relocating - job in sterling - where to live, cost of living, etc. (Reston: sales)

[ana_michelle]

Hi all -
I've been presented with the likely chance that my department will relocate to Sterling in the new year. I'm currently based in Germany and have never lived in the US, so I need some help here!

I'm 31 and single, and would like my own place. Due to the location of the office, I'll need a car. Ideally I'd like to be somewhere close to a metro line, but also with a reasonable commute to Sterling (~30 minutes). Where would you suggest? I've been reading about the Falls Church/Tyson's Corner area - would you recommend this area? What can I realistically expect to spend on rent for a 1b/1b? So far from what I've seen, I'm guessing around $1500/month?

What is the cost of living like? Having never lived in the US, I'm having a hard time figuring out how much of my salary would go to taxes, what I can expect to spend per month on rent/utilities/food/car and what kind of salary I need to ask for to be able to live comfortably.

Any advice on what I'm in for would be greatly appreciated!

~ana

[Caladium]

Where in Sterling? Sterling is a huge place, so a nearby street or intersection would help. If you really want to be near a metro station you could look at Falls Church but your drive to work every day would be godawful. Better to live closer in, IMO. Metro will be arriving to Reston/Herndon in about 2 years.

I'd recommend living near Sterling. Traffic is very bad here, so try to live as close to work as possible. If you're single, Reston or Herndon would probably be more appealing than the other neighborhoods. If you have young children I'd look for places in Sterling in the 20165 zip code (not Sterling Park neighborhood). We also have a lot of threads on Sterling in this forum (probably at least 70 or so) which you might find very helpful. Use the forum's search engine to find them.

[ana_michelle]

The office is very close to Dulles Airport, near the intersection of Sterling Rd/Old Ox Rd and Sully Rd.
I am single, so looking for somewhere where I will not be too isolated, but the commute is also a big factor (coming from living in a city with no car & great public transport).

Thanks!

[Caladium]

From the intersection it's pretty easy to zip over to Herndon, so I'd look either at Reston (look near Town Center, also commonly called RTC) or the historic section of Herndon near Eldon Street. That area has the most young single people. Get a lease for a year, so you can move if you end up like another area better.

Sterling is pretty far out in the burbs, by the way--if that's a big problem you might consider living in Ballston area (but then your commute will be horrid). IMO it's better to live close to work and drive in to events closer into to the city, but some people take the opposite approach so they can live closer to DC.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...oto-tours.html This link has several photo tours of Reston, Herndon, and Sterling which will give you an idea of the area.


By the way, welcome to Virginia.

[mdcrim]

I'd also recommend Reston. It will be a short reverse commute and the town center is great for thirty- something's. Not sure what the rental market is there, though.

[ana_michelle]

Thanks for the suggestions and the welcome! I'll take a look at Reston and Herndon.
As for rent, is $1500 realistic? This is over twice what I'm paying where I am now, so it seems pretty crazy to me!

Is this doable on $60k a year? What about $50k a year? Can someone give me an idea of what the take-home pay is in that salary range? I'm having a hard time figuring out what the deductions would be and where I could afford to live based on that.

[midwesterneratheart]

$1500 would get you a decent basic one bedroom apartment around the Reston/Herndon/Sterling area. It depends on if you have any debts, but you would probably make out okay on $60,000. Below that is pretty tight if you have a car payment etc. Most apartment places require a person to make gross 3 x the months rent, so at $50,000 you would not qualify for $1500 rent. With $60,000 pay, you would net around 3500-3600 depending on your deductions, health insurance premium etc. taken out. There are calculators you can find on the internet to help you.

Washington DC metro area has a pretty high cost of living and you just have to accept it and move on. It's an eye-opener when you come from somewhere the costs are lower.

[NoVA_Lurker]

There are several apartment complexes just south of the Dulles Toll Road near Centerville Rd in Herndon which would give you an easy commute (10-15 minutes?). These are mostly in the 20171 zip code. I just looked at the apartmentguide.com website and can see lots of communities listed in that area, some of which are pretty new. You might also look for private rentals of a 1BR condo in the Reston Town Center area which may be a little less than managed apartment complexes.

I lived in Metropolitan of Fairfax when I was single in my early 30s and liked it there. That was a few years ago, but I think the rent at that time was ~$1300 for a 1/1 not including utilities. I liked that it had covered parking (very nice in rain/snow and cold to not have to scrape windshield), interior corridors, and an elevator.

[scottfs]

For taxes, you will need to think about Federal, State, and Local taxes in general.

To get an estimate on Federal taxes, I found this calculator. IRS Withholding Calculator You can use it to determine how much will be deducted from your paycheck. You'd probably be filing single. Unless you have a mortgage or other large deductible medical/education/etc. expenses, you probably aren't going to itemize deductions. Calculate it with the standard deduction.

You can use this calculator to determine how much your state taxes in Virginia will be. IRS Withholding Calculator

For local, depends where you live. Everybody pays "personal property taxes" which is known as the "car tax" but I think they tax boats and whatnot too. They vary depending on the value of your vehicle, but will generally run a few hundred with a newer model car. Locally, I don't know if there is anything in addition to these taxes. Not sure if Reston has any extras, but what I've listed are the biggest items to worry about so you can get a general figure.

Oh, also sales tax is going to be 5%.

I think your housing budget of $1500 makes sense. I second the RTC recommendations for your scenario.

Good luck and welcome to the USA and Virginia.

[ana_michelle]

Thanks all; this is really helpful! Now that i have some idea of the costs involved i have a better idea of how much i'd need to be earning to survive.