Apartments in Dulles area? (Centreville, Chantilly: apartment complex, for rent, condos)

[david_111]

I'm a new college grad possibly moving to the Dulles area for a job. Any recommendations for 1br apartments?

When I was in the area I looked at a few apartments near the Dulles Town Center and Ashburn, they were nice but a little pricey ~$1100-1300. Any areas that are more inexpensive for renting, ideally within 30min of Dulles during rush hour? I'm not very familiar with the area so I want to make sure I end up in a relatively safe area.

Thanks!

[goldenmom7500]

Hi,

That is a nice area and is surrounding by nice suburbs - Sterling, Potomac Falls, Leesburg, Chantilly, Herndon. Just a few thoughts -

o some of these highly managed apartment complexes are going to be the very most expensive. I don't want to name names, but you know, the kind with ads at Dulles Town Center, the franchises. If you can look beyond these obvious options, you might find prices that are a few hundred lower.

o you might consider getting a roommate - you will end up in a much, much nicer apartment and location.

o just ... double check each location and apartment complex with the folks here ... you are looking at a lovely and affluent area overall, but you want to avoid a bad pocket or a bad complex.

I usually recommend the apartmentratings website (just google "apartments in sterling" or anything and it will come up) but I'm starting to wonder about a lot of the comments on that site. If you're living in a nice complex, but the manager is rude one day, does it really warrant a terrible review (versus some horrible place with roaches?). But I would probably do the same thing!

[musincy]

Unfortunately, yes, this area really is just that expensive. I'm not too familiar with the Dulles area pricing, so hopefully there's something you could find a bit cheaper.

If you look on craigs list, there are usually condos being rented out by private owners. These tend to be nicer and a little less expensive.

You can also look for apartments that have special deals. Sometimes you can get one month's rent free, and they'll spread this out over the whole year, making your overall rent lower.

Good luck with the search.

[dullnboring]

I would say that $1100/month for a one bedroom is to be expected in this area. You may be able to shave $50-100 off of that monthly rent if you really look hard. I know that some of the complexes in Ashburn Village go for a little under $1100/month. If you were to look in Ashburn, I can say with near 100% certainty that you'd wind up in a perfectly decent apartment. Ashburn is uniformly squeaky clean and there isn't anything remotely resembling a bad (or even slightly rough) area. If you venture out towards Leesburg, you can find a few for under $1000. Ditto for some complexes in Sterling, but I'd be leery of those, Sterling moreso than Leesburg. Keep plugging away at the online apartment search engines and look at the towns that goldenmom recommended. You definitely can find one bedrooms for under $1100/month within a 30 minute commute, but unfortunately, it's not going to fall much below that.

[stacylee926]

You might look in Centreville or Chantilly. Those areas are newer in the last 15 years or so, but not brand spanking new and might be asking a little less in rent than the brand new developments. Many, many people in the area share apts in NoVa. It is just too expensive to do it alone.

[musincy]

Originally Posted by stacylee926

You might look in Centreville or Chantilly. Those areas are newer in the last 15 years or so, but not brand spanking new and might be asking a little less in rent than the brand new developments. Many, many people in the area share apts in NoVa. It is just too expensive to do it alone.

I don't know about Chantilly, but Centreville rent is starting at about $1100 for a 1BR as well.

[Margery]

Try the Remington Apartments near the Dulles Town Center. Last time I looked they had a 1 bedroom for $950. Probably finding a roommate to share the expense of a 2 bedroom apartment would keep the cost per person down.