Trying to find a place near Bethesda (Germantown, Gaithersburg: apartments, rentals)

[VHoro]

My husband, who is in the Navy, our two year old son, and I are moving from Oregon to Maryland. And the internet is not giving me what I need. I am looking for a two bedroom apartment within a five to ten minute walk to metro. For a couple of months we will be car-less and my husband doesn't want to be late for work at NNMC in Bethesda. We need it to be affordable as well. And as I am finding out this hard to find. So any suggestions from the locals? Any help I can get would be wonderful.

[adelphi_sky]

Most stops on the Red Line in Maryland are a good bet.

[HurricaneDC]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

Most stops on the Red Line in Maryland are a good bet.

On the Western side especially. It takes a while to get from Glenmont to Medical Center.

OP what's your monthly budget for housing look like? If I recall correctly BAH around here is pretty good.

[VHoro]

Well our BAH is on 1700. So I am looking for something not over 1500. I have found places but it just seems that there is always something wrong with them. And my husband is picky. I am to the point where I want to pull my hair out.

[scrapper105]

If I were you, I would go to www.wmata.com and look up all the addresses of the red line stations inbetween Friendship Heights and Shady Grove. Take that list of addresses and then use an apartment search website (I don't know of any personally) and do a radius search within 1 mile of those addresses of the metro stations.

It will take some time, but you can rest assured that this method will ensure that you've covered allyour bases.

[HurricaneDC]

Hmm. 1500 alone may be a bit low, did you plan on just using BAH or will it be possible to use take-home pay as well?

The Washington Post has a good rental finder for places near Metro stations:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rentals/index.html

Like Scrapper said, look between Shady Grove and Friendship Heights.

These are near the Shady Grove station and would be mostly covered by BAH:

http://www.apartments.com/rent/Rockv...&partner=WPost

[nightnurse613]

Well, having just done this exercise, I can give you some basic rules. The closer you are to Washington DC; the more expensive things will be. You will find city driving to be a generally disagreeable task. Therefore, if you can plant yourself near a metro station (I'm thinking Red Line) you will be better off however, those locations are also a little more expensive -your husband will probably get a transit subsidy. There is a transit stop at NNMC. There are some excellent opportunities north of Rockville (Gaithersburg area) where you can find a two bedroom within your price range. The good news is the area around Bethesda is wooded and should minimize the shock of moving from Oregon (although it will be much more hot and humid.)

[goldenage1]

You don't have to walk to the Metro stops, as there is an excellent connector bus system, either local Ride-On bus or MetroBus. You could look for apartments a bit further away. I agree that Gaithersburg would be a good area to look at.

[Joykins]

There is a rush hour express bus from Gaithersburg (124 and 270 - http://www.wmata.com/bus/timetables/md/j7-9.pdf ) and Germantown (Milestone - Ride On Routes ) to Medical Center. This may open up some more inexpensive places for you. Milestone is nice but I don't know what the housing costs are.