Should We Live On or Off Post?

Before every move, this is something that I ponder. You probably do too. Should we live off post this time? Are we allowed to? Do we have to live on post, as there is plenty of housing or maybe my spouse's job requires it? What are we going to do this time around? I seem to agonize over it more than most. So how do we eventually decide? We use these pros and cons and actually make a list of the positive and the negative and then pick from there. It's worked like a charm every time, and we've never regretted the decision either way.

Let's look at some of the things to think about when living on-post:

• First of all, is it available? Is there even housing for you WHEN you move and not months later. You may be just fine waiting months (and even a year) for a home to become available on post....and then again, you may not. I'm the kind of person, once we move...that's it, we're not moving again til we vacate the area.
  
• Shorter commute. I used to have visions of my husband coming home for lunch and casually getting up in the morning. What we got instead was long hours at the office, cause hey, he's the guy who lives closest...let the guys who live far away go home first...and guess who they call when there is an emergency and need someone immediately?
• More secure and gated. Since almost all military installations are gated and have security, you at least feel safe. That's not to say you won't have hoodlums running around getting into things, but I still think it's safer than your average neighborhood off post.
• Save wear and tear on your car and be closer to tax-free shopping. You'll find you're not filling up your gas tank every week, and you're more inclined to shop at the PX and commissary. I know, I know, the PX doesn't have the greatest prices, but they do price match and it IS tax free.
• You tend to get more involved in on-post activities. I was a member of half of the clubs on post, and my kids participated in all kinds of free and great programs. When we lived off-post, we tended to do our own thing in the area we lived in.
  
• You don't pay rent, unless it is privatized housing. Then you'll get a BAH and utility allowance to cover your rent. It personally took me about two years to stop leaving the lights on in every room after we got married. As a military brat we were always in on-post housing, and we tended to not be as careful as we should with energy conservation.
• Kids can interact with others in similar situations. The kids at school and on the playground can relate to your kid and his daddy being gone all the time. We've been in civilian schools and not only do the kids not have a clue but neither do the teachers. We had some rough waters before we had smooth sailing a few times.
• Living on post, you can't always pick what you want. They're going to show you a home where others of your husband's rank lives...that can be good or bad...and you'll be limited to the number of bedrooms you're offered, again depending on rank. Most military housing is also smaller and rarely has garage space for even two vehicles. Many posts give you just three chances to refuse a place and then you are placed back at the bottom of the housing waiting list and must wait your turn again. I've been shown some dumps in my lifetime, believe me.
• You may be living close to people who do not share your values and noise exceptance levels. I've had neighbors let their toddlers run free with no supervision and also loud partying neighbors where we rarely got some sound sleep. You just never know what you are going to get.
• You'll have to maintain certain levels of cleanliness and tidiness. You'll need to get permission to paint and make "improvements". Someone might even tell you what you can and can't plant in your yard as well as what can be in your yard or driveway, if you even have one. If you're not a tidy person, you may have some problems with the rules. Heck, I am tidy, and I even had a problem with a few of the rules.
  
• Everyone will know your business no matter how careful you are. Ahhh, stairwell living. I can tell you how many times a week our neighbors do the deed, flush the toilet, use the toilet, yell at each other...you know, that kind of thing. Even if you are living in duplexes (the Army has a lot of those) or multiplexes (and even more of those), you tend to hear AND see more than you would like of your neighbors.

Now what about living off-post? Think about this:

• If you are lucky enough to have your rent and utilities LESS than what the military gives you for BAH, you can pocket the difference. Alternatively, if it's the other way around, you'll have to come up with the shortfall. Here is Germany, I know a few folks who were making money, only to see oil heating costs shoot through the roof, literally, and now they are paying out of pocket and their BAH does not cover their expenses.
• You obviously have more choices of what kind of home you will live in. You have the opportunity for a bigger or nicer yard, more square footage, more bedrooms and any of the other things on your wish list.
• It's easier to separate your family life from your job. You can "turn it off" more than someone living on-post.
• You get to interact with others more who are outside the military. Some of our best duty stations were those where we lived off post. We have some great civilian friends who we still keep in touch with today.
• You get to decide whether you want to rent or buy. Let me caution you, that if you are looking at buying, you'd better make sure you have enough time to build up enough equity in the house, so you won't lose money when you have to sell. With today's housing market, this is easier said than done. If you rent, make sure your lease has a military clause, should your spouse get orders and have to move. This'll get you out of the lease early. If your post has a housing office, go through them before you sign anything.

And now that you've looked at some of the pros and cons, here are a few other tidbits to consider:

• Absolutely look at the credentials and scores of the school and school district of the home you are considering. If you have kids, you want to have them in the best possible school district. Be sure to look at bus rides and how long it'll take them to get to school in the morning and back home. If you are buying and don't have kids, you'd still better look at school districts, because it'll increase the resale value of your home. When we lived in Colorado Springs, our neighborhood's homes routinely went for $50-75k more than the one right next to us. Why? Because the other school district next door was that bad.
• Visit the neighborhood your home is in at different times of the day. It may be peaceful now, but watch out later. You also want to drive there during rush hour or end of day commute. Get a better feel of what it would be like to live there. Also, take a walk through the neighborhood! I am amazed at what I see and hear. You'll never catch that stuff...both good and bad, driving through.
• If you're looking on-post, has the housing been renovated, how thin are the walls? Take another walk and look around and talk to people hanging outside. People tend to be very honest when you ask them how they like it there.

My favorite sites in researching places to live are listed below:

• Zillow. This is a good all around site to see what houses are valued at (not always accurate depending on what data they use for that county), but it also shows you what's for sale and the best part...is the maps and bird's eye view. Look to see what the area looks like from above and see that water treatment plant or railroad track not to far from where you are looking.
• OneStop Army Mil. This site supposedly lists all the on-post housing. I say supposedly, because sometimes you don't get a full representation of what is available. For example, here in Stuttgart, there are houses and apartments anywhere from under 1000 sq ft to just over 2500 sq ft. You don't see them all listed on the site. But, you do get a general idea and sometimes even photos of the inside and outside of the homes. It's worth a visit.

Do you have any tips to share on housing and how you choose?