Moving to Pensacola...

[rrey]

My husband has decided to go back into the Marine Corps after getting out 3 years ago. This time he will be going through flight school in Pensacola, FL and I'm not too excited about it. I'm willing to put up with it for the two years that are necessary but when it comes to housing situations, I get more depressed each and every day.

We are trying to determine if buying a house for the two years would be worth it, or just renting out in town or staying on base in base housing. I would like to get a place off of the base, but when I do a Google search on homes in Pensacola, FL, I'm disgusted. Is Pensacola, FL really as trashy as the web sites I'm finding make it out to be, or is it not that bad? Only homes I'm able to find for sale are boarded up, run down, POS trailers. Please tell me that I'm just looking in all the wrong places and there are nice housing options in Pensacola, FL. Would you recommend getting a place out in town or are the base homes not that bad?

Also, I am a CPA and work primarily in the public accounting field. Is Pensacola a fairly large city where finding work isn't that hard or would I have to go to another city? How far is the closest "Big City"?

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[insanebikerboy]

Check out www.pensacolamls.com. You can search by area, price, etc.

As for buying, take a good look at homeowner's insurance for this area. Florida has had a recent, sharp rise in rates due to hurricanes. Hurricanes and insurance rates was the reason my wife and I didn't buy.

If you do decide to buy, good luck. And yes, there are a lot more places to live than a boarded up trailer (although it is Florida, so you may have a really nice house one or two houses down from a trailer park).

 

[NUFO06]

Congrats to your husband on flight school. There are so many worse places you can be then Pensacola. If you have a lot of money you can buy out at Perdido Key and Lost Key. Beautiful new homes only 15-20 minutes from base but pricey. Gulf beach highway outside the backgate has a lot of new homes starting in the 250s and up, there nice homes but not much property. Look around the backgate of NAS, the front gate has alot of older homes. Make sure to ask which flood zone the homes are in because insurance is insane.
Pensacola is great. The downside of PCOLA are the roads, they are horribly labeled and designed. The local drivers are crazy but I think its mostly because of the roads. Comming from Orlando I was surpirse to see my car insurance go up when i got to PCOLA. Lots of accidents here.

 

[HighDimension]

Also, I am a CPA and work primarily in the public accounting field. Is Pensacola a fairly large city where finding work isn't that hard or would I have to go to another city? How far is the closest "Big City"?

From what I've heard, there is plenty of work for CPAs in the city of Pensacola. I have several friends that are CPAs that have never had any trouble finding a job in the city (They're fresh out of college too, experience could only increase your chances). You're looking at a pretty long drive if you want to get to something that is considered a "big city". Good luck with the job hunt!

 

[cisforsmasher]

I think your best bet would be to live off of scenic highway on the east side of town. That way it would be an easy compromise commute for you to downtown and your husband to whiting. Depending on location on scenic, figure 15-20 downtown, 20-25 NAS Pcola/ Corry Station, 30-35 to whiting. Its a nice area with easy access to the mall area. Living up in pace/bagdad / milton is nice to be close whiting but its pretty trashy up there and a pain in the butt commute to downtown. But if you choose to live up there, find a place kinda close to I-10, probably off of Avalon.
As for purchasing a home, do a lot of research. There might be some good deals since the area is still recovering from the last hurricanes but as mentioned before, insurance will be through the roof. Nice rental properties are fairly easy to come by, check the boards around A-pool/ MATSG 21. Good luck!

 

[Crowbar]

My husband would like to go back into the Marines as an officer this time. We are in the process of figuring out if this would be best for us.

Based on this I say stop freaking out. Cross the "Pensacola is a hellhole" bridge when you get to it.

Also, my wife is a CPA and there are plenty of accounting jobs to be had in Pensacola. She even had other companies recruiting her under the table trying to get her to leave her job while we were there.

 

[rrey]

What exactly is the "Scenic Route"? And when you mention the "east side of town", what town would that be? I don't mean to sound completely clueless, but I kinda am. I would like to plan a trip out there and start looking around so all your info is really helpful. Thanks!

 

[Goober]

Scenic Hwy on the east side of P'cola (easternmost portion of US Hwy 90 in P'cola, right before crossing Escambia Bay).

Is he going to be a pilot or NFO? All NFO training is at NAS P'cola. Pilots can end up going to a couple of places for primary (after finishing the Aviation Preflight portion at NAS P'cola). If he's a pilot, I'd recommend not buying (just my personal opinion). Odds are you won't be there long enough. NFO - maybe a different story. Since he's going to be doing it all there, you'll have a little more time, and yes there are some pretty nice places out the back gate (Perdido, et al).

It's no one-horse town (I'm a local); but it's certainly smaller than say, Riverside. Getting a job as a CPA ought not be much issue.

 

[KBayDog]

Based on this I say stop freaking out. Cross the "Pensacola is a hellhole" bridge when you get to it.

rrey, if I understand your post (and feel free to correct me if I am wrong), your husband is still deciding whether or not he wants to pursue a commission. In other words, he has not applied for OCS yet...right?

If that is the case, please understand that there is a long road before he even gets to Pensacola...provided he even earns a SNA contract. There is the application process, OCS, TBS, and maybe Pensacola. As you scan Air Warriors, you will quickly come to realize that your time in Pensacola could be as short as six weeks, or as long as a few years. There are many variables that play into Primary/Advanced duty stations, and nothing is ever certain.

I recommend that you take things one step at a time - in other words, figure out if your husband's commissioned service is something to which he and you are both committed. If so, take it from there...but I would not let a very, very short time in Pensacola be the deciding factor.

 

[rrey]

He's already passed all the exams and we've got his contract put together. We haven't legally committed to anything yet (he hasn't signed anything yet) but we have about two more weeks to make up our minds. More than likely we will be going, and I tend to over-think things way too early in the game. But the whole living in Pensacola thing was kinda getting me down so I'm thankful for everyone's replies. I feel a lot better and I'm starting to look forward to this whole experience.

 

[Herc_Dude]

Still a long road ... 10 weeks of OCS, 6 months of TBS (and who knows how much buffer time before, inbetween, and after each step). Hope things work out for you guys ... the both of you. Don't let P'cola get you down. Its not the west coast, but there are worse places out there.

 

[crysmc]

I'm starting to look forward to this whole experience.

So far, I've learned that this is the key to being happy as a military spouse. Sure, things can be hard at times... finding a job or a degree program that allows you to move around the country or world is challenging... moving 5 times in a 2 year span is a bit stressful... you get the idea. But there is nothing more rewarding to me than seeing the joy my husband gets from being a Navy pilot and serving his country, the adventure of this lifestyle and the pride I feel every day for belonging to the military family. It's not easy, but very few things worthwhile in life are. I could not ask for more.

 

[Heloanjin]

Don't sell P'cola so short so fast. It is actually a very nice place to live. Yeah, transients don't call it LA (lower Alabama) for nothing. But it also has a great deal going for it. To name just a few things: a beach that is second to none in the world; some very fine restaurants (especially when it comes to seafood); if you want to cook seafood, you won't find any better fish than at Joe Patti's; a worthy cultural scene for a town its size, some of it free; minor league hockey; minor league baseball; water sports on the Blackwater River (heavily discounted at the Navy boat docks)...and these are the things I popped off without much thought.

Trust me. You'll have fun. If you don't, you're doing something wrong.

 

[dbatt005]

Try http://www.topgunpropertymanagement.com/ . They usually have a great selection of properties and the owner is a recently retired Marine pilot. They work great with flight students.

 

[pennst8]

Try http://www.topgunpropertymanagement.com/ .

Only if you want to live in the danger zone... seriously this guy named his company that? HATE.