Getting an apartment in a good area of D.C.

So far everything is moving right along very smoothly with my transition to D.C. I drive out at the crack of dawn Wednesday morning to begin the 28-hour trip there. This will be the longest drive I’ve ever made in my life. Up to now, my longest car trip ever made alone was 13 hours, which was the trip I made by car once from Jacksonville, Florida, north to Fort Meade, Maryland.

My main worry is that, even with the relocation money, and a decent salary, I won’t be able to get a nice apartment, at least not one run by one of those management companies. Everyone has told me these agencies are very nit-picky with credit, and mine has never been that great. Hell, I don’t even think I know very many people who have good credit these days.

When I was in Qatar, I let my bills stay unpaid for a while. I was going this way and that, and I stayed more focused on what was going on in the military theater, than the bills at home. I’ve been trying to play catch-up on some things, and my car has always been paid on time. I’ve also never missed a rent payment anywhere ever, and I could get letters from my landlords; but I’m not sure how far a reference letter from them in Casper, Wyoming, would get me in a place like D.C.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has any advice for me or who has been through this. I could sure use it.

Only a week to go to where I need a stable place to lay my head and still nothing in the way of any progress on that…

You have such a prominent job, that ought to help! If you come armed with lots of references (who cares where they come from as long as they are real and positive) and attired classily and informing them you are going to be working in the Pentagon…I don’t see why you would have too many problems. Many, many people do not have perfect credit!

Dot Com Man

October 7, 2006

My daughter is in Wasington now getting my grandson in an apartment. I think she was able to do some preliminary hunting on the internet. My advice is not to try to get an apartment too close to downtown DC because of the killer rent. Look in the subaurbs BUT BE SURE YOU ARE IN WALKING DISTANCE OF THE METRO. Good luck. You are doing the right thing by relocating to DC. Employment/career oppertunities are a great deal more plentiful there than in Wyoming. It’s also a lot closer to your home town in Florida.

This is an angle that may not work. Because of your Army resere/NG status , you might email (or telephone) the Fort Meyers (Fort Meyers is only a mile or so from the Pentagon) transit housing office and see if you could stay there for a day or two while you look for an apartment. They may say hell no. But again, the may say OK. It’s worth a try anyway.

I just looked in my 10 (Ten) year old military lodging guide and found the Fort Myers Temporary Military Lodging Telephone number: Commercial number is (703)696-3576. The DOD net work number is (312)226-3576 if you can get access to that net work thru your NG/Reserve armory. The Transit Housing office on Fort Myer is in Bldg T-49. Another angle is that the base at Forft Myers probably has some kind of housing office that may have a list of available aprtments. The base’s main telephone number is (703)545-6700. The main operator DOD network number is (312)222-0101. Remember this data is 10 years old. May not be current. I mispelled Fort Myers in one of my notes. It is Myers.

If you are intrested in Temporary Lodging at Fort Myers, I recommend phoning them and setting up a reservation in advance.

Truth_Finder

October 10, 2006