MilitaryByOwner Blog

Military families prepare for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) by making lists, many of them. At the top of every list is at least one item that embodies some aspect of military housing, whether it is notifying your landlord of your departure, renting or selling your current home or securing housing at your next military base. For military homeowners who choose to become landlords, this item will have more bullet points than most. While MilitaryByOwner.com is here to make the process of renting your home easier, there are many aspects to this task that warrant your time and attention.

While the golden rule of real estate; “location, location, location” may seem a bit shopworn, it is an element that bears special consideration when looking for homes for sale or for rent. However, the information age has broadened the parameters of what to look for in a home with good “location”.  

While most military families search for homes, townhomes or condos on our site, not all relocating military personnel are in need of an entire home, but may instead be looking for a room for rent.  Conversely, there are many military families who have extra space in their home that they would like to rent to a military tenant.

Most American’s have some form of insurance policy; homeowners insurance, life insurance or car insurance. This type of insurance differs from health care insurance in that it is a safety net for catastrophic events that “may” occur in your future. So while homeowner’s are required by their mortgage lender to carry an insurance policy on their dwelling, individuals who rent homes are not required to protect their investment; everything inside the home.

As we continue to receive base page requests, areas in Florida have been popular of late.  We have military families that have homes For Sale or Rent, or are searching for off base housing near Cecil Field, so we have added this page to our list of base page selections in Florida.

Hello fans and customers of MilitaryByOwner.com. Our base page suggestions continue to roll in, and of late, we have received more than one suggestion from customers asking where they can advertise their homes for sale or rent near Camp Blanding, FL, as well as from folks who are looking for housing near Camp Blanding.  As a result of several requests, we have added this base under our Florida base page selections.  You can find Camp Blanding Housing information and listings here: Camp Blanding Homes for Sale and Houses for Rent

Military relocation is a unique aspect of the rental side of the real estate market. Anyone who has been waiting for a hard copy of orders knows that it makes it very difficult to search for housing at your next duty station. I am certain there is no shortage of military families that have stories about a last minute change of orders and the upheaval that ensued afterward. In fact, we recently received an email from one of our customers who faced a difficult situation due to a change of anticipated orders.

A couple of months ago, we examined the “The Dos and Don’ts of Real Estate Photography” where we addressed different techniques to photograph the outside of your home.  While the photograph of the outside of your home is the one that potential tenants or buyers see first, they are not likely to move any further if the inside of the home is a wreck.   

Michele Allen
MilitaryByOwner Staff Writer

The difference between a condominium and an apartment community is purely legal: there is no way to know a condominium from an apartment simply by looking at or visiting the building. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership.

The same building developed as a condominium (and sold in individual units to different owners) could actually be built someplace else as an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and rent individual units to different tenants). As a practical matter, though, builders tend to build condominiums to higher quality standards than apartment communities because of the differences between the rental and sale markets.

If multi unit living is a good fit for you, when should you BUY that condo or RENT that apartment? Here are some things to consider:

1. The value of a condominium can appreciate at a greater or lesser rate than a home, depending on your area and the local housing trends. It’s a better investment than simply pouring rent payments into your apartment landlord’s pocket, but may or may not pay off more than a house. Over the long haul, houses do tend to appreciate more than condominiums. However, in certain (usually more urban) areas, condominiums are becoming so popular that you may be able to make some money on yours, particularly in the short term.

I would not call myself an expert, per se, but after more than a decade of managing our personal rental properties, I have learned a few things. On a recent trip to transition our house from one set of tenants to another one, I was asked by my mother why I put so much energy into making everything perfect when another set of tenants were going to come in and treat it like a rental? I contemplated this question with every toilet and floor I scrubbed. I finally told my mom that I believe it follows the Golden Rule of "Do unto others as you would have do unto you". I want our rentals to be the type of home I would like to move into. In addition, I realized that I set this standard, in part because it is an investment in our family's future.