It’s a strange hobby of mine to decode real estate listings. Could you imagine living in a world where base housing units were fluffed just like traditional listings? It might look something like this:
Kristi
This charming 1950s bungalow is available in a safe, family-friendly community. This blank canvas is full of potential and ready for your personal touches to make it feel like home. Some appliances and fixtures are updated, and anything that is not updated just adds to the character of the home — they don’t make them like this anymore. The walls have a fresh coat of paint (sometimes lots and lots of coats at no extra cost). Utilities, lawn and maintenance are included, and your monthly payment just happens to equal your housing allowance. This unit will move quickly — don’t miss this chance to call it home.*
*But in case you do miss this one, the one down the street, across the street and even right next door are exactly the same, give or take an updated appliance.
Let’s break it on down now, base housing style:
- Charming – It’s small and quirky (creaks in the floor and doors that don’t close completely).
- 1950s bungalow – Get a count of bathrooms, electrical outlets and square footage before you sign anything.
- Blank canvas – It has white walls — lots and lots of white walls — blah carpet and matching cabinets. I was surprised to learn that our local hardware store even has a specific shade of white paint named after our neighborhood. That is taking white paint to a whole new level. On the bright side, “blank canvas” also implies that it’s clean, which is more than I can say for some of our previous rentals.
- Updated appliances and fixtures – Unless it says all of them, you’re either cooking on grandma’s stove or rinsing your toothbrush with water from the same faucet as the greatest generation. Your call on whether that’s a deal breaker or not.
- Character – It’s old and quirky. Also, see charming.
- Fresh coat of paint – This is typically a selling point, but in older base housing, you could be dealing with layers upon layers of paint (some of which could be lead — there’s a fun little guessing game). It can be thick and tacky, like an ugly holiday sweater, and has been known to peel off just by looking at it the wrong way.
- Extras – Utilities are often included in full or in part, but it can vary in privatized base housing (even within one installation). That seems fair since your basic housing allowance is meant to cover the basic costs of living, like electricity and running water. Lawn and maintenance services vary from place to place too, and based on the management company, you could be waiting for a while. This happens in off-installation housing too, to be fair.
Kidding aside, I’m typing this from my beige couch (crammed with all four members of my family), in our base housing, white-on-white living room. We knew the drawbacks, but we frantically rushed (seriously, it was like the Black Friday of housing) to get our name on a waiting list, and then agonized for four months waiting to see if we “won” a house. It was like the worst lottery ever, minus the fact that we did eventually win.
Base housing is a new adventure for our family — technically not for my husband, since he lived in base housing as a kid and he called a few single service member housing options home before I enriched his life with draperies and scented candles.
Why we chose base housing (this time)
Glutton for punishment? No, base housing really was the best option for our family. We already own a house that, in theory, should be an income property, so we were hesitant to buy again. And rental properties near our current installation were few and far between. Many were just as old and small as our current base house, but at least we had the guarantee of a safe neighborhood in an unfamiliar place. Did I mention on base we could get a 3-bedroom place? After weeks of hotel stays, this mama was like, “Three cheers for walls.”
Here’s how we decided on base housing:
- Safe, strictly military community — great for kids, jogging and making new friends
- Short commute — for my husband and, eventually, for our son who starts kindergarten next year (I will not cry…I will not cry…hold it together, Kristi.)
- No utility costs
- Better floor plan than we could’ve afforded in the civilian community
- Clean at move-in — apparently not always
- A yard — hard to come by in some areas
- Comfortable renting sight unseen
Should you choose base housing?
It might not be for everyone. We dramatically lowered our expectations. Our townhouse is basically the inspiration for the real estate blurb up top (you might have guessed). But, you know what — we’ve made it home for now. I’ve covered as much of the white walls and dorm room-esque cabinets as possible without actually painting. It’s small, and depending on the humidity, the bedroom doors don’t close, but it’s only temporary.
We wanted to make the most of this duty station, and that means leaving here with no regrets. We want to say that we saw everything we wanted to see and experienced everything we wanted to experience in our short stay here. Those memories will last longer than those of “that really cool house we lived in that one time that was so expensive that we couldn’t afford to do anything but live in it.”