By Jeff on Wednesday, November 14, 2001 - 08:53 pm: Edit

The company my wife and I work for has offered to transfer us to the DC office.

She is on a project up there right now, I am going up in a few weeks to visit and tour the area.

We are staying in the Vienna VA area and are looking mainly at housing in the $1000/month range. Any advice on where to look? The office is in the Vienna area, but not necessarily where we will be working all the time, as far as daily commute. However, we will probably sell our Cherokee and just have the Disco, so access to some sort of public transportation would be nice. I understand a lot of people live as far as an hour away, so where should we look on the outskirts? We are from the midwest where we don't have traffic jams.

Anyone know of anyone with a house for rent or for sale?

By Daniel on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 09:52 am: Edit

I used to live out there, but it's been so long that prices have certainly gone up. (95-97)
I used to share a nice two bedroom in Alexandria for about that price.
It was the Park Center Apartments off of King Drive. (Rt. 7). It's about ten minutes south of DC (on 395 as I recall)w/no traffic. Also, there is bus stop at the front door of this particular building.
Another area, if you want to be away from the city is Centerville just east of Vienna on I66. Nice area, less expensive (you might get a meduim size house for about your price range) and close to Vienna. It's about 45 minutes west of DC w/no traffic, but I don't know about public transportation.

I think Kyle lives out there, he might have more info.
p.s. There are traffic jams in the midwest too. Have you ever been to Chicago???? ;-)

By 94Rover on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 10:36 am: Edit

Yep, I live an hour away, and I commute into DC daily-I leave my house at 7:02am and hope to be loggin'n to Discoweb by 9:am thats on a good day-I'm driving in from Columbia, MD-If you don't mind the chaos-stick around on the VA side-I prefer the MD side, and I'm some what smack in the middle of DC and Baltimore-maybe thinking I have the best of both worlds-maybe- Public transportation is accessible for me if I commute to Greenbelt-but I don't bother-sort of like the feeling of being able to get in a go asap-well atleast get into my Rover, now going when I want to is a joke between 3:30 and 6:30pm always something to keep me from making it home in less than an hour-I can't remember who else is here on the Discoweb BB who travels in from VA to DC....the housing situation is fierce, especially renting-you may find something in your price range in the far away VA suburbs, but anything closer to the DC side will probably be more than $1000.00 a month-the best thing to do is see if your Job will do the search for you-
Just don't plan to find anything in DC for $1grand a month thats clean and comfortable. A freind just purchased a Condo for his Father in Alexandria, a one bedroom lower level in a high rise condo for $160,000.00 and I'm talking budget....nothing luxury about it at all-its metro accessible and you can look out at traffic on the Seatbelt(beltway) and watch taillight symphony all day long- if I had time I would love to sit in the window and count the amount of Rovers I see that pass by--Just kidding, that would be insane-

GoodLuck

By Tate (Tate) on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 11:12 am: Edit

You like traffic? Hehe. I live in Arlington, near the Pentagon and commute to Tyson's Corner. It's 14 miles. The ride home is anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, and the time I leave doesn't matter. I-66 sucks, doesn't matter when. (I've hit super nasty traffic leaving at 7:30 pm.) If you do want to move hear, get a house as close as possible to where you work so you don't have to commute by car. Rovers don't like being stuck in traffic. :-) Vienna has a metro, so if you have to go into DC, that's not too bad. Vienna is a pretty cool area--I ate dinner there last night. There's a guy Robbie who is sometimes on DiscoWeb how lives there. 1 bedrooms apartments are now starting about $1,000 per month. If you do come up here, drop me a line.

tcrumbley@cambridge.com

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 12:06 pm: Edit

I live in Falls Church which normally is about 20 minutes from Tysons Corner in rush hour.. Company moved me out to Reston so now it takes me a 1/2 hour to get to work. But, that is against traffic and the only highway I touch is the Dulles toll road.. Any way to the point.. There is no cheep housing anywhere in this area.. I live in the slums so to speak.. I paid $150000 for my house 4 years ago and it is only worth (according to tax assesments) $162000.. However, they are all selling like hotcakes now for the lowest I have seen is $270000 which is what my neighbors paid.. Most are currently going for $305000 and up which I think is absurd but, people are paying it.. Of course anything new they put around here starts in the "Low $399000s" and thats for a damn town house.. For 1000 bucks your looking at a cheap two bed room appartment or a cheap condo for rent in a bad neighborhood.. You may however get lucky and be able to find a townhouse to rent for that but it will be in the outskirts which means you are going to spend your life in traffic. You never know though.. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a good deal.

By Robbie on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 12:23 pm: Edit

I'm in Vienna, but I rent a 4 bedroom house with a converted basement into another bedroom with 4 other guys. We pay $2000/mo, which ain't bad at all. But from what I have heard, we are the exception to the rule. You may want to try over in Fairfax area, some of the townhouses and apartments might be in that range. If you are going to be commuting into DC at all, need to be near a metro. Vienna is the end of the line for this area of VA. The Springfield area may be a bit more affordable and that is the end of the line for that area of VA. Springfield area just seems a little more crowded. Best bet is just to be the first at all the rental houses when they first go on the market, and you may just end up with a good deal. They are out there, but you really have to look. If you need any help, feel free to email:

rbd4a@yahoo.com

Robbie

By mike w on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 12:42 pm: Edit

geez and i complain about paying $375.00 for a farm house on 10 acres of land. i love the midwest!

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 01:30 pm: Edit

yeah.. i am betting they make "DC money " ... so it's all relative isn't it?

rd

By Ron (Rw229) on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 02:03 pm: Edit

Finding a place in NOVA for 1k a month might be a little tough. I'm not sure where you're coming from, but I would talk to your HR people and see if they can give you any info on the area, cost of living, etc.

I moved here a year ago and was disappointed in the cost of living. Homes cost like 60-80k more than I was told they would. I ended up in a townhouse for what I thought I was going to pay for a single family. A few are rentals, but they're like 2k + a month.

I'm in Ashburn, VA (near Dulles Airport), which is a nice area, but I wouldn't want to commute much further than Tyson’s/Vienna and there really isn't any public transportation other than The Yellow Bus.

When I had a job I used to commute to Gallows Rd. in Vienna and it took anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on traffic to go ~18 miles.

Email me if you want more info.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 02:05 pm: Edit

I don't make that much... I'm still a good way away from 6 figures.. That's why I haven't sold my house for 150000 more then I paid for it. I can't afford to buy anything else around here so I'm staying right where I am.. Of course with all the rich people moving in that paid 305000 the neighborhood is getting a little less slummy and a little nicer place to live.. I'm like middle class now

By 94Rover on Thursday, November 15, 2001 - 11:25 pm: Edit

No Eric N, with that Land Rover you are upper class, and your place of residence is just your "other" home.......

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Friday, November 16, 2001 - 07:52 am: Edit

LOL

By wags2034 on Saturday, November 17, 2001 - 11:25 pm: Edit

I live in Reston... paid $125K for a nice townhome in a great community. (payment = $1050.00/mo.) I communte to D.C. daily, usually via the Dulles toll road, to rte 123, to GW parkway, then onto S.E. D.C. where I'm a cop. I have a lot of friends who live all around the beltway, and everyone has an opinion of where is best. e mail me with any questions that you may have at wags2034@msn.com what i do not know, i will find out for you. good luck. Vienna is a good choice due to metro access, however it can be expensive.
brad