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FT Rucker Housing/Neighborhoods


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How long was the wait for you? This is the neighborhood we are interested in as well, but I'm not sure how long we should expect for an opening.

They had a house lined up for us weeks in advance. I submitted my housing request when I got my PCS orders about a month out. Was a very nice and smooth process for us.
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I did both. Lived in the crappy houses (not bad at all just not as nice as bowden) and bought a house in enterprise. Couldnt go back to being a renter and watching that money do nothing for me each month. We ended up in enterprise soo much anyways that it really didnt matter and it made life easier on the family. my commute was 20 minutes instead of 12 to Bco door to door. Traffic isnt an issue except for a handful of times where the gate took longer than a couple minutes. 5 at most.I really didnt mind it.Loved the house and neighborhood and rented it in under a week when I left.

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I did both. Lived in the crappy houses (not bad at all just not as nice as bowden) and bought a house in enterprise. Couldnt go back to being a renter and watching that money do nothing for me each month. We ended up in enterprise soo much anyways that it really didnt matter and it made life easier on the family. my commute was 20 minutes instead of 12 to Bco door to door. Traffic isnt an issue except for a handful of times where the gate took longer than a couple minutes. 5 at most.I really didnt mind it.Loved the house and neighborhood and rented it in under a week when I left.

Do a lot of people buy? It seems like more headache than its worth if you are only going to be there a year or so, and I imagine it might be even more expensive if you flip it when you move given amortization of interest and closing costs. Does the market down there support it?

 

Mike

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Do a lot of people buy? It seems like more headache than its worth if you are only going to be there a year or so, and I imagine it might be even more expensive if you flip it when you move given amortization of interest and closing costs. Does the market down there support it?

 

Mike

 

 

It sounds like it's working for him, he said he rented it within a week of leaving.

 

I said above that I lived in Enterprise and I'll say it again here. I liked living off post, and enjoyed being able to go out the gate when I was done with work. Some people don't care. I live on post now and hate it (not at Rucker).

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Do a lot of people buy? It seems like more headache than its worth if you are only going to be there a year or so, and I imagine it might be even more expensive if you flip it when you move given amortization of interest and closing costs. Does the market down there support it?

 

Mike

I know guys who bought there and weren't able to have consistent renters over the years. The housing market is extremely variable with flucuations in the numbers of pilots the Army decides to train.

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Anyone who has lived in Allen Heights, are they pretty nice? Wondering if it would be worth the extra wait to get Bowden instead. Thanks!

It's... okay. I came to Allen Heights from a college dorm room so I didn't have much of an issue with it. The roof leaked every time it rained (and maintenance came and "fixed" it every time), the carpets all ripped down the middle of the room (a common issue in some houses), mold appeared on 2 separate occasions (it was painted over), my fridge leaked water every few days but never enough for them to replace it, my dishwasher broke and it took them 6 weeks to fix it. Basically, the houses are old, so they have problems that come with an old house. If you pester Corvias, they try to make things right. The money savings was worth it to me.

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I know guys who bought there and weren't able to have consistent renters over the years. The housing market is extremely variable with flucuations in the numbers of pilots the Army decides to train.

 

 

Did they buy in to the cheap townhouses or did they have nicer homes? They tried to sell me my relative nice town house when I was leaving. "Hell no" was my answer.

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I bought a foreclosure in a nice neighborhood. My wife remodeled it since she couldnt find work for her skillset. I can undercut even the townhouse prices and still make money. Most of the townhouses originlly sold for 120 and can be had now for 60-80k. So I compete with people who are having to rentbased on costs of a 120k house where my costs are two thirds lower. The guys who cant rent just bought at a bad time. I was able to rent mine in under a week. I also undercut the market to ensure a renter. 500 w/ taxes rented for 850. not killing it but im not out to gouge either. If I can do this on one of the lowest ammounts of pilots in decades I should be alright. Your experience may vary. Id buy. Alabama taxes are stupid low. They dont charge income taxes for out of state residents as long as you make less than 10k a year in the state.

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I bought a foreclosure in a nice neighborhood. My wife remodeled it since she couldnt find work for her skillset. I can undercut even the townhouse prices and still make money. Most of the townhouses originlly sold for 120 and can be had now for 60-80k. So I compete with people who are having to rentbased on costs of a 120k house where my costs are two thirds lower. The guys who cant rent just bought at a bad time. I was able to rent mine in under a week. I also undercut the market to ensure a renter. 500 w/ taxes rented for 850. not killing it but im not out to gouge either. If I can do this on one of the lowest ammounts of pilots in decades I should be alright. Your experience may vary. Id buy. Alabama taxes are stupid low. They dont charge income taxes for out of state residents as long as you make less than 10k a year in the state.

when's that bad boy come available again? Lmao
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I bought a foreclosure in a nice neighborhood. My wife remodeled it since she couldnt find work for her skillset. I can undercut even the townhouse prices and still make money. Most of the townhouses originlly sold for 120 and can be had now for 60-80k. So I compete with people who are having to rentbased on costs of a 120k house where my costs are two thirds lower. The guys who cant rent just bought at a bad time. I was able to rent mine in under a week. I also undercut the market to ensure a renter. 500 w/ taxes rented for 850. not killing it but im not out to gouge either. If I can do this on one of the lowest ammounts of pilots in decades I should be alright. Your experience may vary. Id buy. Alabama taxes are stupid low. They dont charge income taxes for out of state residents as long as you make less than 10k a year in the state.

Wouldn't you say this is an exception though? Buying a foreclosure and fixing it up is awesome, and while my wife is handy, I don't imagine one would have time in flight school to make major renovations.

 

Also, how do you manage the property now that you aren't local? Have you found a property manager you trust? A local handyman?

 

Mike

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Maybe an exception for others, but Ive never played by those rules. Opportunity is everywhere, and it was a calculated move that I could afford to risk. Many do it, but as the old saying goes "If you think you cant do something, you're right". I had more time in flight school than I do at my unit now. Wont say that it didnt impact my scores once or twice but still got outof there above the middle of the pack. I did spend less time at oscars and the beach last year than others, and it is a stressor, but in the end was a nice distraction from studying and something more productive than playing video games, which i still did plenty of. We did the major work on bubbles, which i only had short ones. If I was an apache driver I would have bought a second one out of boredom. Rental management agencies handle everything. They handle all repairs and send me a bill if something breaks and deposit the check in my account othwewise. Ive never talked to the tennants. We are going to buy another one there in another year or so. I could do it a dozen times over in Enterprise if I had the cash.

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Hmm, definitely something to think about. We aren't planning on selling our current house anytime soon, and I don't know how my wife feels about sinking money into another property when she wants to build a new house in a couple years. I'm confident in my construction ability, I've done our kitchen and bathrooms to the studs, hardwood flooring, sheetrock, plumbing, electrical, etc -- but time is the magic ingredient.

 

How is your revenue stream relative to your investment and mortgage?

 

Mike

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So I need an opinion, I'm still Rucker now waiting to start WOCS next week and I told the housing office that I wanted a 3 bedroom home in Allen heights so they reserved the house for us. But my wife and I opted that we would rather stay on the wait list for Bowden and they told us they would keep our Allen heights house resverved for us, but when a house in Bowden comes available around December 20th (WOCS Graduation) or earlier they will let us know and we can decide to take that house. I guess my question is will it be likely a house comes available in Bowden between now and the end of December with only 2 or 3 people ahead of me on the wait list? Sorry for the book lol

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Were you also single? You got a 2 bedroom house while single? Did you have to split it with anyone?

Yes, I was single. Had a 2 bedroom duplex to myself. You can get a 2 bedroom for yourself and pay the full amount, or get a 3 bedroom with a roommate and split the rent.

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  • 4 months later...

Glad to see this topic is alive again. I was selected in the Jan(Feb) board, still awaiting class dates but does anyone have a link to the post housing options? Trying to find the specific rules regarding pets but I'm pretty sure I know the answer already.

 

I've got two dogs, a German Shepherd and Doberman...and fairly certain the Dobie disqualifies me from on-post housing. Only ran into one post that will allow a Doberman, but it had to be the only dog.

 

Can anyone off-post recommend a particular area or house finding solution for renters?

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Glad to see this topic is alive again. I was selected in the Jan(Feb) board, still awaiting class dates but does anyone have a link to the post housing options? Trying to find the specific rules regarding pets but I'm pretty sure I know the answer already.

 

I've got two dogs, a German Shepherd and Doberman...and fairly certain the Dobie disqualifies me from on-post housing. Only ran into one post that will allow a Doberman, but it had to be the only dog.

 

Can anyone off-post recommend a particular area or house finding solution for renters?

Corvias is the on post housing contractor and you are correct no Dobermans allowed. I would look in the Enterprise AL area, its close to post and has the normal suburban stores, restaurants etc.

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