Housing after Commissioning

[goirish1]

There are many Midshipman and parents that follow this board so I thought I would share this tidbit of advice regarding what happens with housing after commissioning. Officers usually reside in off base housing.
Can't emphasize enough making sure lease has military clause. My DS is coming up on 4 years in Navy in May. He has moved 5 times. During those 4 years he lived in South Bend where he was stashed until flight school. Since then he has lived in Pensacola (2 roommates), Corpus Christi (2 roommates), back to Pensacola( 2 roommates), Jacksonville (1 roommate)and now San Diego (on his own but it's probably time). He has used the military clause to break his lease. Know how much advance notice your landlord needs to break the lease under this clause. Roommates are the key to saving money and some of BAH (Basic Allowance for housing). You can Google this to know what to expect for where you will be based. In less than 4 years DS has been able to purchase bedroom set, living room set, office furniture and dining room furniture all paid for with money saved from BAH...dont get me wrong this wasn't frivolous spending, he purchased one room with each move so it was over time. And because of that he basically had everything to furnish his own place when he moved to San Diego. Finding a roommate to split rent and save afforded him the opportunity to contribute in excess of 15% to the TSP (military 401k) and with pay increases has not reduced that percentage and he has saved a considerable amount of $$ and is purchasing other retirement products such as Roth IRAs. My advice if you can find a roommate or two and save BAH, think carefully about what you do with the savings...too many get caught up in new cars, etc...
Aside from that, invest in a good air mattress that inflates quickly and make sure that, sheets and pillows are items you move yourself instead of in a military move. While you are waiting on the movers to deliver furniture, which can take anywhere from a week to in one move DS experienced 3 weeks, you will be glad to have an air mattress to sleep on.
As I think of more, I will add but encourage others who have gone through this to do the same.

 

[USA1962]

I thought that you can break and individual lease even if there is no military clause in the lease. Also how do you break a lease if you have signed a joint lease with others, how would the landlord RE rent the property?

 

[momx3]

There are many Midshipman and parents that follow this board so I thought I would share this tidbit of advice regarding what happens with housing after commissioning. Officers usually reside in off base housing.
Can't emphasize enough making sure lease has military clause. My DS is coming up on 4 years in Navy in May. He has moved 5 times. During those 4 years he lived in South Bend where he was stashed until flight school. Since then he has lived in Pensacola (2 roommates), Corpus Christi (2 roommates), back to Pensacola( 2 roommates), Jacksonville (1 roommate)and now San Diego (on his own but it's probably time). He has used the military clause to break his lease. Know how much advance notice your landlord needs to break the lease under this clause. Roommates are the key to saving money and some of BAH (Basic Allowance for housing). You can Google this to know what to expect for where you will be based. In less than 4 years DS has been able to purchase bedroom set, living room set, office furniture and dining room furniture all paid for with money saved from BAH...dont get me wrong this wasn't frivolous spending, he purchased one room with each move so it was over time. And because of that he basically had everything to furnish his own place when he moved to San Diego. Finding a roommate to split rent and save afforded him the opportunity to contribute in excess of 15% to the TSP (military 401k) and with pay increases has not reduced that percentage and he has saved a considerable amount of $$ and is purchasing other retirement products such as Roth IRAs. My advice if you can find a roommate or two and save BAH, think carefully about what you do with the savings...too many get caught up in new cars, etc...
Aside from that, invest in a good air mattress that inflates quickly and make sure that, sheets and pillows are items you move yourself instead of in a military move. While you are waiting on the movers to deliver furniture, which can take anywhere from a week to in one move DS experienced 3 weeks, you will be glad to have an air mattress to sleep on.
As I think of more, I will add but encourage others who have gone through this to do the same.

Excellent advice, thanks for sharing! Also great practical advice about the air mattress!

 

[momx3]

I thought that you can break and individual lease even if there is no military clause in the lease. Also how do you break a lease if you have signed a joint lease with others, how would the landlord RE rent the property?

Depending on the state, you can't just break a lease for any reason without financial penalty, hence the reason for the military clause to have in one. You could lose your deposit, and/or be on the hook for the remainder of the payments due. Also depending on the living situation, some landlords may have a separate rental agreement with each member of a leased home or apartment, so that if one leaves, the other will not be liable.

 

[Casey]

Depending on the state, you can't just break a lease for any reason without financial penalty, hence the reason for the military clause to have in one. You could lose your deposit, and/or be on the hook for the remainder of the payments due. Also depending on the living situation, some landlords may have a separate rental agreement with each member of a leased home or apartment, so that if one leaves, the other will not be liable.

The SCRA allows military members with valid PCS orders to terminate their lease without a specific military clause. Roommates on the lease makes it more complicated gray area but if renting individually, once you receive your orders and requires 30 days notice to your landlord, it provides a way to legally break your lease without penalty. Housing offices can help in this area usually if service members run into issues with local landlords.

Basic Overview of SCRA

 

[gibsontrio]

Casey is correct, you no longer need to ensure the military clause is in the lease as SM are covered under under SCRA with PCS orders. Many times housing will help single SM find a roommate on post. You have options.
While most single young officers choose to rent off post/base, that is not always the case and many posts have housing for single officers if they choose. For example, Fort Drum NY has excellent single officer housing and many choose this as the snow can prevent you from driving far.
DH is a major, 9 out of 10 times we choose to live on post. It’s our preference as we move frequently.

 

[goirish1]

Yes, under the Service Members Civil Relief Act you can break a lease without the military clause however it does make it easier if the clause is in the agreement, especially if renting from an individual vs an apartment complex, etc. As far as how you handle rent when you have roommates, this is what my DS has done in the past and I will use an example. The BAH is $1500 for your assigned duty station. You rent a 3 bedroom apartment for $1200. Each of you agree to pay $400 to cover the $1200 rent. In my sons case, they prorated rent based on who had the bigger bedrooms and who had their own bathrooms. This was something they agreed upon....so the person with the master and the masterbath may have paid 500. The other two may have paid 350 each because they shared a bathroom and rooms were smaller. Either way, all 3 signed lease and how much each paid, they determined amongst themselves....they just knew total rent was $1200. Using the prorated example, with a BAH of $1500 that meant that the renter paying $500 was able to save $1k of the BAH; and the renters with $350 were able to save $1150 each of the BAH. My DS and his roommates were all in flight school and on similar schedules give a month or two so when one received orders to relocate, he notified apartment complex of his last day and asked to be removed from the lease. The other two roommates just picked up his share of the rent and divided it between the two until the lease expired or until they received orders to a new duty station...so in my example if the roommate breaking the lease was the one paying $500, each of the remaining 2 roommates would add $250 to their monthly rent, in this case the remaining roommates would now be paying $600 for a couple of months, still way below the BAH so they were able to continue saving. In one case my DS was the first to relocate so he rented a 3 bedroom and paid the rent for the 3 bedroom for 2 months waiting for the others to get their orders and relocate with him. They actually paid him a couple hundred dollars toward the rent the first two months because he was holding their spots and this particular apartment exceeded the BAH, so he was paying more out of pocket until they transferred....so it really comes down to how well you know your roommate and what you can work out amongst yourself.