Finding Your New Home

Welcome to the great adventure of seeking housing in the Washington D.C area. We

hope this page will be a useful guide to your in your search.

The best sources of housing information are the City Paper

www.washingtoncitypaper.com (check after 3 p.m. on Tuesdays) and the Washington

Post www.washingtonpost.com (Saturday print edition.) In addition, the universities,

George Washington, American, Catholic, UMD, and Georgetown at least, have

searchable websites that have housing information that should be available to the

public.

Feel free to contact the Club's Housing Coordinator or Young Alumni Coordinators for

information on areas and open apartments/rooms. From time to time open

apartments/rooms will be posted on this site as well.

DC is the land of thousands of apartment complexes, hundreds of communities, ten

types of living arrangements, and one astonishing cost of living! Your search for a

home is going to take some time, so here are some of the basics.

Helpful Hints

Look in areas that provide a relatively easy commute to work. You may want to "test

drive" your commute. Ten miles can take over an hour depending on the time of day.

Are you a city person or a suburb person? Do you have a car or not? The closer to

town you live, the higher the rent. Usually, just outside the Beltway, prices drop from

five to ten percent.

Do you have a roommate, or are you willing to live with others? How many others?

Remember, there are no housekeepers or dining halls, so you will be cooking -- and

cleaning -- for yourself ... and sometimes your roommates.

Find a place you will be comfortable coming home to, even if it costs a little more, or

you will spend more money going out to get away from home.

Before you sign a lease, check with local police departments for the safety record of

the area and/or of the complex. In DC, call 202/727-4100. In Montgomery County, MD,

call 301-279-8000. In Arlington, VA, call 703/358-4252. In Alexandria, VA, call

703/838-4636. In Falls Church, VA, call 703/241-5054.

American University 202/885-3270, Georgetown University (202/687-4560), and

George Washington University (202/994-7221) can provide up-to-date lists of available

apartments and group houses near their campuses.

Roll Call, The Washington Post, and the City Paper have classified listings, and the

House and Senate, as well as local libraries, often have postings on bulletin boards.

Be prepared, most apartment and house lessors require two months' rent up front

(part for the upcoming month, part for a security deposit). In many cases, that can be

well over $1000.

Be sure to ask if utilities are included, and if not, call the gas or electric company to

see what the average is in that area.

Auto insurance rates vary by zip code, so check with your insurance company before

you sign the lease.

Descriptions or various neighborhoods are available in A Newcomer's Guide to Living

in Washington, which is available in many bookstores.

Many newcomers live in the Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland suburbs, on

Capitol Hill, or along the Connecticut Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue corridors. The

Southeast side of the City and east beyond the Capitol are often high crime areas. In

the City itself, one block can be very safe while the next block over is not, so check

with local police before signing anything, and try not to go apartment hunting after

dark.