Apartment Advice for Recent Grad working near Dupont (apartments, lease)

[J3446]

I was hoping you all could provide some insights and housing advice. I'm a relatively recent graduate who's been working in my current job for about a year. I work in Dupont. What areas would you recommend for twenty-something woman who makes $44,000 gross?

Qualities I'm looking for:
- safety. I know this is relative :-)
- less than an hour commute time to DuPont
- young, single area
- walkable/good public transportation options. (No car)

Additionally, do you think $1200 rent (including all utilities) would burden my finances? My total transportation expenses (commute + everyday transportation) would be no more than $300 a month if I were to sign the lease. I would not have a car, and the apartment is 1 block from the metro.

[stateofnature]

No one can tell you what would burden your finances without knowing the particulars of your financial situation such as student loans, credit card debt and your personal finances. The general rule is that landlords won't accept your application unless your total income is 40 times the monthly rent, so if your rent is 1,000 to 1,100 (utilities bringing it up to 1,200) that is going to be your practical limit (40 times 1,100 = $44,000). But depending on the particular financial situation a person could be burdened by paying that 40x limit in rent.
Whatever you do you will likely need to find roommates via Craigslist or some other avenue. At $1,200 you could maybe even live in Dupont itself with several roommates, and then walk to work, which would be very convenient. The majority of people making around your income in DC will be living in group houses or apartments with multiple roommates, unless they have other sources of income like help from their parents.

[Chriz Brown]

With that salary, roommates are your only option if you want a good quality of life. Once you agree to having roommates, you can basically live anywhere in the city you want. Most of DC is young and single outside of maybe the Capital Hill area and the outskirts of the city.

Talking from experience.. get roommates and try to pay around $800 or less a month. Allow yourself to have disposable income to do fun things like traveling and dining out.

A lot of people want to move into their own place, but unless you're making good $$$ its not a realistic option. That is.. unless you are willing to live in the ghetto or in a crappy rat invested building.