Another one of those "Moving to NoVA" Post...

[choff5]

I’ve heard sketchy things about apartment hunting on Craigslist but also know it can be very successful. DS found a condo in his price range that was managed by a guy who does property management for a living. Two years later when DS was ready to move closer to work and something a little nicer turned out his landlord had something in the area he was looking. Renting in a condo place also seemed more stable than apartment renting from a huge corporation too. It can be done, easier with a roommate but can be even without one.

[KP360]

Originally Posted by choff5

I’ve heard sketchy things about apartment hunting on Craigslist but also know it can be very successful. DS found a condo in his price range that was managed by a guy who does property management for a living. Two years later when DS was ready to move closer to work and something a little nicer turned out his landlord had something in the area he was looking. Renting in a condo place also seemed more stable than apartment renting from a huge corporation too. It can be done, easier with a roommate but can be even without one.

My previous living situation in St. Louis, MO came from Craigslist hunting. It was a good experience until the property owner continually told me he was not receiving my checks and demanded I pay him twice a month. (This happened around month 9 of 12.) I ended up taking him to court and receiving my extra payments back. Who knows what turned him into a scam artist.

Anyway, (lol) I took a look at a few apartments on Craigslist and found a small number of nice places within my budget. I've contacted them all. On the other hand, I've found a TON of obvious scams. And I've found a TON of people willing to rent a room but with tons of restrictions.
One ad was $1200 a month for a room in McLean. The owner listed himself as a "Christian Professional." The restrictions were: no visitors of the opposite sex (without approval), no visitors at all past 8pm, no kids, no pets, no loud music, no rap music at all, no online game playing (don't know how that would be monitored), no smoking, no open drunkness in the house, no storage of alcohol in the shared fridge, and lastly, must be willing to allow 2 house cats into room. The owner literally says if the cats are scratching at your door you must let them in. lol.
I found another Craigslist ad that literally seemed perfect until I reached the last sentence. "No access to kitchen. This deal includes room only, no kitchen." I didn't know not including a kitchen was a thing here lol.

I found a decent apartment in Falls church named "The Glenn Apartments." Studio is a little over $1k a month. Anyone know anything about it?

[ChristineVA]

OP, glad you came back. Those are some funny Craigslist stories. People are interesting aren't they? Sorry I don't have any info on the apartments you listed but I'm sure someone will chime in soon.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Craigslist is a funny place and I also have my share of crazy stories over the years! A lot of good ones too. I am not familiar with 'The Glenn' apartments but if you are seeing a studio in the Tysons area for around $1,000 a month then something is off- at least from my experience. It could be one of those rare gems we have all tried to find over the years with limited success but more than likely the listing meets one of (if not all of) the following criteria:

(1) claims a Tysons location but is actually several miles away
(2) predominately low income housing
(3) located in an old and dated complex lacking basic amenities.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by NOVAmtneer82

(3) located in an old and dated complex lacking basic amenities.

Interested as to what you consider "basic amenities"?

[NOVAmtneer82]

The things most young people with a good job/ decent salary in this area want- a gym with more than one treadmill that never works, common areas with grills, a community room where they arrange occasional happy hours/ events for young people in the complex, a ****ty pool, shuttle to Metro? I've certainly lived in places without such, especially when I first moved here (my first place in Rosslyn made my mom cry) but a lot of times these are important things to consider in a complex - especially if living in an apartment by yourself off the beaten path in Tysons versus a group house in Reston, Arlington or DC proper where you are surrounded by bars/ restaurants and other nightlife within walking distance. My point is - this could be a decent place but it is certainly well below common rent rates for the area which is usually a red flag. I guess it comes down to personal preference.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by KP360

I found a decent apartment in Falls church named "The Glenn Apartments." Studio is a little over $1k a month. Anyone know anything about it?

Thanks for passing on your rental search experiences. Very informative and helpful for other potential renters looking through this thread.

I am not personally familiar with the Glen Apartments but checked www.apartmentratings.com. You have to take comments on there with a grain (a bag really) of salt since many people just post on there when they have a personal grudge with the apartment management. However, Apartmentratings now has a "verified renter" feature and if the posts are detailed and informative and mostly positive, the site can help steer potential renters to apartments worth checking out.

I did not find any Glenn Apartments in Falls Church but I did find Tyson's Glen Apartments. Is that the one you mean? It has mostly very good reviews on Apartmentratings but reviews are much more mixed on Yelp, where it is listed as Tysons Glen Devonshire Square (same address). Those are pretty detailed so you may want to read through them to see if this is the place for you. By the way, the listed rental rates for Glen start at $1525 for a one bedroom one bath apartment, though their smallest size has an unlisted price as no units are currently available. Still likely to be several hundred a month more than $1K. Many of the cheaper decent quality apartments in the area have income restrictions so be sure to ask about that when checking on rentals from corporate rather than private owners.

Good luck on your apartment hunting.

[cdmurphy]

I think he means The Glen. It's off Lee Highway by the cemetery, about a mile inside the Beltway.