Washington DC Temporary Housing Woes

March 6, 2007 8:37 AM

Help me find VERY temporary housing for VERY specific dates this summer in Washington DC. I would also prefer if I didn't go bankrupt paying for it!

I am a pharmacy student who will be participating in an FDA student rotation from July 16 - August 10, 2007. I have found several websites advertising luxury, corporate housing of this nature but there is NO way a college student like me can afford that. I thought of CraigsList but so far cannot find anything listed for that far in the future. I'm getting antsy and would prefer to find a place sooner than later.

The office where I'll be spending my time is actually in Silver Spring, MD. I get the impression from viewing countless subway and bus maps that I can live anywhere within walking distance of a metro stop and still get to the office. I would PREFER to pay less than $1000 for the month but I don't know if that is even feasible in the city (I currently go to WVU in Morgantown, WV and my very nice 1BR apartment runs me $605 with all utilities included).

Should I simply wait until the date draws nearer and check Craigslist at the last minute? Or do I have other options now? This is my first MeFi question, so I hope we don't disappoint each other. ;) Thanks, everyone!

posted by keribear to Travel & Transportation around Washington, DC (12 answers total)

I am a pharmacy student living in Reston, VA (near Dulles). Let me ask around and see if anyone has leads.
posted by selfmedicating at 8:44 AM on March 6, 2007

Check Craigslist and put a want-ad up there with the dates you are looking for and what you want to pay. You should also call the school or place you are doing the internship and see if they have an accomodation list, where employees offer accomodation to students. Howard University has such a list, but I don't know about the FDA.
posted by parmanparman at 8:45 AM on March 6, 2007

You might try posting this to H-grad, the mailing list for humanities graduate students. They get this kind of request all the time, and it's likely that you'll find a grad student who will be away for the summer and anxious not to have to pay rent.
posted by craichead at 8:51 AM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Relax until April or May. At that point a lot of the college students will be looking for subletters and landlords or roommates will be looking for new tenants. Many of them aren't even thinking about this yet, though it's admirable that you are. Housing in DC is not the sort of thing that you can do far in advance - for example in my apartment we wait until a month before the roommate is moving out before looking for a new one, not 4 months out. If you truly are antsy, try posting on some of the Dailyjolt and Livejournal forums of the local universities, or do what parmanparman says. FWIW, most Charles E. Smith buildings offer short term leases but they are more expensive than subletting. You could also try asking the FDA for suggestions. Hell, my apartment might even be available at that point, but again, we're not even thinking about it until April or May. Your budget should be fine if you are subletting and/or will have a roommate. I would try to live in the city if you can, it's full of young people in the summer time and looks like fun for them (annoying for the rest of us, but whatever).
posted by ml98tu at 9:05 AM on March 6, 2007

I agree with ml98tu in that you're not going to find anything advertising a short term sublet for July starting in March.

Once the time comes, I'd suggest the Washington City Paper Sublet Section as a local resource in addition to Craigslist.
posted by Inkoate at 9:22 AM on March 6, 2007

Here are some links to public transportation options that might be helpful:
Metro and bus info
Fairfax connector - scroll down to see the tyson's one that connects with metro
VA transit - might be a decent jumping off point for info
commuterpage.com
dc circulator
This might help you find areas that are accessible to metro even if they're not right on a metro line. I think your search might be a case of "Inexpensive, Convenient, Safe - pick two."
posted by selfmedicating at 9:23 AM on March 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Walk Arlington may also be helpful.
posted by selfmedicating at 10:40 AM on March 6, 2007

There's summer housing available through the George Washington University, Georgetown, and American University. American is probably best for Silver Spring.
posted by awesomebrad at 11:50 AM on March 6, 2007

While you definitely can metro to Silver Spring from anywhere in the DC Metro Area, if you're looking for a cheap place to live, places off-Metro will be substantially less expensive. I'm a NOVA-ite and not a Marylander, but at least down here, the difference in price (even for rooms and sublets) between places that are walking-distance to a metro stop, and ones that require driving, is substantial.

If you're working out in Silver Spring, I'd look for housing somewhere out in the Maryland 'burbs, preferably slightly closer into the city, so you can drive to work and have a reverse commute. (I'm assuming you have a car, since to my knowledge WV isn't known for its public transportation system. If that's not the case, it would change things somewhat.)

The metro ride out to Silver Spring is fairly long from some parts of the District; depending on where you get housing, that could be a pretty long commute. I want to say that Metro Center to Silver Spring is about half an hour just by itself. If you draw a half-hour driving radius around S.S., it encompasses quite a lot of suburbia -- particularly on the DC side, where you can get pretty far in 30 min going against traffic.

I would put up a housing wanted ad on CL if you're feeling antsy, but I would really only start searching the rooms for rent ads about a month or two beforehand. Generally, when people put an ad on CL, they want someone who can move in NOW, not several months in the future. (And more true with short-term sublets, in my experience.)

I don't think you'll have trouble finding a place near Silver Spring in July/Aug, there are a lot of rental properties and condos out that way, and since you're clearing out in August, it's perfect timing for someone to rent to you, and then pick up a college student for the academic year.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:20 PM on March 6, 2007

When the time comes, don't limit yourself to places on the Red Line---the S2 and S4 bus lines run up 16th Street all the way from downtown to Silver Spring. Silver Spring is only about a 25 minute ride from Mt. Pleasant/western Columbia Heights, where I used to live. You're not looking for an unfurnished place, are you? If you are, email me, I might be able to put you in touch with someone in that area who would be willing to talk to you now about a summer short-term.

Everyone who says "Start looking much closer to your target date" is correct. And don't panic, you will be able to find something. If worst comes to worst, you can always post again and I'm sure someone will take you in. I would probably let a fellow MeFite crash on my Arlington couch for a few days in exchange for 50 bucks, a bottle of wine, and some free advice about pharmacy school :)
posted by slenderloris at 1:06 PM on March 6, 2007

Your user name sounds female. If it is, I recommend Thomson Markward Hall. It provides housing for interns etc (female only) for $800/month (inc two meals a day) and takes bookings for a minimum of two weeks. My sister stayed there for about six weeks and I visited her while she was staying there. She really enjoyed it, it is walking distance to Union Station so you can get anywhere on the metro. You could organise this now so you don't have to worry about it all anymore. Good place to meet people and make friends for going out etc. Couple of rules - no alcohol on the premises, no men above lobby level, but if you can live with that, it is a very affordable deal.
posted by AnnaRat at 2:43 PM on March 6, 2007

UMD's off campus housing database might also be a good place to look for summer sublets in College Park. The drive between College Park and Silver Spring isn't too bad if you avoid the Beltway. There's also a metro stop in College Park that you can get to on the county bus if you want to avoid driving.
posted by hoppytoad at 8:00 PM on March 6, 2007