For those familiar with the Maryland/greater DC area...

Parent Cafe
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<p>The ICC Connector is fabulous. I have an office in Columbia and my drivers use it to cut 45 minutes off their trip to Shady Grove. </p>

<p>She could move to the Laurel-ish area, though I wouldn’t say Laurel, and have much cheaper rent and take the connector over. That area is also as close to DC and traffic a little less hair pulling.</p>

<p>If she’s from the country in CT Germantown will look like a hustling bustling metropolitan area. </p>

<p>I get the heebie jeebies just thinking of that rush hour traffic. If I were her I’d want to be as close to work as possible and then just go to the happening places on the weekends when time isn’t of the essence. She could try for a 6 month lease and then explore the area and discover for herself what she likes.</p>

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<p>Lived in Rockville (near the Manor Country Club) for four years ('98-2002). Maybe things have changed, but I can’t imagine a young person having much of a social life or meeting other young professionals in Germantown or even Rockville. If I were your D–I’d try to get as close to DC as possible. That’s where she’ll be working and where she’ll socialize–driving from the burbs to DC is horrible. (I still remember the time it took me 6 hours to travel 12 miles–granted there was snow, but folks in MD/DC really don’t do snow and driving well at all.) My D and son-in-law are in graduate school in DC and they found a nice apartment in the Logan Square area (12th and R)–it’s not as upscale as some areas, but it’s safe and they can walk to shopping and restaurants, even a Whole Foods. IMO housing in the city is much more interesting and visually appealing than all the cookie-cutter townhouse developments out in the burbs.</p>

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<p>I think you’ve misread, Bromfield. Germantown enters into the equation because that’s where the job is:</p>

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<p>If not for that, I think we’d all agree that a single twenty-something would probably rather be in the District, Bethesda, NoVa inside the Beltway, or maybe downtown Silver Spring.</p>

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<p>I would vote for Bethesda. DC is really too far to live and commute to Germantown and Bethesda has enough going on for a young person. It will be pricey but QOL will be better. Having a roommate would help.</p>

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<p>Rockville has improved as a place for younger people to socialize–there are a number of restaurants in the Town Square, creating at least a bit of a “scene.”</p>

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<p>So to sum it all up, which every one of us said here - brace yourself for traffic! But if you think it’s bad there, just try NoVa on a Friday night in the summer - lol. </p>

<p>I thought we were going to have jetpacks by now!</p>

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<p>Just my 0.01987456 cents, but the real question to me from a VA RE agent POV, is although salaries are high, so are rentals, and the real question should be before any suggestion is how much can she afford.</p>

<p>On top of that, car insurance is very expensive for this area, plus in DC most people will cross the river and go to VA because the price is much cheaper.</p>

<p>Bethesda is a nice town, but I would doubt there is anything in her price range as a straight out of college salary, and yes even if it her starting is 60-70K. Rule of thumb is 25% of net salary for a rental, that would place her @ 1200-1500.</p>

<p>In DC not every apt comes with parking, so you need to add in that cost, and than if she takes the Metro they charge higher amounts during rush hour, so this will also be an additional cost.</p>

<p>You just need to IMPO, roll it back and start from a fiscal position and where it will be best using that budget. It may mean a smaller apt in one area or a larger in another.
All of these things need to be placed into the equation to get a realistic perspective of where it</p>

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<p>eyemamom, LMAO with the NoVA comment.</p>

<p>We live in an area that has both the 66 and the 95 option. We would not be caught on either after 1 pm until 7 pm on any Friday night. The same is true for Sundays around the same time. Human parking lot is the best way to describe 495, 66 and 95. </p>

<p>The hardest part as a NoVA realtor is inevitably I have a buyer who will work at the Pentagon and swear they want to live in Stafford. I tell them over and over again, by mileage it may be 45 miles, but come a Friday in June, you will be cursing me for allowing you to buy a home here to save money because it will take you 3 hours to get home.</p>

<p>One time, a client called me after we had a horrible snowstorm to tell me I was right. It took him 8 hours to get home from the Pentagon. He said he didn’t curse me, but cursed himself for not listening to me, and being cheap!</p>

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<p>I think her best bet would be to look for something north of the Beltway just off Rockville Pike/Wisconsin Ave in either North Bethesda/south Rockville area. There are lots of older apartments (high-rise & garden built in the 50-70s) that may be reasonable, given the lack of amenities that newer places might have. Most of the garden apartments are 2br, so she should find a roommate. Also, given the weak housing market, many people are holding onto condos and renting them instead of selling. </p>

<p>There are some sketchy areas of Rockville & Wheaton.</p>

<p>PS - people in DC have no clue how to drive in the snow. I didn’t learn until I went to college in the MidWest.</p>

<p>(just a note on the ICC - it’s been on regional planing maps since the 60s. I could probably dig one up in my mom’s house with it. The tolls are shocking, as is how quickly it was constructed)</p>

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<p>I think she’s going to find that she wants to live in Germantown or maybe Gaithersburg. DC is too far. So if you’re going to live in the suburbs, you might as well live as close as possible to where you work. I would aim for a place that has easy access to the job and easy access to Metro for when she wants to go down to DC. She’ll be able to drive to Rockville for dinner with friends–DC will be more difficult during the workweek, even if she takes Metro.</p>

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<p>Yes, that is true many are renting, and like anything in this world, this has created higher rental prices due to supply and demand. In the past 3 yrs we have rented out our home, to 3 different rentals, (1 yr contracts), and increased our rent from 1150 to 1350 currently. The home never sat empty for more than 24 hours. The reason it was 24 hours was because the old tenant would have a cleaning crew come in after they left before the new renters moved in. </p>

<p>The house also was never officially listed, it rented out because of word of mouth, and typically to a contact of the previous renter who informed them they were moving.</p>

<p>Good rentals at a good price in a good neighborhood are as hot as for sales were in 2003. The demand is high!</p>

<p>Hunt,</p>

<p>I agree with you for all the reasons you posted, would add a couple of more reasons.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Every kid right out of college wants DC, because that is the happening area. They can not even fathom how expensive it is, I mean 1500 for a 500 sqft loft is a bargain.</p></li>
<li><p>They do not realize that entering the work world is like transitioning from HS to college. It is more likely that at 22 her BFF is not her HS BFF.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The same will be true in a few yrs. Her friends will all have their own careers, they will fall in love, and many of these close friends will change due to life. </p>

<p>To lock into a 1 yr contract because of friendship ties to me is not smart. If her commute is so long, she will be exhausted and not even want to go out, thus the friendship will change just as much as if she lived further out.</p>

<p>I had a client who swore she wanted to live in DC, and I told her move out to Tysons near your office. It was a hard issue for her because her friends were living in DC. The irony was within a yr of her moving to Tyson, all the friends that teased her for that decision moved out there too because the cost of living in DC was killing them financially.</p>

<p>Again, another reason why DC is not smart. Hard to go to Dupont if you have 100 bucks left and 2 weeks until payday.</p>

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<p>Given the transient nature of political appointees, elected officials, and related staff, the DC area has always been a robust rental market.</p>

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<p>I agree with the general consensus: DC is way to far away from work to live, and north of the Beltway would be much, much better.</p>

<p>I know a fair number of young professionals (mostly late 20s) who live in the apartments/condos at White Flint, and more and more who are living at Rockville Town Square. </p>

<p>Honestly, if I were working in Germantown, I’d go north and live in Frederick, but I’m not a single young woman in my 20s anymore :)</p>

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<p>Just a plug for group homes for fresh young things out of college. ( what we would call “coops” in the old days.) It is a difficult transition for kids to go from the 24-hour availability of friends at college, to the lonely adult 8-6 workday, plus commute…and the change from essentially 22weeks of vacation a year (most colleges are 2, 15-week semesters) to 2-weeks of vacation a year… Group homes, most found on craigslist, can provide inexpensive housing and transitional peer group and companionship for our emerging adults. ;-). My DD was living with her partner in a place at the end of a metro line and spending almost 3 hours and much money commuting in on the metro line to central DC. They felt very isolated out in suburbia. Partner had to return to home country due to visa issues and DD recently moved into a group DC veggie home only a 20 minute bus ride from work. Apart from missing her partner, she is loving it, and the price is amazing. She pays $550 for room and about $150 for shared food/bills… Lots of room, nice folks and lots of beans and rice. (She eats a meat meal for lunch.). If you DD can get hooked into a situation like this, is would be ideal! Most important is to find a group home with compatible people and established structure and rules.</p>

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<p>Even though it’s a reverse commute, going from DC to Germantown every day would be a big pain.</p>

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As would be commuting from Frederick to Germantown – it’s bumper to bumper heading south on 270 all the way from Frederick by 7 am.</p>

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<p>SK is right–I misread–thought job was in DC. That being said–I’d second the suggestion to look in Bethesda. Commute from Germantown to DC would be really tough–I wouldn’t want to do it. What about Silver Spring or Takoma Park? Those areas might be less pricey than Bethesda.</p>

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<p>Yeah. Frederick resident here and commuting to Germantown is a horrible idea. It gets bumper to bumper traffic at Urbana before 7am. I have doctor appointments in Potomac and they are the worst to get to (in all honesty) at anytime of day. 270 is the worst and I don’t drive it extremely often. Both my parents did for about 6 years but they now telecommute most of the time. </p>

<p>If I were your D I would live somewhere in MD that doesn’t have to go on 270 for a very long time in the morning. I know a lot of people who rent in DC for internships and whatnot and they complain about how much it costs.</p>

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<p>Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the thoughts! (and for setting off my “worry-o-meter” :slight_smile: ). At least we know a LITTLE on where to start! And - bulletandpima, thank you for your professional perspective. Very helpful.</p>

<p>There’s another possibility (not quite as far along in the process) of an offer on the outskirts of Baltimore. Looking at a map, near Windsor Mill or Woodlawn?? I wonder if I’m going to secretly start rooting for that one?? :wink: </p>

<p>But, any offer is GOOD!</p>

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<p>Baltimore traffic isn’t nearly as bad as DC. However, just me personally, I prefer DC to B’more hon :wink: If you want to really toss and turn, watch a few episodes of The Wire - lol!</p>