So, apparently we might be buying a house soon...

[audette]

We don't want to.

But, apparently rentals have to be inspected by the housing office at the next base we are going to, and they have contacted DH to let him know that there is a substantial shortage of acceptable places for rent in the area we are moving to. There is no available housing on base, either.

Blargh. This bites. We don't really expect to live there more than 2 years.

Yay, savings!

[hamster]

Oh no! Where are you going to?

[rubytue]

Wow. That's crazy!

Can you buy cheap and then get it in shape to pass inspection and turn it into a rental when you leave?

[ssmjlm]

I would be trying to snap up a decent rental ASAP. There's no way I would buy.

Military housing stories always boggle me.

[nsl]

Is there no available housing on post? I'd be scouring the military rental sites to find something rather than considering buying.

[krystee]

At least if you do buy, it sounds like it's a hot rental market and you can profit when you move. But hopefully you will find a nice rental if that's what you prefer.

[panicked]

ahrn.com and Moving House for the Military Spouse are two good places that have a ton of rentals.

[audette]

No availability on post - wait lists are shown as 0 months, so I'm not sure if they're just so overfull they aren't even allowing folks to get on the wait list (which is a WTF - as far as I know, we should hit the top of a wait list after a Korean assignment, this is considered a hardship tour).


We've been looking on AHRN (it's a military rental site), but it seems that many of the places listed on it are not approved/inspected by the housing office. I'm not sure why. I am hoping that perhaps it is simply a situation of finding a place that is available for rent and scheduling an inspection from the housing office. Because, frankly, if I am willing to live in a place, then it likely meets nearly all the requirements housing has (except maybe minor issues, like the home needs another fire extinguisher, or something silly).

The information on their being a shortage of acceptable rentals is direct from the housing office, which does have the authority to insist on us only renting an approved place. (yes, we could work around that with enough filing of complaints and fussing and bothering certain folks, but that will take time, all of which we will be homeless, living in a hotel)


So, we will see. Not sure we can do much until we arrive there and see the situation on the ground.


If we do have to buy, we might go with rubytue's idea. I don't relish the idea of being a long-distance landlord, but if there really is a shortage, and we can find an inexpensive place, it might work out...

[rubytue]

audette - you can mitigate the long distance landlord issues by finding a good property manager. That's what my step-mom did, her only involvement was approving tenants (after they had applied and has their credit run) and cashing monthly checks. Maybe the occasional call to approve a repair.

[audette]

Nov 23, 2014 20:04:19 GMT -5 rubytue said:

audette - you can mitigate the long distance landlord issues by finding a good property manager. That's what my step-mom did, her only involvement was approving tenants (after they had applied and has their credit run) and cashing monthly checks. Maybe the occasional call to approve a repair.

Oh, yeah. If we were to do this, the only way I could see it working was with a good property manager...

[AAM2012]

May I ask where you're moving to? Maybe MM has connections in that area?

[audette]

Nov 23, 2014 21:05:22 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

May I ask where you're moving to? Maybe MM has connections in that area?

There is one MM'er in the area - we've chatted about a few things. But, she's not military spouse, so there's a limit to what she would be able to help with, in this instance. The critical factor is finding a rental that is approved by the military housing office.

[heygrey]

if you do decide to buy, what are the chances you'll find another military family moving in when you're leaving that would buy from you, avoiding all the realtor fees, etc? if you could do a quick FSBO to another military family you might break even on a short term buy. i realize there are some fees with lawyers in a house sale, but still significantly less than paying commission.

[audette]

FSBO and Military-by-owner are options, certainly.

I think we will exhaust the rental options first, but I am worried they might be next to nonexistent...

[NomadicMama]

I am frustrated for you. What a crappy situation to be headed into.

I don't understand how the military can impose such rules on service members and their families yet not provide or support avenues to ensure sufficient acceptable housing. That is insane. Sure, when we moved to Fort Irwin, we had to live 45 minutes away, in Barstow, while we waited for a house on post. It was not ideal and we spent a small fortune in gas during those six months, but at least we had options.

I hope that the situation is not as dire as it appears.

[audette]

Nov 24, 2014 6:52:54 GMT -5 NomadicMama said:

I am frustrated for you. What a crappy situation to be headed into.

I don't understand how the military can impose such rules on service members and their families yet not provide or support avenues to ensure sufficient acceptable housing. That is insane. Sure, when we moved to Fort Irwin, we had to live 45 minutes away, in Barstow, while we waited for a house on post. It was not ideal and we spent a small fortune in gas during those six months, but at least we had options.

I hope that the situation is not as dire as it appears.

That's what I'm hoping we eventually find out.  Who knows.

I mean, heck, it might just mean we'll need to rent a place where we will be a bit out of pocket each month, instead of the place being fully covered by BAH. The email was light on details...

[NomadicMama]

Nov 24, 2014 7:14:55 GMT -5 audette said:

That's what I'm hoping we eventually find out.  Who knows.

I mean, heck, it might just mean we'll need to rent a place where we will be a bit out of pocket each month, instead of the place being fully covered by BAH. The email was light on details...

Light on details but enough information to create more stress and uncertainty during an already stressful and uncertain time. And I know this because the movers are currently emptying our house of its content, in anticipation for our move from Germany back to the States.

[BeagleMama]

Nov 23, 2014 21:41:17 GMT -5 audette said:

Nov 23, 2014 21:05:22 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

May I ask where you're moving to? Maybe MM has connections in that area?

There is one MM'er in the area - we've chatted about a few things. But, she's not military spouse, so there's a limit to what she would be able to help with, in this instance. The critical factor is finding a rental that is approved by the military housing office.

It's me. 

I can completely understand their statement of low rental availability... we had a terrible time finding a rental. Please PM me if you think of anyway I can help - connections with Realtors, suggested areas, etc.

[keweenawlove]

I think I'm close to the area you're talking about too. I'm not sure I'm much help with rentals and home buying in that area but if you want a GTG when you get settled, let me know. My H plays hockey in that area every weekend.

[audette]

Nov 24, 2014 8:41:01 GMT -5 NomadicMama said:

Nov 24, 2014 7:14:55 GMT -5 audette said:

That's what I'm hoping we eventually find out.  Who knows.

I mean, heck, it might just mean we'll need to rent a place where we will be a bit out of pocket each month, instead of the place being fully covered by BAH. The email was light on details...

Light on details but enough information to create more stress and uncertainty during an already stressful and uncertain time. And I know this because the movers are currently emptying our house of its content, in anticipation for our move from Germany back to the States.

I realized overnight that the email DH forwarded me from the housing office that started this worry included a contact email address.

So, I emailed to ask for more details. DH kinda hates it when I do this, but he has enough on his plate with other work stuff. Here's hoping they can answer a few simple questions from a lowly spouse...

[audette]

Nov 24, 2014 10:39:50 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

I think I'm close to the area you're talking about too. I'm not sure I'm much help with rentals and home buying in that area but if you want a GTG when you get settled, let me know. My H plays hockey in that area every weekend.

A GTG would be awesome! beaglemama has already suggested something like that, and I think it sounds like a lovely idea!

We might want to do a GTG before we get "settled", though.  With the shipment information I have so far, we won't be settled for quite some time after we arrive in the area. Darn slow boats and international moves.

Sending you a PM!