Besides a few apartments when housing wasn't available yet, we have always lived in housing.
I like that I don't have a lease, that I can leave when I want, and that there is always someone to call if something goes wrong. I like that there is always a fenced in backyard. It's awfully convenient to have someone come unlock your door when you manage to lock yourself out, with no fees.
Housing will mow my yard when Gunner is gone. They will come pick up a dead animal in my yard if I call them.
We have lived in stairwell housing in Germany, "townhomes" at Fort Lewis & Fort Hood, a duplex at Fort Hood, a duplex at the Academy, and now we are in a townhome type situation once again.
I currently LOVE our house. It's not big, but there's room. I like having a garage. There are enough bathrooms for us, especially since Junior doesn't use one.
I like being close to a shoppette, the commissary, the px, and hourly daycare.
Some of the drawbacks are that you are very close to your neighbors. Last week I had the crap scared out of me because someone rang my doorbell at 11 pm. I answer the door and it's the MP's asking about a domestic disturbance. I explained that I had three sleeping children, a barking dog, and a deployed husband. They were looking for my neighbor.
At Hood, our neighbor (in our duplex) tried to kill his wife. He went to jail for about a month till he was bailed out, and he came back and within minutes we were surrounded by MP's. Housing moved her out the next day to an undisclosed location.
Gunner once found our neighbor's kid in a diaper, down the street, in freezing weather, playing near a storm drain.
So anyway, all this leads up to me being addicted to House Hunters. Maybe it is the fact that we have never owned a house and I dream of one day (not anytime soon) buying our first house. Maybe it is because I like to see how other people live. (Surely I'm not the only one who is out walking the dog and will glance over if a window is open to see what it's like. Really, I'm not a peeping ABW!)
What I have a hard time with is people that turn their nose up at the houses they are shown! I know people want their "dream house" with the big master bathroom, walk in closets, an island in the kitchen, and all the things that they have dreamed of. Maybe it is so many years of just taking what is offered, that I can't imagine being THAT picky? We do have a master bathroom and a walk in closet in this house, but many haven't had those features.
I sometimes think if Gunner and I went on that show, they would show us the first house, and we would sign for it. Having alternatives? Unheard of! A garden tub? Never had one, but was at my mom's house and discovered that it is hard to bathe a child in one. A gigantic kitchen? I'd probably just fill it with appliances instead of having the bare minimum.
We have never looked at a house and said "the rooms are too small" but instead say "we'll give Junior the smallest room since he is the youngest" or "Em can have the small room this time because it has a door to the bathroom". We don't look at a kitchen and think about all the baking we are going to do and the lack of counter space, we are just relieved if there is a pantry to put food in!
What's the best housing you have ever lived in? (Ours is here at Carson)
Have you ever bought a house at a duty station, and was it worth the trouble when you moved?
Have you ever had crazy neighbors like mine?
How has living in military housing changed the way you view your future home?
