"Within one month and an open house, I had a renter."
DC Apartments: A Renter's Guide to Finding the Right Place
Finding a Washington DC apartment that meets your needs can be a lot of work. Below are some tips on searching for your perfect place within the District.
DC Apartment Neighborhoods
Washington DC is a major city with a wide range of neighborhoods. Even if you've ruled out living in Arlington, Alexandria, Bethesda, or anywhere else in Virginia or Maryland, there are still an intimidating number of neighborhoods to choose from within DC. and they are spread over a wide area. Unlike smaller cities or even some large cities like NY -- where all of the popular neighborhoods are fairly close together and can be covered easily by foot or public transportation -- in DC it really helps to be driven around by a local.
Since many DC renters rely heavily on Metro, one of the easiest ways to categorize the top neighborhoods for DC apartments is by metro line:
The Lower Red Line: Cool, Clean, and Tree-lined
- Dupont Circle
- Adams Morgan
- Woodley Park
- Cleveland Park
The Upper Red Line: More Space, Less Action
- Van Ness
- Tenleytown
- Friendship Heights
Metro-Free Northwest: Pretty and Preppy
- Georgetown
- Glover Park
- Chevy Chase
Green Line: Hipper and Cheaper
- U Street
- Columbia Heights
- Petworth
- Mt. Pleasant
On the other side of downtown from these northwest spots is Capitol Hill, which has a little bit of all of the above. And closer to downtown are Gallery Place and Foggy Bottom.
How Urban Igloo helps you: We make DC smaller by helping you narrow down your neighborhoods, finding the best apartments within them, and driving you around to see them.
DC Apartment Types
DC has a wide range of apartment and building types. There are lots of townhomes, row houses, and small buildings in Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Tenleytown, Columbia Heights, and Adams Morgan. There are lots of large apartment and condo buildings in Cleveland Park, Van Ness, and Friendship Heights.
Even if you want to live in an apartment-style building, if you only look at institutional DC apartment buildings you'll be missing a lot of options. DC has lots of condo buildings. It also has a very transient population, due to the heavy presence of people working in politics and at international organizations like the World Bank, IMF and embassies, as well as major colleges like Georgetown, AU, and GW. Many people who buy condos move away and decide to rent rather than sell their place -- because they know there are always new people moving to DC.
How Urban Igloo helps you: Urban Igloo is unique in that it's inventory includes both large institutional buildings as well as condos, townhomes, and house that are individually owned. It is also focused solely on the DC market. Unitl now, there was no single, efficient soure for finding all of these types.
DC Apartment Prices
What are prices like for DC apartments? The answer varies widely by neighborhood. In the more expensive neighborhoods like Georgetown and Dupont Circle, most 1 bedrooms run between $1600 and $2300 per month, 2 bedrooms between $2500 and $4000, and efficiencies between $1200 and $1600. In less expensive neighborhoods like Petworth and Columbia Heights, most prices will be $100 to $300 lower.
How Urban Igloo helps you: We know the DC market inside and out, and can help you find the neighborhoods, buildings, and homes that best fit your price range.
Ready to team up with the leading DC apartment finder? Contact Urban Igloo today to get started!
