We went through the same thing when we moved here. I HIGHLY reccommend putting your stuff in storage and getting a furnished corporate rental in a place like downtown Bethesda or Arlington .....(good schools, nice walkable, upscale areas) for 2-3 months and then settle in and find a nice long-term lease. You can get a cozy two bedroom for about $3500. Spend the next two months really getting the "feel" of the area. Since your daughter is only in Kindergarten you have the flexibility not to commit to a particular school. The Marriot in Bethesda has executive suites at a good rate when you do 30 days or longer. Or try corporatehousing.com

Anonymous wrote:One more thing--in your budget range, you might want to look at Glover Park. For 2-3K a month, you should be able to rent a rowhouse in this neighborhood. There are lots of families and Stoddard Elementary is within walking distance and was totally redone last year. Super cute area with shops, restaurants, Whole Foods, etc.

Glover Park townhomes tend to rent for at least 3K, and that's not even the nice ones. Because of the proximity to Georgetown, the demand is still fairly high and a lot of the homes haven't been well taken care of since renters are often students.

If you want a good school, I recommend Fairfax County. At the upper end of your budget, you could rent a SFH in a great district.

However, a lot of this depends on the kind of commute you will be dealing with. Where will you/DH be working? Will you have cars or will you need to rely on Metro?

Try nest-dc.com. They have properties, but also handle relocation services.

One more thing--in your budget range, you might want to look at Glover Park. For 2-3K a month, you should be able to rent a rowhouse in this neighborhood. There are lots of families and Stoddard Elementary is within walking distance and was totally redone last year. Super cute area with shops, restaurants, Whole Foods, etc.

OP, for the best deal, you should find a temporary rental for 2-3 weeks set up for when you arrive. Then search listings thru craigslist when you get here. You will have a difficult time/pay a premium trying to rent from afar. As previous posters said, the rental market her is tight and most houses are owned by independent landlords. It is not very common to use apartment brokers in DC either.

Wow this is all such helpful information! Thank you to everyone who jumped in with your replies so quickly -- I'm humbled and grateful. Our budget is somewhere in the $2,000 to $3,000 per month range, but could go a bit higher if need be. We are open to a house, apartment or town house. Safety and a good elementary school are our top priorities for our kids.

Question: what does the term "in bound" mean? Do you just mean within the boundaries for a particular school?

Again, thank you to all.

Try militarybyowner.com . Select VA and a base of Pentagon, and you'll get a ton of listings. A lot of realtors use militarybyowner.com - its not just for military or for 'by owner'.

Don't let the fact that rentals go on the first day scare you. It just means there will be new listings tomorrow. So don't get your heart set on any one, just get a feel for neighborhoods and where you think you want to be, and when you on one or two neighborhoods, jump on the listing that comes up next thats in good condition.

op, if you post your budget that will help.

you could also rent in Woodley park and be inbound for Oyster (bilingual) or Cleveland Park and be inbound for Eaton.

I found my first apt in the DC area on www.longandfoster.com

Do you want a house or apartment? You may be able to get a 2-bedroom apt. in Van Ness (NW DC) that is in-bounds for Murch ES. Or one near Cathedral Ave. that is in bounds for Mann ES. For houses, things are tight and pricey, but you may want to check w/ D.C. realtors to see about listings - Susan Jaquet is one who knows AU Park, which is in bounds for Janney ES.

Anonymous wrote: Silver Spring (but only certain neighborhoods).

Can you further explain the 'certain' neighborhoods of Silver Spring? I am wondering mainly about downtown Silver Spring for elementary. Zip 20910
TIA!

Craigslist or the militarybyowner.com site. DC doesn't have anything for "dc insiders."

Be forewarned...the rental market here is tight, tight, tight. By way of example--We have a basement apt that we rent out in our home in Tysons. Our current tenant is leaving and we listed the home with a 30% increase in rent on craigslist, and I have gotten dozens of replies so far. There was a previous thread a few days ago where someone was lamenting that homes are getting rented the first day they are on the market.

I don't know of any website like westside, I always use craigslist.
DC is tiny in comparison to LA, so it's not as difficult to narrow your search using craigslist.

What is your max rent?

DC: NW neighborhoods with good elem schools: Chevy Chase, AU Park, Spring Valley, Forest Hills. Mind you, these areas are pricey.

MoCo: Bethesda, Chevy Chase (MD), Silver Spring (but only certain neighborhoods).

We are planning to relocate to the DC area at the end of the summer and would like to find a rental house or apartment that is not ridiculously expensive, but that can also house our family where my soon-to-be 5-year-old daughter can attend kindergarten. (Our son is just 2, so I'll have to find another super nanny for him or try daycare.)

Ideally we would like to either be an area in NW DC that has good elementary schools, or in the Arlington or Fairfax VA districts. Our daughter will not be old enough to start kindergarten in the Montgomery county district.

There are plenty of websites out there where we can see a few rental properties, but can anyone recommend DC's best website for the true DC insiders? Out here in LA it's WestsideRentals.com, hands down. Is there such a site in DC that pretty much everyone renting their house or apartment lists with?

Thanks for any help that anyone can provide!

-Wendy