Every time we move, we have to decide what we are going to do for housing. When we found out we were moving back to Fort Gordon, we planned to be here about two years. We had already lived here, so we were familiar with the housing options. Real estate is reasonably cheap here, and we could afford to buy or rent a house with a payment within Mac’s housing allowance. There are also an assortment of apartment complexes (we lived in a “luxury” complex in 2013). Our decision to live on-post at Fort Gordon ultimately came down to one factor: time.
Mac got official orders in February with an initial report date in May of last year. Both of us were out of town the majority of March, and April was hectic wrapping up final assignments for me and training a replacement for Mac. So we didn’t have a chance to schedule a house-hunting trip to Augusta. We didn’t want to live in an apartment again, and we were both leery of renting a house sight-unseen. Because of this, we chose to live on-post at Fort Gordon. We also knew the neighborhoods for Mac’s rank. After looking at our options, we decided that we wanted a house in the newer neighborhood over the older neighborhood.
I know on-post and military housing get a lot of flack. They’re not fancy. You can’t really make them super homey (unless you want to change everything back to the way it was when you leave). And you never really get away from the military. But for us on this stint, it makes the most sense. Our commutes are short because we both work on post (under 5 minutes for me, 7 – 10 for Mac). We don’t have to worry about home maintenance (like when a hose on a toilet failed and soaked our master bath). We also don’t have to worry about resale values or finding tenants when we move next summer. It is definitely more expensive than buying or renting off-post, but that’s a cost we can live with for the two years we live here.
Have you been to Augusta? Did you live on-post at Fort Gordon?
We have always loved living on post. It has never been bad for us. We are likely buying this time around at Bragg because housing for his rank isn’t that great and we need more space.
I find it funny that officers qualify for the same housing from the time they enter the Army until they’ve been in 10+ years. Our current house is good size for us, and I cannot imagine doing anything on post smaller than this.
Smart thinking! You guys are moving pros 🙂 I love that you both have short commutes. That’s such a nice thing.
We have lived on post and off post here in Hawaii and honestly – the on post housing has been our favorite! We always put up peel and stick wallpaper to make it seem a little bit more “us”. Of course they have their quirks, but we all know it’s not forever, right? Worrying about selling would make me nuts!
I definitely agree! It’s a good place to live while we’re here, and we can move out with no worries.