Better to own or rent in Jacksonville, given current economy?

[CaptainRon]

My roommate and I are heading to Jacksonville for P-3s. We think we want to stay there after VP-30.

In terms of being financially savvy, what is the consensus on here? Is it better to rent a cheap place for the several years we'll be there and split the rent, or to buy a place?

Looking for some tips from some guys/gals who have done been through Jacksonville. What would you do if you had to do it all over again?

 

[Hozer]

Rent, Avondale. Near the Shoppes on St. John's. 15 minutes from VP-30 door-to-door, no bridges, no traffic. 4 restaurant bars within walking distance.

Recon intersection of St. John's and Ingleside Fri/Sat nite. The Brick, Monte's, Casbah, (some new oyster bar too)...

Good luck.

 

[webmaster]

Don't buy until you have WRITTEN orders to a squadron in Jacksonville.

Right now it is a buyers and renters market across Jacksonville.

 

[A4sForever]

My roommate and I are heading to Jacksonville for P-3s....

CAPT Ron is alive ... he's ALIVE ... HE'S ALIVE ????

Good luck & do well in Orion's, Cap'n Ron :icon_mi_6 ...

And Merry Christmas.

 

[CaptainRon]

CAPT Ron is alive ... he's ALIVE ... HE'S ALIVE ????

Good luck & do well in Orion's, Cap'n Ron :icon_mi_6 ...

And Merry Christmas.

Yep. It's been a while.

Thanks for the kind words, A4s.

And, I do need to get a pair of wings next to my name.

 

[robav8r]

Definitely BUY !!! In fact, how about buying MY HOUSE !!! Hell, I'll work around your orders and arrival to VP-30. And, if you decide NOT to buy, I'll let you rent . . . . MY HOUSE for a REALLY great price. Interested ???

 

[zippy]

If VP-30 is as time involving as it was for CAT-1's a few years ago (plenty of time off), I recommend living out by/ at the beaches. IF you get written orders to a Jax squadron, you'll have had plenty of time to scope out the different parts of the city for a place to buy.

 

[scoolbubba]

Rent. Second Webmaster's advice to NOT BUY until you've got writtens. There is plenty of stuff to see around the area, avondale or san marco are pretty trendy, there are some nice apartment high rises downtown if you want to live a city life, fleming island is whitebread suburbia (we just bought a house there..3/2 on the golf course for 220), and out by the beaches is always fun. Avoid OP/Oakleaf/Argyle. Traffic sucks south of base going north toward base on 17, but it's doable.

 

[heynowlookout]

If VP-30 is as time involving as it was for CAT-1's a few years ago (plenty of time off), I recommend living out by/ at the beaches. IF you get written orders to a Jax squadron, you'll have had plenty of time to scope out the different parts of the city for a place to buy.

Great advice. I lived close to base in -30 and hated Jax. Now that I'm back, damn BRAC:icon_rage, I live at the beach and its much better. Drive is 30 minutes and the only time I hit traffic is leaving work getting from the gate to 295.

 

[BourneID]

Rent, Avondale. Near the Shoppes on St. John's. 15 minutes from VP-30 door-to-door, no bridges, no traffic. 4 restaurant bars within walking distance.

Recon intersection of St. John's and Ingleside Fri/Sat nite. The Brick, Monte's, Casbah, (some new oyster bar too)...

Good luck.

I second Hozer on that one, its also a great commute. However if you are looking for Monte's by way of signage, you won't find it (West Inn Cantina), it took me forever to figure out why my father in law always called it Monte's

 

[insanebikerboy]

Avoid OP/Oakleaf/Argyle. Traffic sucks south of base going north toward base on 17, but it's doable.

I've been here over a year now and I finally had to drive through the Blanding-295 interchange during afternoon rushhour. Good God that was painful.

When you move here completely avoid anything down Blanding or in the Argyle area. It's a shame because those are nice communities but the drive is absolutely horrendus and in my opinion not worth it.

 

[CommodoreMid]

Will also recommend the Avondale area- renting there now. I think if I stay in Jax when my current lease is up I think I'm going to try to rent something in walking distance to Five Points or to where Hozer recommends, or I'm going to live at the beach.

 

[helolumpy]

I lived in Ortega and got to base in 10 minutes on my bicycle. Quiet neighborhoods and you never get overflown...
Close enough to downtown that you can get there... not that there's much to do there.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Don't buy until you have WRITTEN orders to a squadron in Jacksonville.

Right now it is a buyers and renters market across Jacksonville.

I'll follow this up with saying don't buy until you check in at your squadron. Because orders never get modified, do they? :icon_rage

Also along the lines of what webmester said regarding the market....this is a great time to be buying if you're in the position to do so (down payment saved up, good credit history, etc). Of course there is the VA loan if you want to go that route with zero down. Florida got slammed pretty hard all over in the housing market. The deals to be had out there are plenty....for both renters and buyers. Property owners are a lot more willing to negotiate over the amount of rent far more than they were even two years ago. It's that whole supply and demand thing.

 

[helo_wifey]

We bought a year ago in Mandarin (near Baptist South) and have seen our house plummet and slowly begin to rise (but not much) within the last month or so. It takes the husband about 20 min to get to base where we are, going opposite of traffic on both commutes.

People have given you the different areas of Jax, it's up to you to decide which area fits your lifestyle. People say one area is better than another, but it all depends on what you like to do. We would never live at the beach...we've been there once since we moved here but that might be a high priority on other's lists.