While I have not officially moved yet there are a few websites that have helped me with the process and that will continue to help me when I arrive in Alexandria, VA and the DC area.
1. Apartmentratings.com
The first thing I had to figure out when I landed my job was where to live. I had only been to the Washington, DC area a few times (including the interview about three) and I had no idea what to expect as far as pricing, quality, etc. Using Apartmentratings.com I was able to figure all that out. You have to take the reviews with a grain of salt (as with all reviews) but it is a good place to start to narrow your search. You can also set up e-mail alerts when a new review is added to an apartment you were looking at, a nice feature to stay current on reviews during your search.
2. The Washington Post Apartment Showcase
This one is more specific to the DC area but it really helped out a lot. I used Apartment Showcase to search for apartments by the different areas that I wanted to live in (close to work/close to metro). The advanced search tools were awesome and helped me to narrow a field of 15 apartments down to about 5.
3. Yelp.com
Yelp is amazing, I use it on my iPhone all the time, as well as on the yelp.com website. Yelp is a review site and more, you can bookmark business (synced to website and iPhone), add reviews and photos of your own, and use a map to see what is around you. After I decided on an apartment I wanted to know what was in the area, where were the good places to eat, shop, go out for a beer, yelp is basically my tour guide wherever I am. The reviews the users on the site give are normally honest and very helpful. Everything local from restaurants to dry cleaners to banks is reviewed on yelp.
4. Google Maps
I suck at navigating, I would never go anywhere if it wasn’t for Google Maps and GPS. When I want to see how close I am to something, how to get somewhere, or to view even more reviews of a business, I use Google Maps. Because I’m moving to a large city, Street View is available as well. You never realize how helpful it is to see a ground level view of things until you need it.
5. City Data Forum
Whenever you go somewhere new there are always those questions that you can’t find a pre packaged answer to on-line, so you have to actually ask somebody. City data is just the place to do that. With separate forums for states and regions it is easy to post your questions and get an honest response from the locals. It is also helpful to browse around and see what others have asked and what is being discussed. The City Data website itself has all kinds of information about wherever you may be moving to, if you are into that whole way too much information thing.
6. Uncluterer.com
Moving is a great time to get rid of all the excess stuff you own, if you don’t use it don’t bring it. Uncluterer.com has tons of information about living a streamlined lifestyle that is more organized and clutter free. While you don’t have to follow everything to a T (I sure as hell don’t) the tips and info do help. They often have great products and tips, recently they posted how to create a minimalist kitchen. On a slightly more technical side (though often spreading into lifestyle) check out lifehacker.com as well.
There may be more websites and tools that I will use in the next 15 days before my move, but these six are the ones that have helped me out so far. I hope everything goes well on the 27th, it is approaching way too fast.
Tags: apartment ratings · moving · tools · websites · yelp
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