My roomate and I are moving to DC after graduation. We're looking for places in Old Town/ Alexandria. We're constantly checking craigslist and searched apt reviews. Anybody have suggestions for good places or have contacts in area? Hoping to stay around the $800 range per person. Walking distance (no more than 1-1.5 miles) to metro and Potomac River required.

And if anyone's looking for roomates, pm to let us know.

Appreciate any advice.

4/20/2006 11:34:57 PM

Good Luck

4/21/2006 11:09:37 AM

thats a pretty reasonable ceiling, althouh for that price you will probably be living with more than just the two of you. i would bump your ceiling up another 200 to include all utils and all,

you could find something around potomac yard no problem for that price (1600), or even into the southern part of old town (it wont be a brand new or super nice place though)

as far as the metro and the river, i dont think the metro is further than 1-1.5 from the river, in that narrow stretch of old town, so youre good either way. i used to live 3 blocks from the river and woudl walk to the braddock road metro every day, it was about half a mile at that stop, and about a 10 minute walk

my suggestion, if you want to live in DC, live in DC. you can find a place if you look hard enough, and you wont regret experiencing the city for a little while before you make the pilgrimage back across the river

[Edited on April 21, 2006 at 11:15 AM. Reason : .]

4/21/2006 11:14:39 AM

maybe there's a van down by the river?

4/21/2006 11:36:04 AM

i knew it

4/21/2006 11:37:22 AM

thanks for the input. the reason we have to, or prefer to live in Old Town is that my roomate will be working right on the river. she'll just walk to and from work, and i'll be riding the metro to downtown. of course i'd like to live in the city; but her walk from either metro stop
(king or braddock) would be a little too far, esp considering the winter.

we want to take advantage of mass trans as much as possible. plus, Old Town's safe and has it's places to eat/shop, not too far from downtown.

we're still looking. so at any point, if you have a contact that knows/has a place or someone's looking to share housing with 2 roomates in that area, let me know.

4/21/2006 1:12:03 PM

craigslist is your best bet.

if possible you shoudl come up for a couple days, spend the money on a hotel...you will be more likely to find a place if you are up here and can spend time to stumble on places rather than moving blindly. long and fosters are also pretty helpful (realtors on king st.) i forget the name of the contact i used to have there

4/21/2006 1:58:02 PM

I stayed in Alexandria last year for 7 months in Fox Chase Apartments. They were alright, closer to Landmark Mall, then to Old Town, but they have a free shuttle to/from the metro everyday. I payed about 950 for a decent 1BR w/o utilities. A 2 BR isn't that much more, probably around 2-300 more. All the places around Old Town are a lot more expensive unless you have 5 or more people in a house.
You can find apts for under 800 around Alexandria, but lock your doors.

4/21/2006 2:02:44 PM

ok, so it's been quite tough trying to fulfill these qualifiers, for obvious reasons. definitely restricted our options way too much. we're now considering places in crystal city, arlington (clarendon/ballston), and rosslyn areas as well.

i understand the advice mentioned above (craigslist, etc) applies to these places too, but i was wondering if anyone might have opinions on some of the high rise apartments. maybe more specifically, the condos, seeing how i can't get any reviews online.

also, if it makes a difference, it's no longer just 2 roomates; there are 3 of us now.

thanks again to those who have been helping.

4/24/2006 1:29:34 PM

$800 a month?

ahahahahaha good luck

4/24/2006 1:32:05 PM

Quote :

"$800 range per person"

that's possible -- won't be the 'high livin' , but possible.

have you tried http://www.apartments.com/

[Edited on April 24, 2006 at 1:47 PM. Reason : link]

4/24/2006 1:40:15 PM

i know people who pay 800 plus utilities in Old Town. and yes, you're not living royally by any means. just comfortably. it also requires a good amount of luck to find the openings when they pop up. hence, why i'm asking if people have contacts/resources.

^thanks for the helpful response

4/24/2006 1:56:06 PM