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I'll be attending American University in the fall, and I am apartment hunting in DC this weekend. I've poked around Zillow and other places, but I'm hoping to pin down a place to live soon. My budget will be about 2000/mo (will have one roommate) and would prefer somewhere fairly safe and secure (but still affordable), but understand that can be hard, especially around AU. A lot of the places their admissions office suggest are ludicrously expensive- after I settle in, I am going to be working full-time in addition to school so will have a steady income. Is it even going to be possible to live in a somewhat central location on a budget like this, or am I going to have to resort to a really long daily commute? (Or live east of the river?)
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Jul 10, 2014 01:54
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global tetrahedron posted:I'll be attending American University in the fall, and I am apartment hunting in DC this weekend. I've poked around Zillow and other places, but I'm hoping to pin down a place to live soon. My budget will be about 2000/mo (will have one roommate) and would prefer somewhere fairly safe and secure (but still affordable), but understand that can be hard, especially around AU. A lot of the places their admissions office suggest are ludicrously expensive- after I settle in, I am going to be working full-time in addition to school so will have a steady income. Is it even going to be possible to live in a somewhat central location on a budget like this, or am I going to have to resort to a really long daily commute? (Or live east of the river?) For $2,000/mo you shouldn't have any trouble at all finding a place in DC. Is your roommate putting down $2,000/mo too or is that for both of you? Regardless, if you're going to be going to American I'd suggest somewhere in Bethesda or Friendship Heights. Do you drive or do you rely on public transportation?
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Jul 10, 2014 15:10
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Hello soon to be DC goon! First off, you should definitely hit up the DC thread, it's pretty active. Agreed with this_is_hard. You'll have no problem finding a place for $2000 a month, though you might need to be a little removed from the campus. The area surrounding AU is really expensive, however they have a shuttle to and from the Tenleytown metro that runs constantly, so don't be afraid of a little distance. In what kind of area are you interested in living? e: By the way, when I was at AU about half of the people I met who were living off campus but nearby were in The Berkshire. It's quite close to your price range, but you'd probably have to share a bedroom. kedo fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jul 10, 2014 |
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Jul 10, 2014 15:16
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Is $2000 your housing budget, or your entire budget for the month? If it's the former, you'll have zero problems finding a really nice place. If it's the latter, you'll probably be living with at least 3 other people.
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Jul 10, 2014 15:31
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Not a Children posted:Is $2000 your housing budget, or your entire budget for the month? Er yeah, that's a really good question. $2,000/mo for housing will be easy, $2,000/mo total budget per month means (ideally) you can only really spend around $650 or so for rent.
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Jul 10, 2014 15:42
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this_is_hard posted:Er yeah, that's a really good question. $2,000/mo for housing will be easy, $2,000/mo total budget per month means (ideally) you can only really spend around $650 or so for rent. What do you need $1,350 a month for, assuming tuition is already paid? Electricity, gas, and water might be a hundred or so, food could be a couple hundred, more if you're eating well, then metro will cost some. Still not close to $1,350. That's a pretty big budget for a college student, even in DC.
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Jul 10, 2014 20:56
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Florida Betty posted:What do you need $1,350 a month for, assuming tuition is already paid? Electricity, gas, and water might be a hundred or so, food could be a couple hundred, more if you're eating well, then metro will cost some. Still not close to $1,350. That's a pretty big budget for a college student, even in DC. Is that really a question? Most every financial adviser ever will recommend spending 1/3rd of your take home, tops, on rent. not always feasible in the DC area obviously but it's better to have $1,350 than not.
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Jul 10, 2014 21:05
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Florida Betty posted:What do you need $1,350 a month for, assuming tuition is already paid? Electricity, gas, and water might be a hundred or so, food could be a couple hundred, more if you're eating well, then metro will cost some. Still not close to $1,350. That's a pretty big budget for a college student, even in DC. Parking, car payments, gas, insurance, other debt, cable, internet, cell phone, booze, hookers and other misc. entertainment. You left a lot out that really adds up. I've never even come close to spending only 1/3 of my income on rent though, and this is out in Rockville. I won't live with other people though.
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Jul 10, 2014 21:13
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this_is_hard posted:Is that really a question? A lot of that is because you're paying for other things in your life once you hit the work force, plus (ideally) saving some money. $2000 a month when you're in college is a lot more than $2000 a month once you're out of college. I'm not saying he should spend everything he has (particularly if he had to take out loans to do this) but realistically it's going to be tough to find a decent place for only $650.
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Jul 10, 2014 21:22
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IRQ posted:Parking, car payments, gas, insurance, ...
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Jul 10, 2014 21:40
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Go without a car. You're funny. 
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Jul 10, 2014 21:43
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Go without a car. He might, actually, need one! 
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Jul 10, 2014 21:44
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ExcessBLarg! posted:Go without a car. IRQ posted:You're funny. If you live near the metro and take public transit to AU, then it's relatively feasible. You can get to most of DC and a lot of Arlington with Metro and on foot so it's not completely absurd if you need the money.
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Jul 21, 2014 16:51
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Jackson Taus posted:If you live near the metro and take public transit to AU, then it's relatively feasible. You can get to most of DC and a lot of Arlington with Metro and on foot so it's not completely absurd if you need the money. Also, from my experience not living in DC, cabs do a nice job of getting you somewhere quickly and relatively cheaply if it's after midnight in DC.
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Jul 21, 2014 17:11
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I moved to DC three years ago and ended up choosing to live in Rosslyn. It's a bit less expensive than DC, although not by much, but the accessibility of the metro, circulator, and such was a big deal for me. The nice thing about DC is that it's small, so everything is easily accessible if you just got yourself a bike. Traffic is a major headache in the city and could cause you extreme levels of stress at times trying to drive to AU in the morning for a test or just trying to get home at night. I was a grad student at Georgetown and sometimes getting there on the GUTS bus from Rosslyn took 40 to 50 minutes, so I ended up just getting a bike and it worked out really well.
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Jul 21, 2014 17:39
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Anacostia is pretty cheap, OP fake edit: nevermind you already made this joke
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Jul 21, 2014 19:11
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Hi. I live east of the river and it's really not bad at all. You're more a curiosity than a target. You sound like you have the money for the better parts of NW, but anywhere near Eastern Market is just fine.
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Sep 15, 2014 01:02
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kedo posted:e: By the way, when I was at AU about half of the people I met who were living off campus but nearby were in The Berkshire. It's quite close to your price range, but you'd probably have to share a bedroom.
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Sep 22, 2014 04:46
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