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Whidbey housing

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
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Super Moderator
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With CPRW-2 shutting down and merging into CPRW-10 finding places to rent in Whidbey is getting sporty. First, anyone know of anyone renting a house out in the March time frame affordable to a single LT in Anacortes?

Second, anyone who's made this move recently have any generic recommendations on the home search?
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
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I have fresh strawberries and tomatoes during the summer, though I can't guarantee a pack of deer or coyotes won't randomly wander through.
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
With CPRW-2 shutting down and merging into CPRW-10 finding places to rent in Whidbey is getting sporty. First, anyone know of anyone renting a house out in the March time frame affordable to a single LT in Anacortes?

Second, anyone who's made this move recently have any generic recommendations on the home search?

The housing crunch is only going to get worse there the next couple of years- you considered buying a place?
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
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Super Moderator
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Don't really want to buy. My timing is such that I don't have enough time to do some pre-DH war college/NPS/whatever fun, so after this it's 50/50 if I stay in Whidbey or come back to Jax. I've really gotten used to this no winter thing, plus the way the MAP looks there are some opportunities coming up in P-8 that are more interesting to me that would require me to come back here if I want to be part of them, so not going to buy initially. Of course if I select DH and get a Whidbey squadron my perspective might change, but right now I want to come back to Jax in move back into my house that I'm going to rent out. In that vein, stay tuned for my post advertising my awesome 3/2 in Avondale 700 ft from Orsay!
 

Ken_gone_flying

"I live vicariously through myself."
pilot
Contributor
What Zippy said. When I moved out of my house 3 and a half years ago I struggled to rent my 4 bed 2 1/2 bath 2480 sf house out for $1600/month. I recently moved back into my house in Oak Harbor and now similar houses in my neighborhood are renting for $1900-$2000/month.
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
Don't really want to buy. My timing is such that I don't have enough time to do some pre-DH war college/NPS/whatever fun, so after this it's 50/50 if I stay in Whidbey or come back to Jax. I've really gotten used to this no winter thing, plus the way the MAP looks there are some opportunities coming up in P-8 that are more interesting to me that would require me to come back here if I want to be part of them, so not going to buy initially. Of course if I select DH and get a Whidbey squadron my perspective might change, but right now I want to come back to Jax in move back into my house that I'm going to rent out. In that vein, stay tuned for my post advertising my awesome 3/2 in Avondale 700 ft from Orsay!

All those things are legitimate reasons why you don't want to establish a home in whidbey but reality is you could potentially spend 2-3 more tours there before you're out of the Navy, and if you don't someone else will, so buying a piece of property with rental potential to hold on to until you're at least out of the Navy isn't a bad idea, especially since rents have the potential to increase another $400-600+ a month during that time, beyond their recent $300-400 increase in the last 4 years.

If you've already used your VA loan there's a second tier eligibility and if that's not an option you could just use an FHA loan (similar to VA but available to everyone).
 

Brett327

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To be honest, even with the recent rental increases, there's still a healthy delta between your average mortgage and what you'll be able to charge in rent - something to consider for anyone who intends on renting their house after a tour here. An additional $400-600 increase in average rent would be very optimistic, IMO, in the short or near-long term. Even though BAH increased here this year, there is still a natural plateau for the rental market here that is linked to BAH. The number of military personnel stationed here is forecast to peak between 2018 and 2020, then decrease to very close to what we see here currently (prior to the Hawaii VP/P-8 influx). The best time to buy was 2-3 years ago, and the best time to sell will probably be 2018-2020. I'm not saying people shouldn't buy, because it's still a very good option, depending on one's situation. They just need to factor all of these things into their decision.
 

Ken_gone_flying

"I live vicariously through myself."
pilot
Contributor
To be honest, even with the recent rental increases, there's still a healthy delta between your average mortgage and what you'll be able to charge in rent - something to consider for anyone who intends on renting their house after a tour here. An additional $400-600 increase in average rent would be very optimistic, IMO, in the short or near-long term. Even though BAH increased here this year, there is still a natural plateau for the rental market here that is linked to BAH. The number of military personnel stationed here is forecast to peak between 2018 and 2020, then decrease to very close to what we see here currently (prior to the Hawaii VP/P-8 influx). The best time to buy was 2-3 years ago, and the best time to sell will probably be 2018-2020. I'm not saying people shouldn't buy, because it's still a very good option, depending on one's situation. They just need to factor all of these things into their decision.

What's the reason for the expected decrease in military personnel? Are P-8 squadrons smaller than P-3 squadrons in terms of personnel?
 

Brett327

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What's the reason for the expected decrease in military personnel? Are P-8 squadrons smaller than P-3 squadrons in terms of personnel?
It's a combination of squadron/staff footprint and the VQ sundown. I can't remember all the minutiae, but there have been some slides circulating around that have been briefed to various folks showing the spike I described.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
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Super Moderator
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It's a combination of squadron/staff footprint and the VQ sundown. I can't remember all the minutiae, but there have been some slides circulating around that have been briefed to various folks showing the spike I described.

The disestablishment of VQ-1 would do away with ~500 billets alone by 2020.
 
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