phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
My wife and I are considering base housing when we move to Hawaii. How in the hell do we figure out how big of a place we rate?? Also, is it REALLY a 12-24 month wait?!?
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Base Housing Questions
- Thread starter phrogpilot73
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phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
We did check out their website, but couldn't find anything about how big of a space we rate. I'm fearful that with no kids, it's a shoebox. I was wondering if anyone knew of an order that governs it...
Phrog, are you going to be stationed at Kbay?
The majority of the housing on the island is now PPV or is moving in that direction. I checked in half a year ago, and was offered 3 places on Kbay, all quite small (even though I had lived in them before!). We decided to live off base, and the majority of my peers do also. The BAH is quite good in HI, and you can get more bang for your buck getting a larger place out in town. One of my main complaints that is similar to yours, is the question of size on what you are offered, I have seen quite an inequity and disparity over the years on how housing offices handle handing out units, and have been dismayed when my family is given a smaller unit with our family size, while peers have "lucked into" being given 4 bedroom units because they had a surplus at the time. Go figure. My other main gripe with Hawaii housing (this is my third tour here, first back in 91) is that the pace of upgrading housing has been quite slow, and while I applaud the focus on upgrading the E1-E9 housing first, it has been over a decade, and the Officer housing has fallen into quite a sorry state (IMHO). In addition, take Kbay for example, they also bypassed the company grade officers (O1-O3) and just completed new housing on pond road for O4 and above, good news for them, but leaves the vast majority of housing for Officers there in an anitquated condition (most units don't even have a dishwasher).... Supposedly there is a plan for new housing on the horizon, but I have been hearing that too many times over the years, and it won't ever benefit me
Hopefully it will come to fruition! But I just dont believe that you paying your BAH dollars to the PPV is worth it for that substandard level of housing, unless you value proximity to work. For me, there are too many other pluses about living in Hawaii, and I definitely enjoy being out in town, and close to the beach!
Some recommended sites if you are looking off base to rent or purchase:
DoD Hawaii Housing Referral
Rentals Illustrated
Coldwell Pacific
Drop me a line when you get to HI, we'll see if we can find A4s and mooch beers off him at Chuck's Steakhouse!
John
The majority of the housing on the island is now PPV or is moving in that direction. I checked in half a year ago, and was offered 3 places on Kbay, all quite small (even though I had lived in them before!). We decided to live off base, and the majority of my peers do also. The BAH is quite good in HI, and you can get more bang for your buck getting a larger place out in town. One of my main complaints that is similar to yours, is the question of size on what you are offered, I have seen quite an inequity and disparity over the years on how housing offices handle handing out units, and have been dismayed when my family is given a smaller unit with our family size, while peers have "lucked into" being given 4 bedroom units because they had a surplus at the time. Go figure. My other main gripe with Hawaii housing (this is my third tour here, first back in 91) is that the pace of upgrading housing has been quite slow, and while I applaud the focus on upgrading the E1-E9 housing first, it has been over a decade, and the Officer housing has fallen into quite a sorry state (IMHO). In addition, take Kbay for example, they also bypassed the company grade officers (O1-O3) and just completed new housing on pond road for O4 and above, good news for them, but leaves the vast majority of housing for Officers there in an anitquated condition (most units don't even have a dishwasher).... Supposedly there is a plan for new housing on the horizon, but I have been hearing that too many times over the years, and it won't ever benefit me
Hopefully it will come to fruition! But I just dont believe that you paying your BAH dollars to the PPV is worth it for that substandard level of housing, unless you value proximity to work. For me, there are too many other pluses about living in Hawaii, and I definitely enjoy being out in town, and close to the beach!Some recommended sites if you are looking off base to rent or purchase:
DoD Hawaii Housing Referral
Rentals Illustrated
Coldwell Pacific
Drop me a line when you get to HI, we'll see if we can find A4s and mooch beers off him at Chuck's Steakhouse!
John
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
Nope, I'm going to be the dependent in this situation! My wife has orders to Hawaii, hopefully I'll be in the Coast Guard at Barber's Point...
I'm assuming you're a LCdr? My wife and I were looking at the BAH/COLA rates in Hawaii for a LT (what she is now) and also when she's a LCdr (she's on this year's board) and realized that as a LT, we'd get a shoebox. As a LCdr, it looks like a little better, but still not as good as if I get selected for the Coast Guard.
When we looked at the housing websites, there was highs and lows ("Wow! That's base housing?" to "Eww, that's base housing?) and we never saw what size we rated. Looks like it's all timing, luck of the draw, etc? Isn't it?
We looked at those websites, and wasn't quite sure what area to look at. My wife is getting orders to Kunia, and if I get the USCG, I'd be at Barber's Point. What would be a good area to check out?
Wilco. I'm all about mooching off of a jet guy!!
I figured it was worth a try. I used that when coming to USNA from C5F AOR. Also did some midnight DSN calls.
Good luck, the other replies seem more helpful than mine.
I would seriously, seriously doubt it. But if it were true, then everyone would have to move back to Barbers. There are way too many assets on the island to do away with, and there was a lot of momentum to get an airwing there. Guam just didn't seem to be the answer.
He might have just made a VP specific comment. Word on the street about 6 months ago was there was some discussion about making just two bases for the P-8... Jacksonville and a west coast base that isnt Whidbey or Kbay. Maine has been on the chopping block and there will still be squadrons there for another 2years (Don't worry Fezz, plenty of oppertunity for you to get sent there
) so I wouldnt count on Kbay going away as a selection option for VP guys any time soon.
Concur with Zip... and as he said, VP as in P3s, will be around for quite awhile. Plus with the emphasis on PACOM assets, maybe KBAY will stay around for the VP community. Who knows, and not something that will be decided anytime soon...