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Base Housing update

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  • Base Housing update

    We are living in base housing for the first time. Probably this will be the ONLY time we do, just because it's hard to get on base-housing and hopefully the next place we go will be where we stay for a very very long time. (Moving sucks.)

    So, I have to say that I am really enjoying it. This base housing isn't run by the military exactly. At one point it was, but since then the BRAC shut down this active base and there is just a little group of military housing for military members assigned to the Bay Area for whatever reason. There are recruiters here, people doing medical fellowships (here here), people doing academic fellowships, people working in research at the NASA base. All in all there are only around 200 housing units, mostly townhomes. The property management company sends out the handyman to deal with ALL home maintenance issues. YESSSS!!! After being a homeowner for 9 years this is SO REFRESHING! The guy has already been to our house 2 times in only 10 days of living here!!

    This base doesn't have a lot of ammenities of other bases, since this is not an active base. There is pretty much just housing and there is a small clubhouse type of place that I haven't been to. The kids have though. I don't think there's much to it. Some weights maybe, a couple of treadmills... This base does have a commisary that I haven't been to yet either. It's small-- I went to see it when we were out here house hunting in June. It was tiny and prices were comparable to Safeway. This base has no gas station, no medical, no restaurants. Just the military housing and the commisary and then the other NASA buildings and what not that are based here but not really part of my day to day life.

    I don't like having to show my ID every time I come home. It's a pain to have to strictly remember my wallet EVERY TIME I leave the house. My daughter has to show her ID to get on base too-- she takes the city bus home from high school and the bus comes onto base, and the officer comes onto the bus to check the IDs of all the people riding the bus.

    This is a very secure area, but even then there was some graffiti on the playground the other day. Kids will be kids I guess? I don't know who did it of course, but it was cleaned up lickety split.

    The first day we moved in there were a ton of other kids roaming about checking out the new kids. After living here for all of 5 days, we felt like the "old timers" in the neighborhood because someone had moved in every other day of the week! The kids are mostly very friendly, some more so than others, and the parents are all pretty on top of things. The kids do tend to bike around the entire base in groups, not worried about where they are or where they are going. My kids love this freedom as our previous neighborhood was safe, but still not so safe that I would let them out of my sight. I rarely let them play at our tot lot across the street from my house!! Here though all the kids are together, the speed limit is 25 and strictly enforced (and I've never seen anyone actually drive that fast in the neighborhoods-- there are speed bumps all over etc et). So it's a very nice environment for kids. Very safe, lots of kids who know the system already, etc.

    All in all, I would totally recommend base living to anyone who gets the chance in the future. You don't have to deal with a landlord, you don't have to pay a huge security deposit (although they will charge you when you vacate if you do damage to the property of course), and the security of living in base housing is just amazing. We left our door unlocked accidentally one night (we won't make it a habit) but I wasn't freaked out by it... You feel like you can leave your door unlocked all the time and there will be no problems... Lulled into a false sense of security perhaps?

    Anyway, if anyone has questions about base living, let me have them!

    In other news-- we are part of the Tricare Prime Remote program which so far has been maddeningly slow at getting my referral for DS's specialists. We got in to see a doctor with no problem--she's new to the clinic and had openings, but the referrals!!! Ugh!!! Why can't your referral go with you if you are already under the care of a specialist at one duty station? It makes no sense to make you go back through the referral process. DS is going to miss one allergy shot increment which means he's going to need 2 extra shots to make up for it... Just the way that works. That's IF we find an Allergist who will accept his special blend of medicine-- if they insist on their own medicine, he'd have to start all over!! And he's almost 2 years into the shots so he's not interested in that... But anyway, I suppose relocating and managing health care while relocating is the same PITA for all people!!
    Peggy

    Aloha from paradise! And the other side of training!

  • #2
    Thank you for posting this topic! What is the housing like?

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    • #3
      The actual houses we are in are fairly nice. They were build in the 2005s I think? So they are pretty modern. Looks like they used IKEA kitchen stuff which is already breaking down (cabinets loose, cheap sink and faucet, cheap dishwasher) but it's all usable. And it's NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY!! I had DH tell them that the cabinets were a bit loose and chipping in places so that it's on the record, and so that they don't say we did anything beyond normal wear and tear.

      The layout of our house is very very open. As in a huge open room on the bottom floor for everything. Kitchen, living room, office space, TV space, toys... It's all out there. OK. I kind of like rooms-- I'm a little bit OCD and want a place for everything, and so we've had to buy extra shelving units and what not. I don't like just having STUFF out there... But it's ok. It's nice to have free room.

      The upstairs has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. The closets are fine in all the rooms, just no extras. They use the wire shelving/curtain rod thing, and that's ok. It's just basic. Our master room is smaller than what we had before but most of our furniture fits in there. The bathrooms have no drawers, just under the sink cabinets. We have to buy those over the toilet space saver things bc we all have stuff we need. And now with all of us using the bathrooms... We just need shelves for stuff.

      This house is in good condition being so new, and the people on base really do a good job of upkeep of the rentals. There are career implications if you break base housing rules-- like not mowing your lawn, stuff like that. So most tenets respect the property and treat the property nicer and so the properties seem to last longer on bases.

      Ultimately it's going to be a great place to live, and no joke-- we are saving over $1000 a month. We would have rented a house in the area because it's very hard here to find good housing even if you are willing to commute a ways. We were ready to put money down on a deposit on a place for $3600 a month which is about 7 miles south of here in a nice part of San Jose. It has a great school district, but the house was just a little rental house. So $3600, 4 BR house where we would have to pay a deposit up front (last month rent) plus we would need to cover all utilities/water... Here they take our BAH which is currently $2700 or so, and then if we use more energy than the average family, we pay a prorated energy/water bill. We do not pay garbage/recycling. No condo fee, no HOA fee. If we are energy hounds (which actually considering we have 7 people in our family our energy bills and water bills have never been terribly high)-- but if we pass the average bill here, or perhaps the median, we need to pay a certain portion of the reamining. We pay our internet/cable/phone, but we would otherwise. We pay our renters insurance which is pretty high-- I'm guessing because it's earthquake country? I don't know. But we'd be paying that either way too. So taking into account the utilities and garbage/recycling alone, we are saving at least $1000 a month to be on base. That's HUGE!!! Very helpful to offset how dang expensive everything else is here!!!

      Right now I'm tapped out COMPLETELY by back to school expenses. I'm so used to not having to buy them because back in Maryland they did not have you buy school supplies. They provided it all and asked for some classroom donations, but that was easy. This is NOT like that. I even have to buy my DD's bus pass for high school. It's $45 a month!! Until she's 18 then it jumps up to $150 a month!!!!

      Anyway, I like being on base. It's safe, secure, and my 8 and 11 year old boys are roaming the hood right now on their bikes and I am not worried at all.
      Peggy

      Aloha from paradise! And the other side of training!

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      • #4
        Sounds fantastic! Except for that bus pass. Yikes!
        Veronica
        Mother of two ballerinas and one wild boy

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        • #5
          They built that housing since we lived there, I'm so glad its working out for you guys, seems like it would be a great central location!
          Wife to NSG out of training, mom to 2, 10 & 8, and a beagle with wings.

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          • #6
            Awesome news! I'm glad you were able to get in and that's it's working out. We kept trying to explain to the neighbors that they really didn't have to worry about the kids on the resort in Germany- seriously. It's the Army. After having to show passports multiple times a day, I think they got it!

            Anyway, what a relief to not have to deal with homeowner's BS. The school supplies thing is the same here in San Antonio. The school only gets $3000/yr total and that's for K-8th grade! Sucks.

            J.

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            • #7
              This is great information to have! Thank you for sharing the details! I really like the idea of being on base and not worrying about a ton of bills- residency pay stinks so it will be nice not to have to be scared at the end of the month! Plus, the housing sounds decent- not a dream house BUT still nice and something that someone else has to foot the bill for when it comes to maintaining it.

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              • #8
                The military has done a great job of updating housing across the boards. I can't speak to all housing, but the bases I have been on that have sizable housing (only a few-- ft Lewis, ft belvoir, the bases on Oahu in Hawaii) have all looked to be in good repair.

                I can't remember if you have kids? That makes a difference about what size house you get. Also the wait lust thing is interesting. We were listed as 4/7 when we were called to offer us a house--- and the wait list on line still showed us at 4/7 even after we moved in! So... Not the most accurate system there. I know ppl here who waited in temporary housing for a few months before a place opened here. Some bases have a much longer wait--- months.

                Anyway, it is great after homeownership, the constant repairs that go with homeownership, and the time suck of getting the repairs done. Maintaining a home is a weekly thing with chores added every weekend (fix that leak, replace that knob, install a shelf, etc etc) that it feels great to not have to worry about that at all right now.
                Peggy

                Aloha from paradise! And the other side of training!

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                • #9
                  We have just one kid so I think we qualify for a 3 bedroom? We have a year and a half left before we find out where we go but I REALLY want Oahu...Hubby says we can state our top 3 posts but I am wondering if they try to accommodate that request at all? thanks again for this info!

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                  • #10
                    I wouldn't set my heart on Oahu. There is a lot of competetion to get there. Usually it's an O-6 or higher billet. Or if you have completed a fellowship in an area they REALLY need, that's another way to get there. Usually there are people who have been waiting to get into Oahu every year and putting in for that spot. Seniority and who's-friends-with-whom play a huge role in where you get stationed. My dh has been told he might get hawaii, but that's because the consultant has indicated that he needs dh's fellowship there. I am really doubtful because dh will only be an O-4 at that point and it's extremely rare for anyone under an O-5 to get stationed there. Usually you need a fellowship PLUS a higher rank. This is very branch-specific and specialty-specific advice though. What other options are in your top 3? Did you mention what your Dh's specialty is? Forgive me for how scatterbrained I am. I just can't get ahead with the move and a MILLION things going through my brain!!

                    One thing to remember about base housing is that they have rules set which determine how many bedrooms you get. I don't know what kind of housing you can get with just one kid-- for sure a 2 BR but that may be a condo or apartment. Probably not a 3 BR. It depends on the base and what kind of housing they have, but the rules that I've seen are:

                    kids over age 6 Different sexes can get their own rooms
                    kids under age 10 of the same sex have to share (I think this is the rule--- I can't find the link easily and gave up searching after 5 min!!)
                    parents share (BUMMER!!)
                    kids over 10 can get their own rooms

                    So for us...

                    We would qualify for more Bedrooms, but we have to make due with the 4 bedroom.

                    We would qualify for 6, but military housing pretty much tops out at 4...

                    We would get 1 bedroom for the teen (over 10), for the twins one each (over 10), one for ds8 and dd4 (because they are opposite sexes).

                    They are OK with the kids sharing rooms, but when we went to the meeting to check in to the base housing/get on the wait list they were clear about the regulations for getting a larger house on this base. On other installations it might be different.
                    Peggy

                    Aloha from paradise! And the other side of training!

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                    • #11
                      He is neurosurgery so I am really hoping they need one when we get ready

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                      • #12
                        He should be getting information from the consultant to the surgeon general about where there is a need for surgeons. I'm assuming he hasn't done a deployment yet? That makes a difference too. It's all very specialty dependent though. The way it is in ENT isn't likely how it is in NSG. Even then until you have orders in hand you just never know!!
                        Peggy

                        Aloha from paradise! And the other side of training!

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                        • #13
                          Thank you! He has not deployed- he is active but still in residency so we don't have to deal with deployments yet...I told him Oahu would make it easier to handle deployment for me- he rolled his eyes- go figure...

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                          • #14
                            To be honest, I would also be good with several other choices- Oahu just sounds so nice!

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