Insane weekend

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Oh, dear. I am quite behind on my flist. I even have a fic just about ready to post, but haven't gotten around to it because my life suddenly got turned upside down.

The good news: I was offered a new job in DC.
The bad news: I start in a month, which means I have to find an apartment and move in less time than that, all the while still working at my old job, and figuring out what the hell I'm going to do about the 7 months left on my current apartment lease.

This, it seems, will entail trips to DC pretty much every weekend from now until I move. Got up at 5:30 yesterday morning so I could drive down and meet my parents for our first weekend of apartment hunting. My mother would love for me to get a condo, so I can build up some equity rather than throwing away money on rent, but so far, we've only found one place I could afford, and I wasn't crazy about it. I don't want to buy the first place I see, just because it's a great price. As my mother says, if you buy something on sale, and then you don't like it, you didn't really get a bargain.

So I'm also looking at renting an apartment - which is also absurdly expensive. Once we ruled out all the places that either were out of my price range, or in bad neighborhoods, or so much of a dump my mother wouldn't let me live there, there aren't that many choices, but still, I think it's going to be a hard decision. I've got it narrowed down to probably Arlington or Alexandria, if anyone who either lives in or is familiar with the area has any advice.

I'm looking for a one-bedroom, although we did look at a few studio/efficiency apartments this weekend. The studio would definitely be cheaper, but I worry about a.) not having a private bedroom area when I have guests, especially guests who sleep over, b.) less space for the kitty, and c.) not enough room for all my furniture. I'm in a one-bedroom now, and it's fully furnished, so all that stuff will have to go somewhere. (I suppose it could go in my parents' basement, but the main problem seems to be the bedroom furniture, and I don't know where I'd store all my clothes if I can't fit my dresser in the apartment...)

There's a fair amount of sticker shock, going from where I live now, which is one of the most expensive apartments in my (admittedly small) city, to finding out that, on the same salary, I qualify for low-income housing in the DC metro area. Talk about your cost of living differences.

Anyway, since we didn't find anything that was absolutely perfect, we will probably be going back and looking at more places next weekend. It's a damn good thing I like spreadsheets, because trying to keep track of all this is making my head spin.

It's entirely possible that this may become "Eowyn's apartment hunting journal" for the next few weeks, for which I apologize in advance.

Comments

[deird1]

Congrats on the job!

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Thanks!

[rahirah]

Cingrats! (I'm surprised there's so little available - in Phoenix they're practically giving away condos and houses in Crackerjack boxes.)

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From what I've been told, the DC housing market is completely unlike the rest of the country. There's never any shortage of people wanting to buy or rent in my price range, and since DC is the only city increasing jobs rather than losing them, there's more people moving into the area.

[urania-calliope.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

Actually, I love reading moving/home hunting journals. I've told my BF that as long as I'm in school I'm fine with this apartment but when I'm done I'm leaving.

Which is a little sad because I just know I'll have to leave the city.

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Thanks! I probably would've been very happy in my current apartment and my current neighborhood for another year or so, but I've been planning to go to grad school in DC, so I had to move eventually.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the new job!

Sorry, am too damn worn out to add anything else. Looking forward to hearing your moving trials and tribulations, though.

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Right there with you on the worn out... I think I need another weekend to recover from my weekend.

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, and good luck with the apartment hunting!

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Thanks!

[silverusagi]

Yay for new job!

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Heh, I'd celebrate, but I'm too tired... lol.

[louise39.livejournal.com]

Wonderful news about the new job!

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Thanks!

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

Good luck on the apartment hunting.

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Thanks!

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the new job! Tis very exciting!

My cousin (who's like a sister to me) and brother both rent a house in Arlington. The rent up there is just whoa, so I can sympathize.

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Thanks! And yeah, DC is way expensive... but tell me, how do they like their neighborhood? Is it walkable? Is it safe? Near the Metro? :)

[angearia.livejournal.com]

They love the neighborhood. It's very nice and convenient. Especially love going to hang out at Old Town nearby where all the nice shops and restaurants are.

[mikeda.livejournal.com]

Hey, we're going to be neighbors!

In the very broad sense of living in the same metropolitan area.

Don't have much advice about Arlington or Alexandria. My understanding is that depending on where you live and work, you may not need a car in Arlington (probably the same goes for some neighborhoods in Alexandria).

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LOL, awesome! I didn't take a close look at Arlington yet, but in Alexandria, it seemed that most of the places I looked at required a car - but then, they were all out on 395. I'd love to live in Old Town, which is awesomely walkable, but that's more expensive than the outskirts. I'm working in DC, so I'm hoping to take the Metro rather than drive.

[shapinglight]

I meant to say congratulations on your new job. Is it the one you were talking about?

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Thanks! Yes, this is the one I mentioned (I think at that point I'd had a second interview with them).

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

Hey, L. I was at my HS Reunion yesterday and was chatting with a friend of mine that moved back to NYC after a year in DC. She lived in Glover Park, which she described as "very nice and affordable." She was in a studio for $1050/month and was working as a paralegal. There are a lot of services in the area because it's between two colleges - Georgetown and George Washington. I don't think she had a car. Just used the Metro.

She said she would email me some more info about the neighb for your reference. I also found this: http://www.gloverparkdc.com/.

I also put a call in to another friend that was living in Alexandria a year ago, also carless and working for the Grand Hyatt in event planning in downtown DC. If I get any more info for you, I'll let you know!

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Thanks. It seems that it's pretty much impossible to find someplace I can afford where I wouldn't need my car at all. Even if I had to use it for other things, I was really trying to find a place where I could at least take the Metro into work, but even at the place where I ended up, I still have to take a bus to the Metro, because nothing around the stations was affordable.