Female mid 20s moving to VA (Arlington) (Alexandria, Fairfax: affordable apartment, rental)

[bb_knn]

Hi,
I am a female in mid 20s, just got an entry level job in downtown of Arlington Va (near N Fairfax Dr and N Quincy St)
I am looking to find an affordable apartment (studio or one bedroom) in a safe area.
My salary is in mid 30s, so basically I should not look for anything more then $1100 a month.
Please let me know what would be the best and the closest location to work that I can move in. I am looking for any type safe neighborhood.
The apartment amenities are not important to me at all since I am on a strict budget.
Also I would like to take a public transportation to work.
Please help.
Thanks

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by bb_knn

Hi,
I am a female in mid 20s, just got an entry level job in downtown of Arlington Va (near N Fairfax Dr and N Quincy St)
I am looking to find an affordable apartment (studio or one bedroom) in a safe area.
My salary is in mid 30s, so basically I should not look for anything more then $1100 a month.
Please let me know what would be the best and the closest location to work that I can move in. I am looking for any type safe neighborhood.
The apartment amenities are not important to me at all since I am on a strict budget.
Also I would like to take a public transportation to work.
Please help.
Thanks

As incredible as it may sound, if you find a $1100 1BR apt that is in Arlington will likely have below-average amenities or conditions. One recommendation I would have is Belle Haven Towers, which is not in Arlington but just south of Alexandria City in the (Fairfax) County section of Alexandria. From what I understand, the apts aren't "great" but they're safe, convenient and in your price range. You'd be a short walk away from the Yellow Line at the Huntington Metro station. From the Yellow Line, you could transfer to the Blue and Orange Lines to get to work. You might be tempted to look south at the low-rises along Route 1, but the supermarkets and midscale restaurants and retail are a better bet from my experience, having lived in the area for about three years. Note that you won't be in a young professionals hotspot - in fact, you will be in "the" hotspot at work - but you will be close enough after hours.

Other options to consider:

Renting a basement apartment in a private home. You'd have your own private entrance but may have to deal with footsteps above you.

Finding a roommate. A common decision for younger professionals and other new arrivals trying to get their footing. This will give you more flexibility on your rent or more bang for your buck.

[CaliTerp07]

Tone's right...amazingly, the nicer apartments in Arlington will rent for $1100 for a room in a 2 br. For some reason, many of the complexes only increase rent minimally from 1 br to 2, so the vast majority of young professionals in the area pick up a roommate. (e.g. a 1 br place will rent for $1800, a 2b for $2200) Craigslist is filled with people offering rooms or searching for roommates. I've successfully found roommates there in the past, as have several friends.

[ChristineVA]

My friend's daughter is getting ready to advertise for a roommate. Her apartment is in Clarendon. I believe it is $800 or $900 a month. It is an excellent location and she also takes public transportation. If you are interested, you can Direct Message me your information and I will forward it to her. She is getting ready to advertise on Craigslist (which she really doesn't want to do). The rental begins in mid-February.

[statecollege]

You'll need a roommate.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by bb_knn

Hi,
I am a female in mid 20s, just got an entry level job in downtown of Arlington Va (near N Fairfax Dr and N Quincy St)
I am looking to find an affordable apartment (studio or one bedroom) in a safe area.
My salary is in mid 30s, so basically I should not look for anything more then $1100 a month.
Please let me know what would be the best and the closest location to work that I can move in. I am looking for any type safe neighborhood.
The apartment amenities are not important to me at all since I am on a strict budget.
Also I would like to take a public transportation to work.
Please help.
Thanks

You won't be able to find a 1 bedroom apartment in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor within walking distance to public transportation for $1,100 a month. In many complexes, you will find that even studio apartments are more than that. I would suggest getting a roommate to share a 2 bedroom apartment with, or look on Craigslist for rooms available in a share house. There are lots of young singles in north Arlington who share a home with 3 or 4 other individuals. That usually helps get the rent down to about $800 per month per room.

[bb_knn]

How much would be a small studio in Arlington.Would that be available for $1100? Even private (owner rented) studio.
As I said I do not care much about amenities. I would like to be able to hop on train or bus and be at work within 35-45 minutes. Safety is my concern. If possible some kind of convenience to public transportation would be nice too.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by bb_knn

How much would be a small studio in Arlington.Would that be available for $1100? Even private (owner rented) studio.
As I said I do not care much about amenities. I would like to be able to hop on train or bus and be at work within 35-45 minutes. Safety is my concern. If possible some kind of convenience to public transportation would be nice too.

I don't have any specific knowledge of the going rate on studios in Arlington. I did want to say that in Arlington, you're never far from a Metrobus (regional) or ART bus (Arlington) that would connect you with Metrorail, if necessary.

[mshan242709]

I was doing research for my sister earlier in the year and studios at The Wilton or Halstead (right across the street from Dunn Loring Metro station in Merrifield) were listed on Craigslist for $1250.

I believe Zip Car also keeps a car in metro parking lot there if you don't have a car and only occasionally need to rent a car.

Barton House includes most utilities, so might be in your price range (http://bartonhouse.com/barton_floorplans.htm). I read there is a long waiting list, though, because people rarely move out.

[d-fens]

I hate to do this, but I am going to give a very honest, non sugar coated opinion because I was in a very similar position to you for around two years.

I started in the DC area making 28K and then maxed out at 33K as far as salary. You sound to be in a similar income bracket. Not certain where you are moving from, but I came from Newark, NJ and was used to high costs of living. In Newark, I rented a 1 BR (not a studio) for $750/month in an okay area. When I came to the DC area, I first rented a tiny bedroom of a house near the Braddock Road metro for $735/month. After getting a different job and not needing to be in DC for work, I rented a larger bedroom of a house near the Court House metro for $550/month. While this sounds okay, understand that I had 5 (and sometimes 6 as people would perpetually be sleeping on a couch in the living room) other roommates who all had their share of unique problems (one was a severe alcoholic, another was an unemployed drug dealer with people in and out of the house at all hours, a kleptomaniac, etc). The house was also falling apart and was infested with rats, roaches, and even stray cats from time to time. Now I had dealt with those problems in other times in my life so it was not all that big of a deal to me, but I know some people would not be able to live with it. In retrospect, if I had to do this over I would have probably lived in one of the MD suburbs or in a neighborhood like Petworth or Columbia Heights because my job in DC was close to these areas. As for when I worked in VA, I really couldn't give you a good solution because I didn't want to be far from the city and living out in Fairfax (and it really isn't much cheaper to do that) or even further out would have been as interesting as watching paint dry.

I have since moved on to Tampa, FL and left all of this madness behind. My advice though to you or anyone looking to move to DC or NOVA is that living in Alexandria, Arlington, DC and so on will mean being willing to overpay severely. I also would advise you to being open to getting a second job. I worked 50-60 hours on my "real" job, then had to go to work at a bar anywhere from 3-5 nights a week. Most people in the area do this. The only other option is to live far out in the suburbs and commute in terrible traffic.

I know this post probably pissed some people off, but I figured I would give a view to the area by someone that lived on similar wages and dealt with similar problems.