Found a Home Sweet Home
27 Jan 2010 14 Comments
in Marriage, Navy, PCS, PCSing, deployment Tags: BAH, new house, rental home, rental house
Where thou art – that – is Home.
~Emily Dickinson
–updated with yard and kitchen photos!–
Well, we found a house to rent. It’s a bit farther away from everything than we’d like (I’d have at least an 75 minute
Back of the house
commute to Seattle) but we think the house is worth it.
We put a listing on Craigslist advertising ourselves. With three large dogs, it’s hard to find someone who will rent to us. I find that mildly amusing and highly annoying since a family with three kids (or even one or two!) have the potential to make as much or more mess than the dogs. Our dogs won’t be spilling grape juice on the carpet or writing on the wall with a magic marker 
Anyway, we were contacted by a couple that have a 2,300 sq ft 3-4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home that sits on nearly two acres, half of which is fenced with a brand new 6ft privacy fence. It has a two car garage, a storage shed in the fenced in area, central heat and air (yeah, air conditioning in Washington, ya’ll… the fuzzy dog will appreciate it), a monitored alarm system, a 5-piece master bath with jetted tub, a 6′x6′ master bedroom walk-in closet and what my husband calls a “gorgeous” kitchen.
This is all for $150-$200 less than our BAH per month. So sweet. They had been asking $650 more a month for it and didn’t get any takers, so they dropped it to way less than they should for us. Why? Because we are a military family and they were BOTH previously in the military. How awesome is that? Plus, they are only asking for a $500 damage deposit and a $300 pet deposit. Seriously. No last month’s rent or deposit equal to a month’s rent. And even the pet deposit is refundable if we don’t kill the house (which we won’t, of course).
Deck being built
The family has told me that they will pay for garbage and for the alarm system. WOOT! Also, they will let us paint the walls as long as we paint them white before we leave. No problem!
So here are some photos. There aren’t any of the kitchen because I was never given them. Boo! And none of the “yard” shot, just things in the yard (like the brand new deck and the new storage shed). And while I do have one of the front of the house, for PERSEC reasons (Personal Security), I won’t ever show the front of any house we live in. Just in case any of you want to try to stalk me
(Actually, this is a good idea, especially for those with kids… you don’t want someone to drive by and recognize your house and have your kid(s) be called by their name or be told that it’s okay to come with a stranger since s/he knows x, y & z about him/her– thanks to the information from your blog).
New Shed
Guest bedroom
Master Bedroom... but only part of it... it's huge
Part of the master bathroom
Other side of the master bathroom
I *think* this is the guest/ 2nd bathroom
Hallway. That much I can figure out. HA!
The backyard. They plan to put grass in this spring after the winter rain stops
More backyard. Looks like there's a screen door for the summer. Yay!
Uh, it's gonna be muddy until the grass is put in!
The kitchen. It even has the same stove I have in my current house! Yay, I love that stove and now won't have to miss it!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 17:00:24
Wow, what a find! It sounds like your soon-to-be landlords are pretty terrific people, too.
Jan 27, 2010 @ 17:55:05
Very nice!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 20:43:36
That is a killer deal, and a nice house!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 21:30:47
That is awesome!!!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 21:40:43
NICe house!
Jan 27, 2010 @ 23:02:20
Wow, great find!!! It’s lovely and big! BTW, what is BAH?
Jan 28, 2010 @ 07:22:16
What a great find! It looks awesome!!!
Jan 28, 2010 @ 08:59:27
Amber: BAH is Basic Allowance for Housing. It’s the money military gets to pay for housing. It’s tax free.
If you live on base, you don’t get any. If you live off base, you get it depending on where you are stationed, your rank and if you are single or have at least one dependent. It’s meant for housing but if you have a BAH of, say $1400, and you find a place to live for $800, then the rest is tax free.
Most civilians say this is a huge perk of being in the military, and while the money being tax free is, it truly is part of your salary. If we didn’t get BAH, military pay would be even more pitifully sad than it already is.
Jan 28, 2010 @ 10:31:29
I gave you an award on my blog!
Jan 28, 2010 @ 10:31:57
Crap I meant to post the link…
http://raisingbrats.blogspot.com/
Jan 28, 2010 @ 13:26:41
The reason they can give you grief over dogs but not kids is because it isn’t legal to deny someone a place to rent because they have kids. Although, trust me, they will find ways around that if they can. It’s a lot harder to rent now that we have kids. At least we don’t have pets, too! Congrats on the new home.
Jan 28, 2010 @ 15:47:44
Wow that place looks great, and such a deal, too!! I know all about the woes of commuting. I used to do a two hour commute each way every day that included a ferry. Argh those were bad days!
Jan 29, 2010 @ 16:41:43
I love it!!!
Feb 01, 2010 @ 22:54:26
Sorry the commute will be stinky for you but it’s a beautiful house and, more importantly, you’ll be together
Yay!