Back to Part 2 Military Life: PCSing with the military
It is worth it to go house hunting
No, the military doesn’t really cover this before the PCS move, while they will allow 10 days when you get to the post for housing hunting, if your doing to DITY (PPM) that can turn into a costly disaster. You have to cover the hotel (The military remberces just part of it) and then you have to cover the moving truck. What if you don’t find a place in that time? This was the fear I was facing with our coming move.
So we took leave early and went down to GA to scout a home that would fit our family, be in a safe place, and meet many other needs that come with homeschooling and having a large family. None of this is covered by the military though, all costs are on us, the $300 in gas, the (safe) hotel suite we needed to have 6 of us in one room ($400 for 3 days), all the eating out, and then the things we add on like making sure the kids at least have a good time and such. It all adds up. I was very worried that we would take the time and the cost to go do the trip and then not find the right house or not get the one we wanted.
We had been able to see inside the 2nd house we wanted, the 50/50 to get in February house that I talked about in Part 1 of this post. It was odd because when I asked the landlord when the current residents where moving he told me to go ask them, they where 20 feet away. Shouldn’t he know? He was three before we stopped by… it seemed odd. So I went to ask and the very nice lady let us know she was praying to close on her house next week but that she had expected it to happen last week. It was further odd though because the house was not packed at all, nothing, not a box in sight even. We have had boxes in our home for a few weeks now getting things sorted and packed and we are not moving for another 2 weeks. All in all, it just seemed like that house wasn’t going to happen.
So on the first day of house hunting we saw 10 or so homes. The kids loved exploring them I have to say. Nothing jumped out though as being what we needed. It is so different seeing homes in person rather than in photos and videos online. We had some housing shock us with “wow wonderful” features we hadn’t expected. Still, nothing really fit. I was so drained by the end of the day and feeling a bit defeated. The next day we had lots of appointments to see homes, the first was still undergoing a lot of updating and it didn’t have the kind of space we needed, the second was too small, the 3rd was amazing. I joked that it was the perfect house. The size was just big enough. It had a beautiful kitchen, amazing floors and tile work and the rooms painted almost as if we had picked all the colors ourselves. It had a small but fully fenced yard that would barely fit a trampoline for the kids. It even had doggy doors. But our cat would have to go live with my parents. That was the only issue. Everyone loved it. I would love to tell you that the cat was the reason I just felt like the house wasn’t “it” but that was just part of it, as much as I love her. I told myself that something felt off, that there was nothing that needed us there. No projects to do around the house, nothing to work on. No rooms to paint even.
A house that is too perfect?
My husband didn’t say it but I could tell he thought I was being a bit silly. I couldn’t blame him, I couldn’t really put my finger on what I was feeling. We told the Realtor that chances are she would hear from us the next morning. She thought we would be perfect for the house. Most all of us agreed with her except the cat of course and a small voice I shake. So on to the next house. The one that would bring my husband a 30 minute commute into the sticks. It was a craigslist find, not one from the AHRN site that is for military families looking for homes. The description and price and photos looked too good to be true. Same price as the “perfect house” but 1400 more square feet. Over 3400 sqft on almost 2 acres of land. It was a safe area, beautiful area, and full of possibilities. It was clear renovations where going on and that was fine with me, maybe we could help was my thinking. The owner was very nice and showed us around. I was so excited, all of us loved it. It was a very different feeling than the “perfect house” the kitchen needs a lot of work and it has propain, no idea how to use that” and it needs a lot of yard work and a safety project. I braved asking if we could have chickens. He said if we got it that we could! My husband sounded very supportive and so awed by the place and without asking him I asked the owner if we could give him a check for the rent/deposit/pet deposit and if he picked us he would at least have it so we wouldn’t have to deal with the mail and we could fax the lease and such. I will admit, I was a mess…. I was emotionally spilling over explaining our hard situation and laying out all the flaws and issues and very much over sharing. The man was very professional and kind and didn’t mention my lack of professionalism. When I mentioned I blogged and would love to blog about the house and the chickens and that I get paid to blog he asked how I started doing this. I should have simply said that I am an open and honest person with a very big mouth. Blogging is great for those of us who love to share everything. I was talking a mile a minute to him and I can’t even recall what I told him about blogging, I think I told him the history of this blog from the start. Poor guy talked to us/me for near 2 hours. When we got in the van to leave I was hit by this fear that my over sharing blew it. I thought he must think me some insane woman. I was very hard on myself for being so raw. Other people had been interested in the home and more people would be looking at it after we left and I just felt like I blew it.
I was done at that point though, I asked my husband to cancel the other appointments. We applied for the big house we wanted, we could apply for the “perfect” house the next day if we didn’t get the country home, and we had the military post housing to fall back on if needed. I just couldn’t handle anything else. It was a very weird feeling, I was very overwhelmed, and I think that is a post for another day. So we took the kids to a play place where they could burn some energy and get some food and I could focus on them and not the moving worry. It was fun and did help a little. They had a great time! Back at the hotel that night, I was left wondering if we would get the country home, or have to try for the other one and if I had spent the time and money for nothing and maybe we should just have accepted the on post house.
The country house owners texted us and they picked us. I hadn’t blown it with my emotional raw display. It hit me I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I think this is true of most people though, maybe specially military wives. Everyone is happy about this house, even the cat, though she doesn’t know it yet. I don’t have any idea where I am putting what in the house, but that is an adventure we can figure out when we move in. For now, we are on the road back to MD. The trip completely worth it. Now back home to get back to packing and priming walls!
If you have a PCS coming and have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Doing these so often the last 15 years I know a bit. (Though clearly there is always something more to learn, always)
