How should my Georgetown-bound friend find a place to live?

July 13, 2009 1:38 PM

Advice for a Georgetown U. grad student looking for housing in DC!

I'm asking for a friend who is looking for an apartment--single or with roommates, but he strongly prefers his own room and is looking to spend no more than $850. Convenience to school is very important, which seems to mean he can't rely on metro (no Georgetown stop) - he's not planning to drive to school, since parking is apparently atrocious. The problem is that he can only actually be in town to look for three days. He's got a few Craigslist appointments set up, but should he be looking into a realtor to show apartments as well? We're hearing mixed answers over whether one is helpful/neccessary, especially if he's looking to live with housemates. If helpful, does anyone know a good one to contact?

Neighborhoods he's considering: either Georgetown/Burleith/Glover Park, Foxhall or Rosslyn/North Arlington. Also Dupont Circle or Foggy Bottom if he could find an affordable place there. Anywhere else with decent bus rides to Georgetown he should be considering?

posted by heyforfour to work & money (9 comments total)

There are many buses to Georgetown from K Street and Dupont Circle. He could live anywhere on the red/orange/blue lines and still get to Georgetown on the bus.
posted by parmanparman at 1:48 PM on July 13

There are affordable places to be found in Rosslyn and Courthouse, and it's an easy bike (or bus) ride over to GT.
posted by hilaritas at 1:50 PM on July 13

850 single is almost impossible for anywhere within proximity of Georgetown. He's going to have to suck it up and either:

a.) live with others
b.) pay more
c.) live in far less desirable locations then metro-->circulator bus to Gtown.
posted by stratastar at 1:54 PM on July 13 [1 favorite]

Strat mentioned it in passing, but I just wanted to point out more fully the circulator bus, which is one of the more convenient routes for getting to Georgetown, in my view. It makes stops right near two of the metro stations that are closest to Georgetown, Foggy Bottom (orange/blue) and Farragut North (red), so that opens up some options.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:03 PM on July 13

The GUTS bus goes to dupont circle, rosslyn, and up wisconsin ave. I lived in foxhall for a year, with housemates, and it was expensive. Some friends in foxhall living by themselves in apartments on MacArthur paid at least $1200. Other friends in glover park paid at least 600, but with 7 other people in the house. A studio at riverplace in rosslyn was around 1100.
posted by senseigmg at 2:05 PM on July 13

VA beckons. He's screwed trying to find anything around there at that price, and also why would you want to live in one of the cheesiest parts of the city proper? Arlington is cheaper and marginally cooler. Or he could just live in Columbia Heights and get a bike like the cool kids do it.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:13 PM on July 13

I think he might be able to find a decent place along Lee Highway or Kirkwood Road for that kind of money. The GUTS Arlington Loop shuttle runs during the morning and evening, and there are also the 38B and 7 series Metrobuses that go Roslyn and/or across Key Bridge, among others. Either that, or he can look for a place near East or West Falls Church and take the Metro to Rosslyn, then the free shuttle to campus.

FWIW, I lived in River Place (a coop) in Rosslyn and took the GUTS bus across the bridge every day (though I walked when the weather was nice). At the time (2006-7) I found a studio for $1000 a month, including utilities. With the economy the way it is now, your friend might be able to get a bit of a discount on that, especially if he can commit for two years. Tell him to visit the complex and check out the message boards in each building's mail room, since that's where unit owners or realtors post vacancies.

Incidentally, he's not a law school student, correct? That's a completely different campus on the other side of downtown, and is much more Metro accessible.
posted by armage at 7:24 PM on July 13

One option he could look into, particularly since he is a grad student and the landlords prefer grad students is to rent a mother-in-law suite in someone's home. He can search this listserv for places that are on offer. He could also search other neighborhood listservs for the neighborhoods you mentioned above.

Armage is on spot with the law school. It's not close to the main campus.
posted by battlecj at 6:14 AM on July 14

When I was in law school, I had an efficiency right across the street from the National Cathedral that ran me about $650. It's right on the 30 series bus line on wisconsin so getting to GU is no problem. The busses run every 10 minutes. There's a bunch of apartment buildings there and it's a real nice neighborhood. I'd take the bus up there and see if anything's available. Also, take a look at the Berkshire Apartments on Massachusetts. Mostly AU students live there, but it's not bad for getting to GU (walk down Macomb) and then take a 30 series bus. It's also super cheap.
posted by bananafish at 11:50 AM on July 15