Engage. Educate. Encourage. EMPOWER.
A huge part of PCS organization is the traditional purging of all the stuff. From tossing the old and broken to scheduling a furniture donation pick-up, the need for intense organizational skills is required to avoid paying for an overweight household shipment and wasting valuable space in your new garage with unopened boxes of unnecessary items.
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Did you ever think you’d be trying to buy a house during a worldwide pandemic? As crazy as it seems, real estate transactions have barely slowed over the last 12 months. You’re not the only one who thinks it’s a great idea to buy a home right now. As spring approaches, military families are joining the masses to find their next hometown.
While the traditional sequence of events for buying a house remains, there are many changes that have occurred. From donning a mask and shoe coverings, to entering an open house showing, to signing the dotted line online, you’ll encounter some annoying and beneficial adjustments.
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Credit scores rule the world. At least it feels that way, doesn’t it? They’re like these tiny little dictators, running around, interfering with every home sale, rental application, vehicle purchase, and more.
It feels obscure, but did you know that your score isn’t random? Though it might feel like it at times, it’s not like disobeying your parents as a kid and waiting to see which consequence you get today. The score is calculated, and it fluctuates both ways on the spectrum.
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For just about any home seller, the idea of their property selling too quickly is a problem they hope to have. But, for military sellers, a fast home sale could bring an extra layer of stress to an already taxing PCS.
The U.S. housing market continues to lean favorably toward home sellers, which means that if your home is priced well, there’s a good chance you’ll have multiple offers and likely a contract on the house in a short timeframe.
This is excellent news!
Unless your service member’s orders change and you’re no longer leaving the area.
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Self-care doesn’t always come easy for military spouses. We tend to put other people’s needs above our own, rarely taking the time to do what refuels us. Say goodbye to that, though, because the days of neglecting self-care are gone. Now, more than ever, we need to take care of us. Yes, others too, but also ourselves.
Why?
COVID times are hard. Military spouse life is hard. Solo-parenting? Also hard. And if we’re going to conquer these crazy times, then we’d better practice a little self-care.
But how?
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With all the stress a PCS can bring, the silver lining of a military move is the opportunity to create a new home in your next rental, whether it’s a property on or off the installation. The excitement often starts from afar, while staring at online photos from the home advertisement and virtually planning furniture placement and accurate window covering sizes.
Unfortunately, even with the prep work, walking into a rental home can be overwhelming as you try to picture all of your personal belongings working within an unknown floorplan. There’s rarely a perfect fit! Ceilings are too high or too low, there isn’t enough lighting, or the flooring is dated. The peculiarities are endless. This is why so many rental home decorating mistakes are made. Let’s take a look at a few common ones and how you can avoid them to create the homiest space you can, whether in a rental or installation housing:
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Budgeting (oof). This subject warrants an eye roll, but it’s unavoidable, and that’s why we’re talking about it. Your monthly budget determines the future of your finances, right? It’s important!
So, let’s talk about one of the major budgeting categories (spoiler alert)…housing. While military families often focus on the evergreen debate as to whether we should buy or rent a home, there’s another big decision to make when moving to a new duty station: whether or not to live on the installation.
The answer comes down to your location and your priorities.
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After the final box is unloaded and the last mover has shut the door, it’s time to take a quick breather and set your action plan into motion. The first things to do after moving into your rental home are a little bit different for everyone, but many of us focus on the most important tasks so we can begin calling our new rental house our home.
The trick is to uncover what your family prioritizes the most. Is it cleanliness, and removing every trace of the previous tenants? Or, do you prefer to focus on a few zones of sanctuary to nest in, happy to have somewhere to retreat to when you need a break?
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We talk a lot about the risks and rewards of home buying and home selling. We don’t focus as much attention on renters and the risks associated with renting a home. And as military families, renting property is a pretty common thing as not all of us can or want to commit to buying a home at each duty station. So, let’s take a minute to talk about things we should be avoiding when renting.
Here are nine mistakes military renters make:
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