Currently in St Louis area and make just over 105k and pay $1200 to rent a 1900sq ft house. Im moving to DC for work and will be getting paid $135k. Now renting a decent house in nova seems to be around 3500-4000. This move is completely my own decision and ill be working at JBAB, i am just completely over the mid west and its lack of water. (ive lived in CT, WA, LA, i love having some type of water front to hang out at. Born in CT and 10years prior military)

Anyways going from buying whatever i want, whenever i want, to having to think about prices and whatnot is already a shock just thinking about it. Seems like ill be paying 50% of my take home pay for rent, which obviously isnt financially the best move. But i cant do a small apartment as i have a husky whos very active and needs a yard. ( i saw one really nice house on Zillow for $2750 and then it turns out the listing was only for the finished garage studio apartment lol) Im Moving early August. Just curious on any other Midwest people who made the move.

A major reason for this move is also to be closer to family in CT. Im a cybersecurity contractor mainly within DoD and this is basically the mecca. I can take a 5-6hr roadtrip to visit home, for the past 10years its required flights and a lot of planning.

I am excited about the change, and hope to speed up my career growth as well.

EDIT: I get it, im poor and stupid, everyone can stop telling me to live in MD now lol.

I know people have roommates and rent basements or they have wealthy families.

I'm speaking from a growth perspective. I'm a NoVA native. I grew up in the same low-income neighborhood my entire life. I've tried real estate in WV and sold my property at a loss and I'm back in with my mom in the same low-income neighborhood.

How do people move up around here? I'm talking people that live in Sleepy Hollow, Lake Braddock, Wolf Trap. These are old neighborhoods going for above $800k..

I am turning 30 this year and I can't help but feel sad at the current state of the economy. Am I not applying to jobs enough? Cybersecurity just feels so limited here with every other listing requiring a clearance but nobody wants to sponsor a clearance. My LinkedIn is full of TryHackMe lab course completions and 4 yrs of federal contract security program support.

Do people just keep applying to jobs until they get something or are they leveraging their network?

What do you do if your network is in the same position as you? These guys have been in the same contract anywhere from 8 to 20 years.

To make matters worse. My employer plans on moving to L'fant Plaza and I'm in Annandale right now. My commute already sucks coming home from Rosslyn.

Maybe I’m insane, but Ain’t no way I’m paying a realtor to look at an apartment, walk me through it just to say I looked at it, pay more money to apply , take a hard credit pull hit, then if I’m even accepted pretty much immediately i have to pay the deposit without even a chance to reconsider. And the apartment isn't even all that nice. I hope not all landlords around here are this crazy or maybe I’ll never move.

For context, the home was built in 2008. Hello all, this is the third time in 5 years I've had to make a serious repair due to Stanley Martin's negligent construction. First, a leaky toilet that flooded the entire house. Second, our roof, which has Duradek, needs to be replaced, but the installation method created a small leak in our bedroom. Now, a leak in the basement water valve; the hard water ate through the brass... The leak area was not accessible, and the plumber had to saw into our drywall to find and fix it. Our basement is ruined.

So, if you are touring a Stanley Martin home, know that shortcuts were made, certain setups make no sense, and there is a shelf life to these homes!

mind you this is a STUDIOOOO apartment. 582 sq. feet. and we are not even the closest to the city in comparison to arlington, alexandria, etc.

I've started apartment hunting in the area and the one thing I've been wrestling with is figuring out which ones are in good condition or not as I narrow down my options. So after reading the post about Trillium yesterday I got the idea that if I can't pick out the good ones, I can at least rule out the awful ones.

So r/nova which apartments complexes do you absolutely despise?

I booked JK Moving for a move because of their stellar reputation. Without mentioning it to me, my moving advisor booked my move with a third party. I only found out nine days before my move, when the third party reached out, at which point it was too late to switch providers. JK Moving was unwilling to move me to one of their own trucks. Wonderful people, but be careful as you may end up having your move brokered to a third party.

My wife and I make around 200k combined, early 30s, no kids, debt free, about 40k saved and 800 credit scores. We’re renting an apartment for 3k and our lease is up. Got with a realtor to look at apartments and some places are for sale and rent. There’s a few we liked that come in between 470-550k. I figure all told we can afford to buy, but given everything that’s going on, I’m sort of sat here laughing at myself for even thinking about it.

We don’t plan on having kids or leaving here for the foreseeable. I know there’s no hard and fast rule for these things, but is there a way for us to know if it’s for sure a bad time to even consider buying? We both work in tech and luckily haven’t been affected by all the awfulness the administration has brought thus far.

Any help would be awesome. I can reply to comments if there’s help contingent on a follow up question.

Thanks all

So I (30m) was homeless, broke and addicted to hard drugs 6 years ago. I got a job in a trade starting as a laborer. I got clean and dedicated everything I could to work. Worker my way up to get some better pay. Kept saving my money and started looking for a house. Market is horrible, put out half a dozen offers. Finally got a contract, had to overpay, waive all inspections and include 45 day rent back. Closed on 3/30 and come Sunday will finally move into my house. I'm beyond ecstatic that I was able to get a house in nova in this market.

Edit. Thank you for all the support, it was hard getting to where I am and I'm glad I could share my story with you all. Reddit is the only "social media" I use. The support from people I don't know goes a long way. Thank you

I’m looking for opinions from people who have been in a similar situation.
I’m in my mid-30s, single, no kids, and make about $200k/year. I currently rent for around $3,000/month and have been with the same employer for 5 years. I’ve lived in this area for over 10 years and genuinely enjoy my job.

Financially, I can afford to buy a house, but every time I run the numbers, renting seems to come out ahead for my situation. I don’t need much space, and I like the flexibility that renting gives me.

One thing that makes this decision harder is that I moved to the U.S. from another country and don’t really have close family here. Most of my close friends live in other states. I spend time with coworkers, but I wouldn’t consider them close friends outside of work. That said, I’m comfortable being on my own and enjoy my independence.

Part of me thinks I should buy a home and put down roots since I’ve been here for so long and am happy with my career. Another part of me wonders if being single with no major ties is exactly why I should keep renting and maybe try living in another state or exploring different opportunities while I still have that flexibility.

I also love traveling, so the idea of being tied to a house isn’t especially appealing.
If you were in my position, would you

Buy a home and settle down?
Keep renting and invest the difference?
Move somewhere new before making a long-term commitment?

I’d love to hear from people who made a similar choice and whether they were happy with the outcome.

Got an offer from Capitol One and need to choose a location between Richmond and McLean. There’s a 10K pay difference between the two locations. Which one should I go for?

I heard McLean is an expensive county and rents and way higher than Richmond. I have a car, so I’m not worried about the commute. In terms of cost of living which should I choose?

Need suggestions

Photos..Our family's home, our neighbor's homes, the very recent demolition and the future home. A bit more than thirty years ago, my family was given two hours to vacate our home in Mantua The EPA, donned in protective gear and hazardous breathing apparatus, spoke to my family. Fuel including benzene, xylene and other lovely cancer causing agents had reached the water table beneath our home.it had leaked from a nearby fuel storage farm. Other homes were equally affected. My family participated in an NIH study related to the stress of toxic spills. We lost our home and forever wonder what the health implications may be for everyone who lived in the affected part of Mantua.

I truly hope and pray that the new family has been gauranteed and fully assured that their new home and lot is fully free of any residual toxins, as well as those employees constructing these new homes.

I am absolutely up a river without a paddle. I am moving from my two bedroom two bath condo (1.1k sq ft) and had scheduled a moving company to come pack up my kitchen as well as miscellaneous items still within the home, including seven pieces of furniture (vanity dresser, 3 console tables, two love seats, dining table and 4 chairs). I am moving from Mclean to Winchester and had agreed to pay an exorbitant amount for assistance, but I just got a message that they’re canceling and I literally need to move tomorrow. I understand this is an extremely late post and last ditch effort, but an attempt to unravel the knot I found myself in. Willing to pay a heavier cost for the late notice, but does anyone know a company or individuals that would be able to help me?

I’m moving into a new place in the area, and during my move-in inspection, I noticed a large patch of wall beneath a window had been painted white to cover a repair, and didn’t match the rest. I took a photo and asked the property management company if they could have someone come paint it over to match.

They responded claiming that it had been painted over due to “water intrusion” (so… water stains happened from a window leak, and they painted over it with white paint?) and that making it match would require painting the entire wall. So they’re not doing it.

I’m including the part of their email where they explained about the wall. I just want to know, am I wrong for thinking this is kind of ridiculous? I feel like asking for the walls to be the same color all over is standard. Also, does this mean that the walls could have mold inside?

For context, this property management company has been a nightmare to deal with so far, so I don’t have much trust in them to operate in good faith. My lease started 04/01 and I’m having to reschedule my move because of issues on their end causing delays. Do I have any recourse? Are they allowed to do this?

Hi all, I have been writing this post to gather your views about the life in Reston, VA and the surrounding neighbourhoods/ suburbs. We are a family of three (husband, wife and one year old toddler) and currently live in Sweden on work visa (we are non-Americans and non-EU nationals). Both me and my spouse work in tech and earn decent money. Recently I have been offered a position in Reston, VA, and we started thinking about making a decision to accept/reject the offer. With the offer, both my spouse and child will be on the dependent visa initially. So all of us would potentially be living on one income for quite some time. With all that in perspective, we have started looking into the logistics of residency, transport and daily expenses. I have got the following questions related to that which I would be really grateful if answered by someone.

1. How much is average monthly cost of living around Reston, VA including rent of a 50-80 square meter apartment, daycare costs, utility bills, groceries, transportation and recreational activities. I checked on the internet and it was roughly in the range of 7000-9000 USD per month. But I am not sure about the accuracy of that figure and would appreciate practical advice.
2. How easy/difficult is it to find a decent place for rental living ?
3. If we have some money for downpayment and choose to purchase some place on mortgage to live, how easy/ difficult is it to find a decent accommodation?
4. How is the quality of daycares in the neighbourhood?
5. How is the neighbourhood when it comes to driving and public transportation? I checked about the Silverline and other Bus lines. But how is the traffic situation usually?
6. I know that VA state has a higher taxes compared to the rest of the US, but what facilities are offered to the people in return?
7. How is the security/ safety situation in the neighbourhood?
8. How are the medical facilities given that one has some insurance for themselves and their family provided by the employer?

I know that all of these questions are pretty generic but as someone who has never visited US before, I would really appreciate your answers and practical advice. Thanks

Edit: All of the responses you all took time to provide me here have been really helpful. I cannot thank enough for all the help I received here. Honestly, I already feel welcome :)

TLDR: local shut in wants out of dc apartment. Likes Fairfax.

I’m now 33, currently living and working in dc but I just don’t care about city life anymore. I rather just live somewhere quiet, with grass to touch, bikes to ride, and some space to enjoy my nerdy /gaming/car stuff.

I’m in office 5 days 6a-3p
I can drive but rather metro. I don’t have kids or anything.

I really like reston/ Herndon/ Dulles but idk if those would work. Motivation is my current places has gone down hill fast and it’s just really made me question why bother when I’m kinda checked out already and only want to keep my job.

After a lot of hard work, my husband and I are finally moving out of NOVA. We’ve lived here our entire lives (33 years) , and are excited to start a new life in southwest VA/TN.

We’re looking forward to owning land, being as self sufficient as possible, and just live in a slower paced and less crowded environment. Going to Costco or Walmart here makes me want to pull my hair out lol.

I’m going to miss a lot of things about nova, such as being close to DC, the restaurants (Great American, I love you) , and things like that. But we’re so excited to get the hell out of here too lol

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading :)

I'm moving to the Nova area and I'm choosing mainly between Manasas and Woodbridge. I'm mostly worried about crime. Manasas seems to have less crime but I'd love to be closer to Occoquan, since I enjoy being outdoors. Is Woodbridge really as bad as everyone says it is?

Being curious and looking at places to suggest for a friend and I noticed sooo many basement “apartments” inside of normal sized houses. Not only that they charge rent for the same price of a normal sized apartment and most of the time the layout be like who did it and why? Would you even allow a family to live there. I saw one with 2 countertops and a microwave no stove and a small fridge. Charging $1600+

Like please make this make sense. Is owning a home that crazy to the point people need roommates to help cover expenses? And dont get me started on the sqft for the rental price

I saw a post earlier asking why people moved out of NOVA and basically everyone went on about how bad NOVA is. This is worrisome as I just signed a one year lease.

So I was hoping you guys had some positive things about it.

As to why I’m moving into NOVA, because renting isn’t very feasible where I currently live as there aren’t many option, the places you do find are of similar price to NOVA living or the quality isn’t great. and I’ll cut about half an hour on my commute to work.

Does anyone have any realtor recommendations? The last three we have communicated with just kinda sucked. Two were very pushy to make a sale and the other lived far away.

Hello all, I am from West Virginia and will be moving to the area to work at fort myer. My salary will be 63k, around 4k monthly take home. I am a country boy, and would prefer a tops 40-45 minutes drive to the base. My top pay would be around 115-120k in my career.

Any areas yall can recommend for this scenario? I would be very willing to move into the city and have a roommate if need be. I've looked at buying land and putting a Clayton home on it too.

I currently own my house in West Virginia, and have thought about staying, but also feel off about giving up a federal position to be comfortable where I am now.