Ok, a little background...
Mather AFB, CA - base housing
Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ - 6 months in apt, then base housing
Little Rock AFB, AR - base housing
Pope AFB, NC - 6 months in apt, then base housing
Scott AFB, IL - off-base rental
Fort Leavenworth, KS - post housing
Scott AFB, IL - off-base rental
Maxwell AFB, AL - base housing
Pentagon, VA - off-base rental
It should be obvious...we like to live on base.
We've never owned our own home. We're probably the only people we know that have never bought a house. We have lots of friends who buy everywhere they go. They've made lots of money trading up. They've enjoyed a nice, big house in the suburbs, living amongst the townsfolk. We're not grown up enough to take that plunge. We're the ones who would get stuck with the house payment and nobody to rent it out...or there would be a flood or tornado or some major component of the house would need repaired or replaced and we'd be responsible...NO THANKS! We'll wait til the Air Force part of our life is over and then think about buying that "dream home".
Our taste of the suburbs has twice been assignments to Scott AFB. The first time we rented in Shiloh, a small community between O'Fallon and Belleville. It was nice. We rented it sight-unseen. It was a beautiful looking home on the outside and not too old, how bad could it be on the inside?! (It was nice on the inside too! My favorite layout of any home we've lived in.) The second time, we rented in O'Fallon, from a former co-worker of Nort's. It was a very nice home as well.
Being that the Pentagon doesn't have any housing, our options here were somewhat limited. On-post housing at Ft. Myer or Ft. Belvoir was going to be impossible. We certainly weren't going to buy. Renting was it for us. We were fortunate to have a friend in the area that found this house for us. It's nice, don't get me wrong. But, now that we've been here in VA for a month or so, I've finally figured out why I like living on base better than renting. (There are more than one reason, but I'm going for the biggie here.)
I'M NOT COMFORTABLE LIVING IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S HOUSE!
There, I said it. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. Like I said, there are plenty of other reasons...convenience, friends for Walker and TR, being with people who are "like" you, etc. The biggie for me is knowing that this is somebody else's house/home. How can you feel comfortable when the entire time you're there you're worried about scratching the hardwood floors, keeping dirty fingerprints off the walls, maintaining the yard so the neighbors don't think you're a slacker, wondering how many nail holes is too many...
When I'm in base housing, I know the house doesn't belong to anybody. I can make it my own. I can hang up whatever I want and someone else will fill in the nail holes when I leave. The walls may be that boring off-white base housing color, but it's ok with me. I actually prefer it to the lemon yellow kitchen that I'm currently sporting (which I would never choose) or the entirely faux finished/ragged/sponged bedrooms, again in colors that I would never choose, that we had in O'Fallon. Base housing is like a blank slate for me...painted and accessorized is just a reminder that "you are not the homeowner - watch what you're doing".
I'm having an incredibly hard time getting settled in this house. I can't get comfortable. At least now I know why.
