Occupancy Limits?

[Mnseca]

Maybe you should try a privately owned apartment. If you are good tenants, and this is not some kind of city or county law, people will probably be willing to rent you whatever you want.

[Rosalie89]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

Maybe you should try a privately owned apartment. If you are good tenants, and this is not some kind of city or county law, people will probably be willing to rent you whatever you want.

Thanks, I will look into that and see what the rates are like.

[blindside]

Unless you're in a town or village in VA, I imagine the occupancy limits are set by the county.

In Loudoun, they can be found here https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/5442, which states that if you want to put 2 people to a room, you need at least 100 square feet.

I have two kids in a room measuring 12x13, a full size bed and a crib. it's tight, but with bunk beds it'd be fairly roomy.

Interesting that it not only applies to bed room, but there are limits for living room and kitchen and dining room as well.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

Maybe you should try a privately owned apartment. If you are good tenants, and this is not some kind of city or county law, people will probably be willing to rent you whatever you want.

Good idea, except for one thing---there are far too many people who make illegal apartments in their basements. This is problematic for three reasons 1) An illegal apartment may not have proper egress in the event of a fire. Some have no private exits nor do they have large enough windows to provide a means of escape; 2) If it is an illegal apartment, the surrounding neighbors just might report it and get it shut down; 3) Parking may be a problem.

So, if you go the privately owned apartment rule, use due diligence and be sure that the landlord has permission to have an apartment on site.

[HomesRAH]

HI Rosalie,

As many here have said, and for most of the reasons they mention, many NoVA apartment complexes will say the same as what you've heard from yours. I like what the one poster said, who thought that 18 months or less did not require their own room, and personally might even extend that age limit a little. But, I don't make the rules. Mnseca suggests trying private rentals, which is exactly where my brain was going, too. There are lots of different sites to poke around on...certainly Craigslist, Hotpads.com, mrishomes.com, and then there's this helpful article, too: The 22 Best Websites For Finding Rentals, Homes, Movers And Even Pet-Friendly Pads

Hope that helps, and good luck!
Richard H.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by HomesRAH

HI Rosalie,

As many here have said, and for most of the reasons they mention, many NoVA apartment complexes will say the same as what you've heard from yours. I like what the one poster said, who thought that 18 months or less did not require their own room, and personally might even extend that age limit a little. But, I don't make the rules. Mnseca suggests trying private rentals, which is exactly where my brain was going, too. There are lots of different sites to poke around on...certainly Craigslist, Hotpads.com, mrishomes.com, and then there's this helpful article, too: The 22 Best Websites For Finding Rentals, Homes, Movers And Even Pet-Friendly Pads

Hope that helps, and good luck!
Richard H.

Do any of those sites have listings that are illegal apartments?

[Mnseca]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Good idea, except for one thing---there are far too many people who make illegal apartments in their basements. This is problematic for three reasons 1) An illegal apartment may not have proper egress in the event of a fire. Some have no private exits nor do they have large enough windows to provide a means of escape; 2) If it is an illegal apartment, the surrounding neighbors just might report it and get it shut down; 3) Parking may be a problem.

So, if you go the privately owned apartment rule, use due diligence and be sure that the landlord has permission to have an apartment on site.

You definitely have to do due diligence, but for all the illegal apartments there are many perfectly good places, especially condos or very small apartment buildings. We had a lot of good luck with private rentals before we owned a home, and we even own a rental unit ourselves. Most likely if it's in a basement and it's super cheap, it's not a legitimate rental.

We always used Craigslist to find rentals, and we advertise our own units that way exclusively.