Washington, DC and Maryland suburbs

[Yem2808]

it has kind of a bad reputation, but most of it is fine. exactly what are are looking at, its geographically pretty large.

[Miskina]

I won't be able to visit and look for an apartment in D.C before actually moving there, so I'm looking for a residence hall where I could make a reservation before moving—with a month-to-month rent because I'm planning on living there for one month only... I'd prefer something located in Foggy Bottom, or at least very accessible from GWU where I'll be studying. The GW website has some suggestions, but Columbia Plaza is insanely expensive, and I've read that Hall on Virginia Avenue isn't that great. I can pay up to $1,300/month. Any suggestions?

[karish11]

I'm going to be starting school at GWU this fall. Any recommendations for affordable housing near campus? or even affordable housing for grad students near a metro stop? 

[GreenePony]

I'm going to be starting school at GWU this fall. Any recommendations for affordable housing near campus? or even affordable housing for grad students near a metro stop? 

It really depends on what you consider affordable. <2000 is affordable for me because DH is working. <1500  is affordable for a friend because she's on her own. I'm happier outside of the district, out on the edge of Alexandria and Springfield but it means to Foggy Bottom my commute is ~30-40 minutes and it's a pain when I'm working further down the blue line (my commute to the Navy Yard is around an hour 20-30.) A lot of people live near Rosslyn and Crystal City stops, not sure what there is since I was limited to places that include pets.

Something to keep in mind is that some of my peers lived in on campus housing to be essentially be kicked out when they needed room for undergrads (not sure the details of that).

[karish11]

It really depends on what you consider affordable. <2000 is affordable for me because DH is working. <1500  is affordable for a friend because she's on her own. I'm happier outside of the district, out on the edge of Alexandria and Springfield but it means to Foggy Bottom my commute is ~30-40 minutes and it's a pain when I'm working further down the blue line (my commute to the Navy Yard is around an hour 20-30.) A lot of people live near Rosslyn and Crystal City stops, not sure what there is since I was limited to places that include pets.

Something to keep in mind is that some of my peers lived in on campus housing to be essentially be kicked out when they needed room for undergrads (not sure the details of that).

I guess affordable for me would be anything less than $1000 and ideally I would like to live relatively near the GWU grad school campus. So maybe less than a couple metro stops away. Or if possible somewhere in the area. Do you know the areas that are closest to the campus? I do not know anything about GWU or the area. I've heard the name foggy bottom often so I'm guessing thats close to the campus but any other areas nearby would be helpful so I can start my search. Thanks!

[Lethocerus]

I'm searching for a house near College Park with a group of two other grad students and we need one or two more roommates for the houses we're considering. If anyone needs a room starting in August near UMD you might be able to join up with us. The price per room will probably be around $500 to $600 without utilities.

We're a mixed gender group and one of the roommates will be getting a dog, so sadly no cats allowed. We're limiting our group to grad students which is why I figured I'd stop lurking and actually post something here. No problem if you're out of state since one of the guys in the group is taking videos of all the houses he tours. Contact me if you're interested and I'll tell you a bit more about the group and the houses we're looking at.

[GreenePony]

I guess affordable for me would be anything less than $1000 and ideally I would like to live relatively near the GWU grad school campus. So maybe less than a couple metro stops away. Or if possible somewhere in the area. Do you know the areas that are closest to the campus? I do not know anything about GWU or the area. I've heard the name foggy bottom often so I'm guessing thats close to the campus but any other areas nearby would be helpful so I can start my search. Thanks!

Foggy Bottom is the neighborhood that GW is in (the metro stop is 'Foggy Bottom- GWU'). If you look at the Washington Post's website they have an apartment search engine that divides by neighborhoods. I was always told to stay out of NE/SE DC but I also have friends who are very happy in both, so it really just depends on the block. I'm not sure what you can find in a one bedroom under 1000 near Foggy Bottom but if you go north or west into Virginia you may luck out. I would see if your dept has a list-serv or fb group to try and room with people to lower your rent.

Also, metro time can be relative since the time between train varies by time of day and it's not unheard of for trains to "malfunction" (don't ask me what that actually means beyond you being stuck for 15-45 mn with no explanation).  I've had the 3? stop ride from Federal Triangle to Foggy Bottom take 15 mn and I've had it take 30 mn. I use the metro time to study so the commute doesn't bother me, I just build in an extra 15 mn to be safe.

[pure titanium]

I may be able to help answer some of the questions about the Foggy Bottom/Dupont areas as D is in her second year of grad school at GW. She has been living in No VA for the last year. She had a huge 3 bedroom apt with 2 baths at 1k +utilities for her share. She wants to move into the district in June. She is still busy with school and will be this summer so... I am doing the preliminary work and sending her ads that I think she may be interested in. Craigslist is definitely the most productive way to find things. You can choose to open only the area you want and can filter for the costs as well. You can view shares/rooms or go for a studio on your own, but it is expensive. You need to check every day as things move quickly especially if it is lower in costs. D called about a share for a 4br 2ba place in a great location. The apt was originally 2br, but they had two more rooms added from a large living room. I guess that is pretty common there. D said you would never have known they weren't original walls. This allowed the rent to go for less than 1k per person all utilities included. She viewed it and would have loved to have joined the group, but there were others there as well and she didn't get chosen. Don't know if someone bid more or if they just liked the other person more...whatever. Her lease isn't up until June 30, but would start paying now if she found something cheap enough to make out in the long run. Sharing is definitely the better way to go. I am still hoping she will do that. There are some really nice places within 3-5 walking minutes from campus and the Metro for three roomies. There are some studio's just south of campus for 1200. That is about as low as I have seen in the area if you don't want to share. Most student studios are around 1600-1800 in that area.

 

Again: craigslist is the way to go.

[karish11]

Thank you guys so much for all the help. I've been looking around foggy bottom and the prices are pretty expensive. For those of you who know GWU or the area pretty well what areas would you suggest to live in? I went to college in a really really boring city and coming to D.C. I really want to live in a very active place, meaning around a lot of restaurants, malls, grocery stores etc. and has a fun nightlife! Do you guys have suggestions for areas that would have these things, and that are close to GWU? Thanks!

[pure titanium]

karish11

 

Do you need the metro for any reason? D knows she needs to do an internship in VA this fall, so she wants to be near the blue and orange metro lines. She also likes to study in a library rather than her bedroom, so she wanted to be close to GW for the library and Metro direct to VA. If you are only going to campus everyday you could look for a place around Dupont or Logan circle as well as Foggy Bottom as they are not a bad walk to campus. The red line for the Metro (Which is in Dupont) does not go directly to Foggy Bottom. You could walk it faster than go to metro center and transfer. I would not recommend going to most residential areas of Georgetown as there is no great direct way to get to Foggy Bottom. Dupont Circle, Woodly Park, Adams Morgan are all pretty active with restaurants and pubs/bars for the post grads and up. Foggy Bottom is good, but less active at night as there are more offices and campus buildings in the area along with the residential areas. Dupont seems to be the hub of activity.

 

Good news! D got a call from the 4 BR share she wanted. It's not final, but looking very good. It takes daily watching on Craigslist. I can't stress that enough. Be prepared to act fast if you see something you are interested in. By that I mean don't wait even a day to respond to an ad. Things move very quickly if it is priced right.

[ion_exchanger]

I've lived in the Maryland area all of my life, but am less familiar with complexes in Montgomery county. I'm beginning to visit the complexes that I am interested in. Does anyone know of any complexes in the silver spring/Bethesda/Rockville area that should be avoided like the plague? I've already heard of some from friends and a few hidden gems, but new opinions are always welcome. If you don't feel as comfortable posting here, feel free to PM me. Hope everyone's housing search is going great!

[Molchanov]

Any opinions on the neighbourhoods surrounding CUA? Apartments look cheap and a little shitty and I get the impression it's a university ghetto, but what other part of DC has one bedrooms for less than 1200 bucks?

 

And is it a long bike ride from somewhere in Maryland to CUA?

[MyUSofWhatever]

And is it a long bike ride from somewhere in Maryland to CUA?

 

It depends on where in Maryland you live and what you'd consider a long bike ride. Silver Spring to CUA is not so bad and I found some studios/1 bedroom places for under $1200 there a year ago when I was looking (can't remember where, since Silver Spring is sort of amorphous). There's a trail - although north of CUA, it's mostly on-street riding, but nothing busy - that goes from Silver Spring through Northeast to Union Station http://www.metbranchtrail.com/. 

 

The one catch with the Metro Branch trail is that it runs through some sketchier neighborhoods; there was a cyclist attacked during the middle of rush hour a few weeks ago on the trail. I think you would most likely be fine during the day, but I wouldn't want to ride around there at night. 

 

You could always look south of CUA too, like somewhere off the Hill, by Navy Yard/Nats Park or Southwest. Those places are all on the Metro and only a 4-ish mile bike ride each way to CUA. 

[annieca]

I'm looking at Greenbelt, and specifically Franklin Park at Greenbelt Station. I'll be going to Maryland College Park in the fall. Any thoughts?

[gubidal092]

I'm attending Georgetown in the fall and still in the middle of nailing down exactly where I'm going to live, but I have figured out a few things so far that I thought might be helpful to other people on here:

• If you can't decide whether you should shell out more money for less space in DC (especially around Georgetown), or live more in the suburbs and commute in, bear in mind that commuting can be VERY expensive. Traffic can be really bad in DC and at times the Metro can be unreliable (apparently it was pretty bad in 2012). Also, metro rates go up durring peak hours --they practically double-- and there are no university student discounts for the bus or metro. And if you're not living on a metro line, you might have to either drive a car there and pay to park ($$) everyday or take the bus to the metro, and then possibly another bus(each of which you will probably have to pay for separately). Commutes 20 minutes from Georgetown can turn into 1 hr on public transit. Limited parking on campus makes driving even less attractive. I decided that it would probably be cost comparative to live in walking distance rather than live somewhere cheaper but take the bus, and it would save me a horrendus commute.
• Parking spaces can be upwards of $100/mo. Don't have a car if you can help it (more money saved! No insurance and taxes!)
• Street parking in most DC neighborhoods will require you to have permit of sorts to park in that neighborhood... and you'll have to register the car in DC to get one, and thus pay taxes on it there.
• I found a few neighborhoods walking distance from Georgetown that had apartments in my price-range (~$1300 including utilities): Foxhall, Palisades, Glover Park, and sometimes Rosslyn (though that's just across the river in Virginia). However, I haven't checked with my relative who lives nearby yet, so I can't comment on the saftey of these areas.
• I am focusing mostly on basement apartments in people's houses. Most of them aren't the dreary nightmares you'd imagine, and if your landlord lives right above you, he's just as concerned as you about a leaky pipe or a bug problem. You're also more likely to have an in-suite laundry (or just share with the house above -- not a bad deal!) and it's free, which means you can eliminate one more expense. You're also more likely to be able to just split the cost of their pre-existing internet or cable service, another reduced fee!
• Finally, with few exceptions, the price floor for shared and non-shared apartments near DC (~20 min drive) is about $800-1000, no matter what. Even if you see something cheeper, they're usually not including any utilities or any parking in the pricing, and those things can add up. 

Hope this helps! DC people, if I've gotten anything wrong please let me know.

[eciece]

Has anyone had luck renting an apartment recently? I'm trying to find a 2-3br in Georgetown, Burleith, Dupont Circle, U Street, or at this point even Adams Morgan for August 1st or 15th and I'm having a hard time  My grad school is right on the border of Burleith. Both the roommate I have lined up from my program and I are out of state (I live about 3.5hrs away, she lives even further north than that) so I've been looking on Craigslist for a month but have only seen August rentals recently, and now I feel like I'm completely behind and a lot of stuff has already rented. Nearly every place I e-mail or call the day or 1 day after the listing is posted either doesn't get back to me or has the place rented. We both visited some places around Georgetown and Burleith today and it was a total bust. Tried walking around for a few hours and calling places with rent signs we saw in the neighborhood, even met with a realtor who was of no help as she seemed to have a hard time finding places through the realtor system  .

 

I'm going to try calling some other property management places tomorrow and stay a few day early next week to set up appointments. Other than that I don't know what else I can do I'm just afraid we're not going to find a place in time and I'm starting to think about just going back to looking for a 1br in 2br shared house. 

Edited July 12, 2013 by eciece

[TheWB]

^The one thing to keep in mind with the commute vs. price advice, beyond what gubida said, is that as grad students rather than undergrads, being on campus every day is likely not necessary. In fact, you might only need to commute 2 or 3 days a week. So you'll want to consider that as well when looking at calculations. I'm going with a cheaper apartment with a longer commute and planning to be on campus 3 days a week (and make those 3 days count).

[ion_exchanger]

If you are commuting to Georgetown, look for places in or around Rosslyn Virginia. A shuttle goes to campus from the Rosslyn station. If you live a little further in Virginia maybe you'll get lucky and only have to take a short bus ride. I forget how much a bus ride costs, $1.50 or &1.75 with a smart trip card each trip. $3 to $3.50 a day is not so bad. Definitely agree with thewb, consider living further and commuting, could turn out to be much cheaper.

[madiba]

Am an incoming grad student for d FAll 2013 at American University(School Of Public Affairs). Would appreciate If anyone on here would help as to where I can reside not too far from Campus. I would love to keep My room Budget under 850-900dollars . Thanks ! Samson.

[madiba]

I have lived in DC and the Maryland burbs over the past 10 years (went to GW for undergrad and masters), and I'd be happy to answer any questions about this area.

where is most ideal for American University Grad student....Affordability and proximity to Campus, Thanks!

[TheWB]

^Does American have shuttle service from any metros? If not, I would guess that you want to look along the red line out into Maryland so you can get in via Tenleytown station. Perhaps you can find something cheap somewhere in NW? I sure couldn't. 

[jeffster]

^Does American have shuttle service from any metros? If not, I would guess that you want to look along the red line out into Maryland so you can get in via Tenleytown station. Perhaps you can find something cheap somewhere in NW? I sure couldn't. 

 

There's a free, regular shuttle from Tenleytown to AU campus, but that's the only one.  I think the N4 and N6 also run to campus, and possibly a couple others.  Georgetown has a free shuttle from Dupont Circle.

 

For both AU and Georgetown students, looking up Wisconsin Avenue in the Glover Park area is a pretty good bet.  Most of Glover Park is about a 25-minute walk to both places, or less on a bus.  It's a little farther from GW (more like a 35-minute walk), but still accessible.  Or for AU students, looking over the border into Maryland is a good bet.  Bethesda is very expensive, but past that it gets reasonable (if a bit boring).  If you have a car and are somehow thinking you're going to drive to (or through) Georgetown, you're insane.  I've never seen worse traffic in my entire life.  The main intersection at Wisconsin and M St is frequently in a "cross traffic is stopped in the intersection due to a light farther up the road, blocks green light... clears in time for one or two cars to go... then that direction stops in the intersection due to a light farther up, and now the cross traffic has to sit through THEIR green light" situation.  Save yourself!  Do not try to drive in Georgetown.

 

Just general advice for everyone - be very wary about bargain hunting for apartments in DC.  Housing in DC is insanely expensive, and you should expect to pay for what you get.  If you're seeing studios or one-bedrooms in the city (not MD or VA) for under $1500, it's almost certainly in a shady neighborhood.  Use the crime map provided by the DC police or the Washington Post, or even better yet, ask a local. 

Edited July 22, 2013 by jeffster

[ion_exchanger]

Jeffster is right, you don't want to drive in Georgetown. Even the shuttles to campus are stuck in traffic, which of course is worse during rush hour. Allow a good amount of time to get to class each day. For those going to American, and even Georgetown, if you are not opposed to less traditional housing, i.e renting a room in someone's house, or someone's basement, Bethesda is a good place to do that. Because of the amount of interns, postbacs, grad students, and postdocs that work in NIH, there are many opportunities for house sharing in Bethesda. Obviously the more people, the lower the rent. An intern I know is paying $750 with all utilities included for her room. Just another idea if you are in to that. The commute is not bad at all on the metro from Bethesda to tenleytown.

[pulpoperdida42]

Thought I would try posting this here in an effort to cover my bases...I'm a current Georgetown RA whose job is ending earlier than expected for funding reasons. My landlord, has agreed to let me out of the lease early if I can find someone else to take my room.  It's a good spot for a grad student.  Small, furnished room in a shared house in Dupont for 1075 all inclusive. Here is the rundown which I'm c/ping from other ads.

The apartment is in Dupont 17th and R (1629 R). Its really an incredible neighborhood with lots of bars and shops and restaurants all within a block or so. Extremely safe, with lots of things to do. There are 3 different metro stops that are all within a 10-15 minute walk from the house (U Street, Farragut North, and Dupont Circle).  Of these the closest is the Dupont Circle metro stop which is about a 10 minute walk away (4 blocks, roughly). 

 It's a 3 story row house with a total of 8 bedrooms/roommates. You would be taking one of the rooms on the third floor. There are bathrooms on each floor, so you would share the third floor bathroom with 2 other people. On the first floor there is also a large kitchen with a washer/dryer and a common space with couches and a tv, which everyone shares.  Everyone is a student or a young professional in their mid-twenties. A few people are international (from Pakistan, Colombia, and France, respectively) so that makes for the occasional fun conversation. The house actually stays surprisingly quiet most of the time, since people often keep to their rooms. But everyone is definitely friendly and open.

 

Available Aug 1 with some flexibility. Let me know i you are interested.  Email threadofgrace@gmail.com.

[kayrabbit]

I'm looking at Greenbelt, and specifically Franklin Park at Greenbelt Station. I'll be going to Maryland College Park in the fall. Any thoughts?

 

Did you end up going with Franklin Park? I went to see a couple apartments there and got the impression that, while some of the apartments that have not yet been renovated have issues, the renovated ones are of good quality (and I felt that it would be easy to push for a renovated one because they want people to move in). I am also attending UMD College Park in the fall, and location-wise I thought Franklin Park was excellent — especially with shuttles to the metro and the university available. I ended up getting a house instead as we were looking to move out of the apartment scene, but for anyone looking for an apartment near UMD I thought Franklin Park seemed like a good option.