house hunting trip (Arlington, Alexandria: apartment, rent, month-to-month)

[spealex]

I have been told that prior to my move into the area, I will be allowed a house hunting trip. What advice can anyone provide regarding this? I have never done a house hunting trip funded by the GOV and am unsure of what to expect. We want to look in the area of Arlington or Alexandria. What was useful to you when you did your trip and what do you wish you had done but maybe didnt think of it at the time? Thanks.

[VRE332]

don;t buy a house yet. Rent for a year and research the area. Traffic is immense here, and it will break you. Get to know the area before buying a place.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by spealex

I have been told that prior to my into the area, I will be allowed a house hunting trip for up to 10 days. What advice can anyone provide regarding this? I have never done a house hunting trip funded by the GOV and am unsure of what to expect. We want to look in the area of Arlington or Alexandria. What was useful to you when you did your trip and what do you wish you had done on your trip. Thanks.

I didn't take a trip, but did relocate.

The most important thing for you to do is to research which areas you would be interested in, interview some local realtors over the phone, and have those realtors take you on a tour when you arrive.

Based on your experience with those realtors, choose one to do business with on the 2nd half of your 10 day tour and go from there.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by VRE332

don;t buy a house yet. Rent for a year and research the area. Traffic is immense here, and it will break you. Get to know the area before buying a place.

Relo benes may only be good for up to 1 year though.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

Relo benes may only be good for up to 1 year though.

Good relocate to an apartment. Month to month if needed

[Yankeesfan]

If you're genuinely interested in a particular house or neighborhood, try making the commute from there to your workplace in both morning and evening rush hours, at the time you expect to be commuting. More than once if possible. If you'll be using Metro or a bus, try out that commute at what would be your regular time. If you think there may be a problem with overcrowding in some of the houses, go late at night and see how many cars are parked. If you'd like a neighborhood with lots of kids, or few kids, drive by around the time that buses are picking up or dropping off. Same with the neighborhood pools.

[mlv311]

We have relocated cross-country twice and there was one BIG mistake I made the first time. Do not buy a home based on what you see on a house-hunting trip even if family, friends or co-workers tell you it's a good find. Our first home had a horrendous commute to work and every time it rained we lost power. Yes, it was a brand new home and beautiful, but not worth the aggravation.

The second time around, we left our belongings behind while our home was on the market and rented a furnished SFH month-to-month. Once our home sold, we put our things in storage while we found a new home. The four months in temporary quarters were great for getting acquainted with the different neighborhoods, commute, public transporation options, schools, etc. If I didn't have children and two dogs, I would have probably rented for a year, but I wasn't eager to move everything twice so the temporary quarters option worked for us.

GL!

ETA: I strongly agree with Live Strong's advice. The key is to find a very good realtor who is thoroughly familiar with the area you are interested in. That person can 'preview' homes that come on the market based on your criteria and have everything very well organized so that when you are here, you can see as many homes as possible that meet your criteria. You don't want to be wasting "hours" in an office going over what you can do online or over the phone.

[camer]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

If you're genuinely interested in a particular house or neighborhood, try making the commute from there to your workplace in both morning and evening rush hours, at the time you expect to be commuting. More than once if possible. If you'll be using Metro or a bus, try out that commute at what would be your regular time. If you think there may be a problem with overcrowding in some of the houses, go late at night and see how many cars are parked. If you'd like a neighborhood with lots of kids, or few kids, drive by around the time that buses are picking up or dropping off. Same with the neighborhood pools.

We will be doing all of the above this coming July but were advised to return during the school year to do the same commute. Is it true that traffic is condsiderably lighter during the summer months?

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by camer

We will be doing all of the above this coming July but were advised to return during the school year to do the same commute. Is it true that traffic is condsiderably lighter during the summer months?

Yes, you should definitely try the commute during the academic year or add 15-20 minutes to whatever your commute is during the summer to have a more realistic expectation. Don't forget that the bad commute will be even worse during inclement weather.

[Yankeesfan]

Yes, that's right, during the summer the school buses and school carpools aren't on the road plus some people are on vacation at any given time. Doing temporary housing isn't feasible for everyone but it's an excellent idea if you can. I especially like the suggestion of leaving furniture behind if a house hasn't sold because then you don't have to pay to move it twice and store it.