The married w/ children perspective: 2013 O3 w/ dependents BAH for the area got reduced by $300 (about 12%), but the housing market that relies a lot on military tenants doesn't quite know it yet. There are property owners who like dealing with military who didn't know that their bargain property wasn't that much of a bargain anymore. After viewing a bunch of places, renting out in town was a no-brainer at the previous rate as a well-kept place in Monterey/PG/Carmel could be had for $2400-2700/mo, but at the 2013 rate that puts you right at BAH or a bit over after utilities. The places that come in at those rates tend to be similarly sized to the renovated 3 BR ranches on La Mesa, which is about 1200 sq ft, so it's a wash and depending on the location you lose the ability to walk/jog to the school If you want anything bigger in those neighborhoods then you get into the $2800-3200/mo range.
Note for the single guys: there's not a whole lot outside of a bunch of tourist-trap priced restaurants in Monterey to walk to, so being close to NPS is really the only reason to pay the premium for being in one of those neighborhoods. My wife and I like getting bugers at a local bar for dinner but we haven't had luck finding a good joint. Lots of seafood places at $15-30/plate, though.
Craigslist is littered with owners who think that they can move from a house they've lived in for 10+ years and get $2200/mo for their houses without doing any upkeep. The further away from the coast you get, the more square feet for your dollar you tend to get. Realtors in the area must not get commission or something because they think their jobs are to hang out in the office and do nothing until you call them with a property that you independently researched but they happen to have a contract with the owner.
For a 2 BR you can find a well maintained place for $2200-2400, and lowe if you value banking BAH over cleanliness and comfort.
Base housing fills up the renovated sections quickly on La Mesa and they will only hold a place max 14 days in advance (I don't know if that is standard as this was my first experience dealing with base housing). They have a lot of availability in their older section, and don't charge full BAH for them, but those apartments are very poorly maintained. Probably won't please the mrs. after she sees the renovated section. Ord has a lot of availability due to its location, but the homes are renovated and have more square footage than La Mesa. Thing is, if you're going to live that far away then you can probably rent a bigger home in the nice section of Seaside for that amount of money, and you don't share a wall with neighbors. The downside to Seaside is there is literally nothing in walking distance outside of sketchy Asian restaurants. Like, the main roads have 25-33% of their buildings abandoned nothing.
I have not looked at anything in Salinas. They have ads for 3-4 BRs under BAH that look well maintained, but there's a 30-45 minute commute that goes with that.
Furnished rentals/vacation homes typically go for $2500-3000/week.
