Can my sister afford this apartment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My fellow DCUmers, please put yourself back in the mindset of a recent college grad. She wants to live with her friends in Ballston. Go out to happy hours. Go to the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays. Meet boys and make poor decisions after the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays closes. When you are 23, social life/boys are the priority. Not a short commute to work.

I remember looking at apartments in that area with friends in 2000ish when I was young, and it was $700ish/person for 3 of us, so I assume $1100 for 3 people in 2016 is a normal price. Yes, doing the quick mental math, her rent will be almost 1/2 of her take home pay, after taxes and deductions and retirement, but if she has no student loans or car payment, it is absolutely doable for a 23 year old.

My only advice for her, other than to enjoy being young and living somewhere fun, is to drive to work. I would rather take the GW Parkway to 495 to 270 to Ballston than deal with metro.

OP here. Sorry, just came back to reread everything posted. So location is really not going to change - Rockville is not an option. She's either going to live with our parents or live in Arlington where she knows people (not necessarily at THIS house but this is what she has available now). She has anxiety and she will never survive moving to MD where she knows no one to start a new job, new lifestyle, on her own. This is a completely separate topic for another day.

I'm just curious about the cost. This is actually the cheapest she has found among friends of hers - they're all around $1300/1400. It just feels like a LOT to me but that's because I compare it to the apt DH and I shared post-college that was $700/mo and huge... but that was in 2003.

The commuting issue - just tonight I was talking to her about how she should think about driving. Google says to take GW Pkwy, 495, 270. Not sure how bad GW Pkwy is as we don't live near there.

That's insane. My mortgage for a whole townhouse is 1400.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do a trial drive with her this weekend. I would stay at your parents and save money at that point.

Yep agree - stay at parents for now and see how the commute goes.

[Anonymous]

There are other options in Arlington for less than $1100. See link below. I would not be eager to support her paying that rent, which almost certainly doesn't include utilities. Metro fare will also be a non-trivial amount.

http://apartments.oodle.com/arlington-va/roommates/

[Anonymous]

OP, is the building your sister's friends live in a "fancy" apartment building--elevator building, on-site gym, balcony, perhaps pool, individual laundry, doorman, on-site parking garage, etc.? Maybe on Wilson Blvd or Clarendon Blvd? Thats probably why it is so expensive. There are less-expensive buldings a little off of the beaten path, without elevators, communal laundry, no doorman, no gym/party rooms, etc. Have she/her friends looked at those, or are they stuck on nice/new buildings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My fellow DCUmers, please put yourself back in the mindset of a recent college grad. She wants to live with her friends in Ballston. Go out to happy hours. Go to the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays. Meet boys and make poor decisions after the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays closes. When you are 23, social life/boys are the priority. Not a short commute to work.

I remember looking at apartments in that area with friends in 2000ish when I was young, and it was $700ish/person for 3 of us, so I assume $1100 for 3 people in 2016 is a normal price. Yes, doing the quick mental math, her rent will be almost 1/2 of her take home pay, after taxes and deductions and retirement, but if she has no student loans or car payment, it is absolutely doable for a 23 year old.

My only advice for her, other than to enjoy being young and living somewhere fun, is to drive to work. I would rather take the GW Parkway to 495 to 270 to Ballston than deal with metro.

OP here. Sorry, just came back to reread everything posted. So location is really not going to change - Rockville is not an option. She's either going to live with our parents or live in Arlington where she knows people (not necessarily at THIS house but this is what she has available now). She has anxiety and she will never survive moving to MD where she knows no one to start a new job, new lifestyle, on her own. This is a completely separate topic for another day.

I'm just curious about the cost. This is actually the cheapest she has found among friends of hers - they're all around $1300/1400. It just feels like a LOT to me but that's because I compare it to the apt DH and I shared post-college that was $700/mo and huge... but that was in 2003.

The commuting issue - just tonight I was talking to her about how she should think about driving. Google says to take GW Pkwy, 495, 270. Not sure how bad GW Pkwy is as we don't live near there.

Np here. I have anxiety and panic disorder and sorry, it's not an excuse to make poor life choices. It doesn't entitle you to act like a baby instead of making grown-up decisions. I moved to DC when I was 23 from Pennsylvania, knew no one here, but had to for my job. Guess what? I survived, but only because I didn't bake in an at-least one hour commute.

I get that she wants to live with her friends. But college is over, it's time to be a grown up. She can still crash at their place on the weekends and go out in Clarendon. She should either live at home and drive in, or she should live in Rockville. Making new friends is a key life skill. Plus, not living near work means she's pretty much limiting herself to her friends in Ballston and not even TRYING to make new friends.

If her anxiety is so crippling, then DEFINITELY she needs to live with your parents and use the extra money on cognitive behavioral therapy. Seriously. Anxiety that doesn't allow you to make good life choices is NO JOKE.

[Anonymous]

She could get a room in a shared place in Bethesda for under $1000 and have a better commute.

[Anonymous]

OP, any chance your sister was in a sorority in college? If so, she should link up with the local alumni group to see if there are sisters nearby that may want a roommate. I know my sorority's FB group always seems to have someone looking. Then it won't be quite as random as just finding a roommate, since there would be a connection of some sort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is the building your sister's friends live in a "fancy" apartment building--elevator building, on-site gym, balcony, perhaps pool, individual laundry, doorman, on-site parking garage, etc.? Maybe on Wilson Blvd or Clarendon Blvd? Thats probably why it is so expensive. There are less-expensive buldings a little off of the beaten path, without elevators, communal laundry, no doorman, no gym/party rooms, etc. Have she/her friends looked at those, or are they stuck on nice/new buildings?

I'd pay for security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My fellow DCUmers, please put yourself back in the mindset of a recent college grad. She wants to live with her friends in Ballston. Go out to happy hours. Go to the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays. Meet boys and make poor decisions after the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays closes. When you are 23, social life/boys are the priority. Not a short commute to work.

I remember looking at apartments in that area with friends in 2000ish when I was young, and it was $700ish/person for 3 of us, so I assume $1100 for 3 people in 2016 is a normal price. Yes, doing the quick mental math, her rent will be almost 1/2 of her take home pay, after taxes and deductions and retirement, but if she has no student loans or car payment, it is absolutely doable for a 23 year old.

My only advice for her, other than to enjoy being young and living somewhere fun, is to drive to work. I would rather take the GW Parkway to 495 to 270 to Ballston than deal with metro.

This poster gets it.

Y'all need to chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My fellow DCUmers, please put yourself back in the mindset of a recent college grad. She wants to live with her friends in Ballston. Go out to happy hours. Go to the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays. Meet boys and make poor decisions after the Clarendon Ballroom or wherever the kids go nowadays closes. When you are 23, social life/boys are the priority. Not a short commute to work.

I remember looking at apartments in that area with friends in 2000ish when I was young, and it was $700ish/person for 3 of us, so I assume $1100 for 3 people in 2016 is a normal price. Yes, doing the quick mental math, her rent will be almost 1/2 of her take home pay, after taxes and deductions and retirement, but if she has no student loans or car payment, it is absolutely doable for a 23 year old.

My only advice for her, other than to enjoy being young and living somewhere fun, is to drive to work. I would rather take the GW Parkway to 495 to 270 to Ballston than deal with metro.

OP here. Sorry, just came back to reread everything posted. So location is really not going to change - Rockville is not an option. She's either going to live with our parents or live in Arlington where she knows people (not necessarily at THIS house but this is what she has available now). She has anxiety and she will never survive moving to MD where she knows no one to start a new job, new lifestyle, on her own. This is a completely separate topic for another day.

I'm just curious about the cost. This is actually the cheapest she has found among friends of hers - they're all around $1300/1400. It just feels like a LOT to me but that's because I compare it to the apt DH and I shared post-college that was $700/mo and huge... but that was in 2003.

The commuting issue - just tonight I was talking to her about how she should think about driving. Google says to take GW Pkwy, 495, 270. Not sure how bad GW Pkwy is as we don't live near there.

I do this commute every day, from Ballston to White Flint. I tried various ways to metro, but it didn't save any time nor any money. Its a solid $11 day in metro plus delays on Redline on the way home. 1 hour going and 1+hr afterwork. Driving, I would recommend taking 66W, 267, 495, than 270. Takes me between 35-45 min. morning and 45-50 min. in the afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Depending on where in Rockville, I'm always looking to carpool.

[Anonymous]

The cost sounds about right for a shared room in a three bedroom. She probably won't find a much better deal unless she lives at home.

And yes I think she can afford it if she doesn't have loans to pay off or other debt.

[Anonymous]

I drive Alexandria to Bethesda every day - its brutal but no different than other commutes I've had in the area. MOCO parking is cheap. Budget wise she can do it if she lives cheaply on other fronts and doesn't have loans and things to pay back. If she wants nice Arlington dinner regularly and fancy drinks then no, it won't work. If I were her, i'd go for it - live someplace fun with friends when you're that young! Saving is important but the small extra amount she'd save living someplace else won't matter in the long run.

[Anonymous]

The commute is 5.90 one way and takes 51 minutes - and that's with no delays. So she will be commuting at least two hours a day.

Does she really like these friends?

The rent is market. Not gonna find much better.

[Anonymous]

For slightly more, she could live in this fabulous place, alone, with barely a commute.

I'd take that in a heartbeat.
http://pallasapartments.com/floor-plans/