Need help! Relocating from az! (Alexandria, Woodbridge: renter, how much, townhouses)

[kiwi9033]

Hello! I'm relocating from AZ to the No VA area next month. I'm going to be working on Fort Belvoir and need some advice as where to look for a home. I need a place with some sort of fenced in yard as I have two dogs. I'm hoping to not spend more than $1,500. I'm a single female and prefer to stay away from any sketchy areas. It's just hard because not being from the area I'm not sure what is and isn't sketchy.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[MacUser85]

Hello there--

Welcome to the area. Arizona is beautiful--I have family in Tucson and just love those desert sunsets!

I strongly suggest that you take advantage of the townhome and single-family housing within a 10-15 minute vicinity of Fort Belvoir. Fort Belvoir is in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County and is bordered on all sides by suburbia. Most of the suburbia is good, but there are some pockets of questionable areas. The simplest thing for you to do would be to center your search around Kingstowne. Kingstowne is primarily a townhouse community, but there are single family homes in the area. However, a townhouse would get you a fenced yard--I just don't know how much room the dogs need to run... Anyways, you can't go wrong with Kingstowne as it is a newer community, safe, has tennis courts, pools, the like and it puts you 10 (15 minutes max) from the entrance gates to Fort Belvoir.

I want to strongly emphasize the NECESSITY for you to center your search around FB. This area is very, very loaded with traffic and nothing would be worse for you to move here, start your new job and then be bombarded with a 30-45-60 minute commute to other parts of Fairfax or Prince William Counties. Come here and enjoy the evenings with your dogs, establishing a social life, etc. The Kingstowne area has some great restaurants, Walmart, Kohl's, Giant Food (our version of Albertson's), etc. You are also 5 minutes from the Franconia-Springfield Metro which provides a quick 30 minute ride into DC!

Best of luck with your move!!!

[kevbros]

There are, however, definitely some "sketchy" areas around Fort Belvoir especially along Route 1 to watch out for. That said, Kingstowne and environs is a great idea. Listen to CaseyMac and stay close to where you work - a great tip for maintaining both quality of life and sanity.

[barryhussein]

Have a look at the Saratoga area of Springfield. Lots of Th and SFH. Good community pool, and close to FB. Avoid the Rt. 1 corridor; it has been crappy for a long time.

[bangorme]

I don't believe you will get near Kingstowne for $1,500. I looked at $1,800 - $2,200 and got something nice for $2,100. The previous renter was a military gal and I asked her how she could afford the rent. She said that officers got a $2,100 housing allowance. That explained the plateau around $2,100!

Anyway, be prepared to have to sell yourself into a place and pay a sizable "pet allowance." Landlords don't usually want dogs, and large dogs are especially not wanted. I've got a medium size dog and that eliminated about 50% of the townhouses right off the bat.

A funny story. I talked the owner into showing me a townhouse in Kingstowne for $1,800. When I got there it was obvious that there were several people living in the townhouse. Food, beds, mold, everywhere... the place stunk. The owner said he was going to redo the house after the current tenants left but wouldn't since we had a dog. That was funny.

[The Dissenter]

One place to look is the 22307-22308 zipcodes of Alexandria. The homes here are nice and far enough from the riff-raff on Rt 1.

[slduvall]

I agree you won't find much in Kingstowne for $1800, if you do it won't have a garage, and most likely will have a postage size backyard. But then again most do just have a small backyard. I live in one of the larger floor plans,
(3200 sq feet) and my backyard is about 12 x 8, with about 60% patio. Makes it great for mowing, but not for dogs.

I would keep north of Belvoir, in the 22315 or immediate area zips, that will include kingstowne, Island Creek and some of the smaller subdivisions. There are nice places along the Fairfax county parkway/Franconia Springfield Parkway. For that price you will most likely be in a TH, but could find a small house.

The dogs will be a drawback. There were posts a while back about dogs and renting, people get emotional about the topic, but the reality is most leases will say no dogs, or smaller dogs only. Children cause more damage, but we can't say they can't have kids! You could get the freaky landlord like the post the other day, or one like mine, who lives in Woodbridge and I haven't heard one word from since we moved in! He could care less about dogs, as he had one, and I'm still picking up the dog hair.

Another thing you should consider if you want a SFH is to find a roomate, that will get you into a bigger place (i.e. bigger yard).

Good luck