Finding Housing in DC: EEK!

You can say that again! EEK! Weeks before I arrived in DC, I went through various methods for finding housing: former Gardner fellows, friends of friends (who were on housing listservs), facebook, and even craigslist. I made a little blurb about myself and sent it out to these networks because I wanted a group house experience (5-6 young professionals living in one house). Part of the reason I wanted this was because of a former fellow whose house I stayed in when I interviewed in DC. I am a huge family person, so it made me really comfortable to live in a place with many people and a family-like community. I also loved the Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights neighborhood. But even though I sent out my blurb to over 15 posts, I got one or two responses which led me to a very sad predicament.

Crestwood House:
To my surprise, I received an email about a group who wanted to turn in an application for a house in the Crestwood area (just north of Columbia Heights). That same day, while I was dropping off my sister in San Diego, I faxed an application in along with three other young professionals applying for the house. Two days later, I was flying to DC with my mom, excited for the opportunity to live in a great house. They were still processing our applications when my mother and I arrived, so there was no rush to stay in DC.

Mom and I took a week drive to Atlantic City, Boston, West Haven, Niagara Falls, and a couple of towns in between. During this time, our application was still in progress! There were many more complications than I expected.

LESSON #1: When explaining to your house/apt. that you are paid for by a fellowship (not taxable), you need to provide them with the name and number of the Gardner Fellowship Administrator, and you need to provide an offer letter from your employment (or letter of acceptance into the program). This can be confusing to them so make it clear up front.

Long story short, they took too long to process this application so one of our expected roommates found another living situation which broke up the group application.

Fort Totten Apartments:
At this point (September 2nd), I was more than annoyed with the whole process, and just wanted a place to call home early enough before my start day to settle in. I went on the hunt with my mother and we walked at least ten miles from metro to apartment to find a place. When I finally came across an apartment within my price range, all was good. We (a friend and I) filled out and turned in an application in hopes that it would go through by September 7th and so it did!

Our apartment is pretty awesome, ~$1650 + $?? utilities (1 bedroom, 1 den, kitchen, bathroom, washer/dryer, carpet, new appliances, etc!). Other amenities are included: state of the art fitness room, BBQ and gas for grilling, business room with free internet and free printing, pool, lounge area with foosball table, pool table, large TV, and free parking.

LESSON #2: Know what you want and have a back-up plan.

In conclusion, finding housing sucks! But, if you stick to what you want, you are bound to find something that fits your needs. Keep at it, and use your networks as much as you can. My roommate was awesome at finding cheap/free furniture for our apartment and we are now comfortable and able to focus on our work and having fun in DC.

And this is what we have in the end :)


Driving a large Budget truck for the first time!


Moving in…(by the way, we had to move that couch- which has a pull out queen bed in it- from the truck to the elevator, up two flights of stairs down the hall to our room)


When it is all said and done, our place is simple, but great!


Our kitchen is ready for cooking!


My room (all furniture free!)