Pratchett