Are you going to be there for at least 3 years?
Did you take the career starter loan?
I am approaching this as someone that was once a Realtor
If the answer is YES I will be there for 3 years and took the starter loan, my next question is did you spend the entire amount of the starter loan, or did you save some to move?
~ When I say some, I mean thousands, not hundreds.
The reason I ask is because if memory serves me right, you are not yet eligible for a VA loan.
In a flat market, which is what it has been for the last 3-5 yrs, you can expect a 3% return on your property. Even if it drops to 1-2%, you can still break even.
~ The reason why is that from a tax perspective, every yr you will owe less to the IRS because your mtg interest and taxes are tax deductible. your rent is not.
A good realtor can probably find you a mtg that you only need a couple grand to buy that 1st starter home.
Now that being stated, I am not pro-buying in every case. You need 3 years at least to make any money, and it is not smart in my opinion to buy just for the sake of buying because that is all I can afford. It is important to be in the right location.
I would say to my child, the one thing not to do is being cheap. Just because it is cheap, doesn't mean you will be happy.
~ Studies have shown that if you rent/buy too small you actually spend more money in the end than if you rent/purchased the right place in the 1st place. You will spend more money because you hate where you live...house is too small, you want to escape, and that costs money.
As a newlywed that expects to be there for 3 yrs, but can't afford to buy than this is my advice:
~ Rent a Townhouse of single family home that you can grow into for the next few years.
~~ Use a realtor to review the contract.
~~~ You want your out option, while at the same time, you don't want them to have an out option for those 3 yrs. The military will not move you unless you are offered on base. Which is why I would say to you rent if it is only 3 yrs. if you can't afford to buy minute 1. The military clause will allow you to get out of the rental, even if you took a 3 yr lease.
~~~~ A realtor, like Christel Dietzius, knows where military members live. You will want that because for nothing else, what if 1 car is in the shop, spouse has to work, than you are juggling cars, but if you live in a development where a lot of military members you may be able to hitch a ride with someone else. Trust me as a military spouse, every base we were assigned to had very popular neighborhoods that military members lived in, think 35%+ were military. Our last home, if i looked left, right or across the street they all were military members. Go to militarybyowner.com and place in Eglin, you will start to see themes, where they either say a school district or development. The reason why is they know that military members want those areas...follow the thought...that means it is basically off base housing.
As far as not about much time. I would not worry about that at all...if you:
1. Search militarybyowner.com, zillow.com, realtor.com, etc to see what you like from how much you can pay, and type of property. They will have a ton of pics.
2. If you are going off base, find a realtor. Contact them as soon as you get your orders, and state this is the date I will be showing up.
~ A great realtor will:
~~ Book out the 1st few days to spend it with you only...caveat, they may say I have a closing at Xtime, but otherwise I am available.
~~ They will know the area. That beautiful house that seems like a great price might be because it is not in an area you want to be living in for at least 12 months.
~~ They will use their own contacts within the Realtor office and world to find out if any rental property is coming up before it hits the market. Bullet and I rented our home for 7 yrs, with 3 different renters. It was never advertised, and it was never empty. We would get our 30 day notice from 1 tenant on 1 day and sign the new tenant the next day. They had clients in the wings wanting to be in our neighborhood, and the only people that knew about our home were the realtors within that company.
Finally, we moved 11 times in 21 years starting in 1989, way before the internet was a glimmer in anyone's eye. We had all of our homes secured within 3 days of arriving. Just like us, our DS had to wait for HHGs to arrive to set the date when they would move into their home.
I would also say, talk to your spouse about the size of the home.
~ I have lived in England, AK, VA and NC (near beaches)
~~ 2 bedroom apt., might seem great, but not so much when you realize you are now Holiday Inn Express and everybody wants to visit every other month.
Same is true from a financial aspect. Thinking that you can afford 50 bucks every month out of pocket sounds doable, but not so much if you are constantly entertaining the company.
~ You can't assume that they take into their equation, that buying more food and sightseeing is hitting your purse strings.
~~ They are on vacation and want to experience it all. IE the Hurlburt website. You as an AD member can only rent the wave runner, that is 60 bucks if they were not there you would not have done.
Hope that helps. I am trying to keep this for everyone that is getting 1st assignments. If you want more info, feel free to pm me.
My wife and I put it as #6 on our list, after several out West. But we're still happy with it!