Moving to Falls Church, any suggestions for housing? (Arlington, Alexandria: for sale, real estate)

[Morrigkan]

My husband and I are currently in the process of relocating from Northern New York down to NOVA. My husband has a job offer in the Arlington area, with occasionally going into DC for training. As of yet, I do not have a job, I'm a licensed X-Ray Technologist so I am in the process of applying to every hospital within a 30 mile radius. He will be making approx. $75k a year with a little relocation bonus to help with moving. I on the other hand do not have a job yet. While his salary sounds like a lot to us right now considering where we live, we know its not going to go as far in the NOVA area.

Given that, we were thinking of moving to the Falls Church area, considering its a little out of Arlington but still has Metro access for my husband. And we might get more space for our money. Since I do not have a job yet, we want to keep our rental budget at the lower end of the spectrum, then perhaps once I get a full time position we can consider moving to somewhere a little more "vibrant".

What I was wondering if anyone could help us with, is some suggestions on apartments or maybe other areas to consider. I have applied for a job in the Mannasas area, which I know is a bit farther to commute. I know that traffic down here is going to be completely different than where we are. Up here you're more likely to be held up on the highway by a slow moving farm tractor than bumper to bumper gridlock. We're just so unfamiliar with this area I thought maybe asking here would help to give us some insider type information to consider. We haven't made any scouting trips to the area yet because we're not even sure where to start looking. So if anyone has any tips or suggestions we would GREATLY appreciate it, as we're pretty much going into this area blind so to speak. Thanks!!!

Oh we do have a small boston terrier and a cat, if thats going to make any difference.

[claremarie]

Falls Church is a great area, but $75K is not going to go very far, especially if you want to live near the Metro. The more "affordable" parts of Falls Church, both the City of Falls Church and the portion of Fairfax County with a Falls Church mailing address, are miles from the Metro stations. And you won't get much more space for your money in Falls Church than you would in Arlington, closer to your husband's workplace.
Where, exactly, in Arlington will he be working? You might consider renting a very small place near his workplace, perhaps in corporate housing, and then waiting until you find a job to look for permanent housing. Once you are living in the area, and seeing what the traffic is really like (awful), you will have a much better idea of the commute/space tradeoff that you are willing to make.

[Morrigkan]

Well he hasn't been told the exact work location in Arlington, they're relocating the offices, and nothing definite has been given to him. We're trying to find a place that we won't have to put all of our belongings into storage, and from what I've seen isn't corporate housing pretty expensive? Much more than a regular apartment? We have actually seen a few places within our price range, we pretty lucky at the moment because we don't really have many bills. No credit cards and also no car payments. So that gives us a little extra to work with.

We're trying not to spend more than $1500 a month including most utilities if possible. We're definitely looking to rent for quite some time, not buy. So is that realistic budget or am I way off? We would like a 2 bedroom but maybe a 1 bedroom plus den would work as we're are downsizing from a 3 bedroom house.

[claremarie]

Corporate housing is more expensive, but you can get a short-term lease instead of locking yourself into a 12 month term. Without knowing exactly where you will be working (and maybe even exactly where your husband will be working), it will be difficult to decide where to live.
Because I'm much more familiar with the cost of buying a SFH than renting an apartment, I'll let others answer your question on rents.

[Margery]

Here is a site with a great map feature that will help you find a rental : HomesDatabase - Home for Sale and Rent in DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. You want to find something near the orange line of Metro, remember it follows Route 66 from Fairfax to Arlington, that will help you plot out a location. You should be able to find something in your price range, the only problem I can see is the dog and the cat. When you find several areas that fit your price range, come back on this forum and ask for opinions of specific areas or apartment buildings.

[michgc]

We rented in a complex in Falls Church (outside the city limits) for a year. They accepted dogs, which was a big consideration for us at the time. Also, it was a mostly townhouse rental which is what we needed since it had three bedrooms. They also have apartments as well. The complex is called Tysons Glen and is located right off Lessburg Pike (Route 7) about 1/2 mile inside the Beltway (495). It's not within walking distance of the Metro, however. You could take a longish walk to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a big library and some other stores in a couple of strip shopping centers. My husband worked in Manassas the whole time we were there. His commute was about 45 minutes. Because even though the distance was great, it was against traffic so it wasn't bad at all. It wasn't the be-all-and-end-all apartment complex, but the location was convenient and they took dogs.

[Morrigkan]

I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions. We're looking pretty diligently online and think we've found a few places to consider. We're planning on taking a trip down next week to do some tours and kind of get a feel for the place.

To Michgc the complex you suggested, although its not within walking distance to the metro it does offer shuttle service. Its a bit above our budget but I think we could swing it. Plus they're offering lots of specials at the moment. I'm sure I will have a full time, or at least a few per diem jobs within a year so I think it would definitely be feasible.

[bmwguydc]

I do believe that the Tysons Glen complex offers a shuttle service to the West Falls Church Metro, since a friend of mine was considering renting there, but got married instead, so she never moved there. And, one reason was the shuttle to the Metro, since she often had difficulties parking at the station.

[Claire2900]

I would suggest looking near the Vienna metro off Blake Lane/Jermantown Road. There are a number of apts/condos/TH's that are a short bus (cue bus) ride to Vienna. The apts at the metro stop would probably be on the steeper end of the price range. This location would also be ideal for work at Fairfax Hospital.

[Guamanians]

I think you can find something decent in Falls Church. I've lived in NOVA for 10 yrs, and I'm always looking at the real estate (to include rental) markets. Right now is a great time to rent SFH or TH because homeowners don't want to sell in a down market. You should be able to find a nice 2 BR TH for $1500 if you look hard enough. And, Falls Church is not that far from a metro... I guess it's all relative. Maybe you can even find something in Arlington or Alexandria.