<p>My DD and her friend are moving to the Manassas, VA area in late summer and looking for housing this far in advance and from a distance is not easy!</p>
<p>Anyway, the girls are/will be recent college graduates who are moving to the area for a couple of pretty low paying positions in the Arts with intentions of getting other jobs as well. Both have skills/degrees that should be useful to land other work fairly easily.</p>
<p>We have looked around but suburban DC is pretty pricey. They would be willing to go out as far as a half hour in any direction and would like to keep the rent under $1100/month and the apartment needs to include parking as both girls will have their cars (this will be a necessity). </p>
<p>I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on apartments: where to look, where to stay away from. If anyone has any specific leads feel free to PM me. I have contacted a couple of complexes but most seem to be income based and some have some very odd criteria (cannot be a recent college graduate?). My DH and I are willing to co-sign and the girls have the money for all appropriate deposits as well as good rental references. I am at a loss and I would love any help anyone can provide if in that area or knowing of that area.</p>
<p>My D and her friends are looking for a house to share in DC - and I agree that it’s incredibly pricey. They are also having trouble finding landlords willing to rent to recent grads, even with parents as co-signers. I assume that you’ve looked at Craig’s List. I noticed that there are quite a few places in Manassas listed. Unfortunately, D and her friends want to remain in the city (AU graduates) as they all have jobs around Capitol Hill. I have a feeling parents are going to be subsidizing this for a while. </p>
<p>Wish I could be of more help, but at least I sympathize!</p>
<p>Thanks. FWIW, my older DD is in grad school and having issues too in her college town. And she is a FT student with a decent income from her assistantship too. </p>
<p>I think DC has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. Its expensive and the traffic is horrendous, so that needs to be taken into account if possible. </p>
<p>If their jobs aren’t located in Manassas, I wouldn’t recommend living there. It is WAY more than 30 minutes outside of the city with traffic (for example, driving from DC to Manassas right now takes ~1hr)</p>
<p>Are they trying to keep below $1100 in total or each?</p>
<p>Their jobs are in the Manassas area (not in the DC direction) which seems to be considered suburban DC. I am not really sure why you thought they want to be close to DC at all? It was the second poster looking for housing in DC. My DD wants to stay out of larger cities for awhile (after spending college in one she is eager to get back to a more suburban environment).</p>
<p>We have looked at apartment complexes in Warrenton (about as far out of the way as they are willing to go), Gainesville, and Manassas. And yes, the rent (without utilities) would need to be under $1100 total to be low enough for the roommate’s liking (IMO $1400 is doable). That does seem to be low median for the area for a 2 bedroom but I am completely unsure what areas are good to look at outside of where we have already looked or what areas that we have looked in already are decent. My DD currently lives in a very large city in one of the best neighborhoods and she and roommates pay $2095/month for a 3 floor townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms so to me $1100 or under for a suburban 2 bedroom apartment does not seem out of line.</p>
<p>Look in Woodbridge, VA. It’s sort of south east of Manassas, but housing prices are a bit lower. They can take the Prince William Parkway up to Manassas. Realize that it is very expensive all around this area, and $1100 a month is pretty low for apartments. Also, commute time will be longer than you anticipate, no matter where you live in this area.</p>
<p>Thanks VAMom. I had actually checked that military site too! I keep a good eye on it as it seems promising.<br>
Any suggestions for areas west of Manassas or southwest?</p>
<p>OP - Make sure you are comfortable with safety. Some parts of Manassas area are pretty “rough.” I’d recommend look to the east of Manassas (in Fairfax county) but that means higher rent. </p>
<p>I took a quick look at Manassas a couple of years ago and I found it a bit “frayed” at the edges. The job transfer didn’t come through, which was a relief because that one trip through Manassas, including the traffic-packed commute drive back to DC proper, was enough to make me glad I didn’t have to relocated there. That being said, a colleague at the NOVA office lived in a perfectly comfortable neighborhood in Manassas. </p>
<p>Ok, lol. I don’t want to give too many specifics but Manassas is not where the job is. West of Manassas is closer to what we are looking for but still within about 30 minutes of Manassas since there seem to be more opportunities to pick up a part time job there for extra cash.</p>
<p>We live just outside of Manassas. If it was my DD and her friend I would tell her to look in the Gainesville area for an apartment of rental townhome. Just 10 minutes outside of Manassas, and the town is experiencing a bit of a “boom” with the recent addition of some nice shopping and entertainment districts near the Rt 29 / I-66 intersection. Also, the “Jiffy Lube Live” outdoor arena is literally 5 minutes away, with great concerts all summer. I’d have her avoid Manassas Park like the plaque – cheap rent, but for a reason (i.e. high crime). Check out Centerville as well, the next town closer to DC, but they’d be going opposite direction of the traffic each day if they commuted to work in DC (on I-66, this could mean an extra half hour + in traffic for less than a 5 mile commute, no kidding!). George Mason University is nearby to Centerville as well, so lots of college age kids nearby. </p>
<p>You might try the Chantilly area, although I’m not certain if rent prices will fall low enough to go within your budget. </p>
<p>$1100 is going to be really tough. There will probably be some average garden-style apartments in average areas available in the $1200-1400 range, but $1100 might put you in some rougher neighborhoods. DC is extremely expensive, even for areas as far out as Manassas. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice. DD has a lot of money saved and would probably go higher than that $1100 but the roommate seems to be worried about money. DD has experience as a waitress/bartender and is a licensed hairstylist in addition to the job she is moving down for so getting some extra income should not be hard.</p>
<p>I have looked into an apartment in Bealeton. Thoughts? I try to read reviews as much as possible, some apartment complexes looked very nice and then the dreaded word “roaches” came up more than once for a couple. Ideally finding a 3rd roommate would be great as splitting rent 3 ways would be much cheaper. However, even sharing a 2 bedroom is cheaper than the studios we were looking at (nothing under $1000/month).</p>
<p>Also, Warrenton seems like a decent area on paper. Any ideas on that area?</p>
<p>I realized on the way home from work tonight that DD and I (and hopefully the roommate) will have to go down and look at these places in person probably in late June. </p>
<p>No, NOT working in DC (I think this is the third time I have said that). Not at all. Not even close to DC. West of Manassas (within 30 minutes drive time as I said in my previous post) is more to our interests.</p>
<p>I’ve been on that site thanks. I just feel like it is hard to determine the quality of a neighborhood without someone who has firsthand knowledge.</p>
<p>So to summarize- girls are working in the Manassas area. Willing to live 30 minutes (not miles) east or west and pay $1100 total for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with parking for 2 cars in a safe area. If they are able to find this, perhaps they should consider careers as apartment brokers. </p>
<p>Realistically, quite a few of the areas you have mentioned are going to end up being well more than 30 minutes commuting when you factor in traffic. Have the girls considered living in Winchester? Many DC/NoVa area workers live in that direction. </p>
<p>Yelp can be a helpful resource in evaluating apartments and general areas when taken with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>It looks like Winchester is about an hour away with Google maps estimations. </p>
<p>I have actually found several apartments within 30 minutes drive at their price range or slightly above but, again, not sure of the areas in which they are located. I had assumed (apparently wrongly) that Manassas would be a good area since George Mason has a campus nearby. </p>
<p>I am actually pushing for a trip down in June (hopefully the roommate will meet us there) to look at some complexes so we can get a feel for the area and maybe lock in something in the process.</p>
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