Arlington County (Alexandria, Bailey's Crossroads, Falls Church: apartment complexes, rentals, condos)

[wdr2]

Hey everyone,

I currently live in Ohio, but may be moving to Arlington County in December to start my career. The starting salary that I would be making is about $46,000/year. My questions are....

1-Is this a salary in which I can afford a decent apartment, in a nice area, and still live comfortably without spending every dollar I make on housing costs?

2-Are there any specific neighborhoods or even apartment complexes that anyone would recommend?
Just like everyone else in this forum, I'm looking for an apartment near trendy shopping and places to eat (hopefully walking distance).

Thanks for everyones help!

[dullnboring]

1. Yep. You should be fine on 46K. Decent one-bedroom apartments in the area generally start at around $1000/month. They of course increase in the more desirable neighborhoods. You know your bills and expenses and spending habits more than I do so you can probably deduce whether these rents are something you can swing, but it seems like to me you should be able to on that salary. I would venture that with a few "normal" costs like student loans, cell phone bill, car payment, food, etc. you should be able to save or pocket somewhere in the $500-1000 range each month.

2. I can't help with specific complexes, but if you're looking for shopping and restaurants within walking distance to your apartment, it's best to concentrate on Arlington and Alexandria. Arlington's Ballston Corridor, those areas around Metro's Orange Line that include Ballston, Clarendon, Court House, Virginia Square, and to a lesser extent Rosslyn are a nexus for young people in the area. Alexandria isn't as popular but offers many of the same amenities and in general offers cheaper rents. As a warning however, in the most popular neighborhoods, especially if close to Metro, you can up that $1000/month to around $1300/month on average.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by wdr2

Hey everyone,

I currently live in Ohio, but may be moving to Arlington County in December to start my career. The starting salary that I would be making is about $46,000/year. My questions are....

1-Is this a salary in which I can afford a decent apartment, in a nice area, and still live comfortably without spending every dollar I make on housing costs?

2-Are there any specific neighborhoods or even apartment complexes that anyone would recommend?
Just like everyone else in this forum, I'm looking for an apartment near trendy shopping and places to eat (hopefully walking distance).

Thanks for everyones help!

Just an addition to dullnboring...for reasons I don't fully understand, while it's a LOT more expensive to buy in Arlington County than other counties/towns in our area, it's really not that much more expensive to rent. You'll be fine on your salary - not rich, but fine.

Trendy shopping would either fall into Ballston or Clarendon, and perhaps Shirlington too. If you don't require access to Metro, though, you can save some money by renting somewhere that isn't immediately Metro walkable.

Welcome to Northern Virginia!

[mlv311]

I agree with the others that trendy in Arlington for a young professional would be the Court House-Ballston corridor. As you look for rentals, check out condos for rent in the Washington Post or Craig's list. They may be a bit below the going rate of big apartment buildings.

[Zack]

In that area of Arlington you are looking at more like $1600-$1800 for a 1 Bedroom. If you want to get closer to $1000 you should look at South Arlington, West End Of Alexandria, or the Bailey's Crossroads area. The avg rent in the Orange Line corridor is about $3/sq ft/mo so keep that in mind when deciding where to rent. Also if you have a car, parking will be around $100 per month in that area; the other areas where I recommended parking is either free or inexpensive.

[AnalyzeThis]

Originally Posted by Zack

In that area of Arlington you are looking at more like $1600-$1800 for a 1 Bedroom. If you want to get closer to $1000 you should look at South Arlington, West End Of Alexandria, or the Bailey's Crossroads area. The avg rent in the Orange Line corridor is about $3/sq ft/mo so keep that in mind when deciding where to rent. Also if you have a car, parking will be around $100 per month in that area; the other areas where I recommended parking is either free or inexpensive.

I totally have to agree with Zack, sometimes I see average rent prices on here that I have yet to find in my search of dozens of apartments. When I searched one-bedrooms in the Clarendon/Ballston area, it was running on average $1,600+, and the two bedrooms? Forget about it! Even with my budget of $2,600, I would have to spend my entire budget to get the smallest two bedroom Also, keep in mind that alot of the apartments in the "trendier" neighbors do not include parking, so add on another $50+ for a parking spot a month, some do not include basic utilities like water/trash, you will generally pay an annual amenity fee that averages around $300, and if you have a pet look at paying another $50+ a month PER pet, also factor in the cost of any storage unit you might need; these run from $50 - $150 depending on the size.

Supply and demand also plays a huge factor. If you are looking to move quickly, you may not be able to get something in your range in one of the more popular complexes because people tend to move into the cheaper apartments in the most desirable buildings and not leave. Also, consider the amenities that are important to you. If you do not have to have a swimming pool or a washer/dryer in your apartment, you can probably find much cheaper apartments in these areas, and keep in mind the more reasonable apartments are not always listed on the popular rental websites. Also, as mentioned before, private listings on sites such as Craigst List tend to be more affordable than the larger buildings. Just some things to think about in your search from someone who has been "searching" for a year and a half

[goldenmom7500]

Hi,

I've just browsed through the replies and they look great. "Ballston" immediately jumped to my mind. To give you some specifics, I lived in two complexes in Courthouse in the 90s: Arlington Courthouse Place on Veitch (very typical upscale high-rise) and The Meridian at Courthouse (upscale, fancy, very $).

I usually say, in shorthand, that Courthouse is sort of for "workaholic" types - very built up, expensive, close to the metro, lots of professionals heading into DC who are maybe just looking for a place to crash. Clarendon, Ballston, Falls Church, etc., get a little bit more interesting, all in different ways. If you narrow it down, maybe you could do a few searches for apartments, say in Ballston, and then bounce those names off of the experts here ...

[wdr2]

Thanks for the info everyone! Anyone have recommendations for living in Alexandria?