armywife101.com says:
October 25, 2010 at 12:38 pm
What you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve always wanted to know about Schofield housing. Army housing on Schofield! Armywife101 lifes currently on Hawaii and explains to you precisely what to expect. For all kinds of Army wife info go to her blog: http://www.armywife101.com
It seems so many military families are PCS?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ing to Hawaii . It is because of this, that even though I absolutely hate this place that I feel it important to discuss some of the most important questions in relation to coming here. Throughout the months I have been listening and watching the Army Wife 101 fan page and I have compiled many of your questions for these types of posts. I hope you find it helpful.
In this post I will discuss questions in relation to housing and living offpost.
How long is the waiting list for housing onpost?
As I always tell spouses never ask another spouse that only because the wait time varies greatly. You will hear stories of people who PCS?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ed here and within a a week they had housing. Then you will hear from those who moved here and lived in lodging for 2 -3 months. Your best bet is to call the housing office and they can give you a round about estimate. You can be placed on something close to a waiting list. When you arrive you will jump ahead of those who have NOT arrived on island yet. As of the time this post was written you can call the main housing office at 877-487-4323 or visit their site at http://www.islandpalmcommunities.com
Where will I stay while I am waiting for housing?
This is a common question and in my experience I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve learned you will hear various answers. The first place you definitely want to contact is Schofield Lodging. You can visit them at http://www.innatschofield.com. The way it goes is that you need to contact them first and see if they have space available, if they don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t then they will issue you a statement of nonavailability and you will usually wind up at a hotel close to Honolulu Airport. You will hear some people say that they went and stayed at the freaking Ritz Carlton or the Hilton Hawaiian and the Army paid for it. My advice, do it the proper way this way you are guaranteed to receive your TLA and have no issues. PCS?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ing to Hawaii is not the time to play around financially.
What does housing look like on Schofield?
Fortunately for me I live in new housing and I will post a few pictures of that below. Unfortunately you have a great chance of being put in what they call ?¢‚Ǩ?ìNew Old Housing?¢‚Ǩ¬ù which is not that bad in comparison to the old stuff that let?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s just say you have to see it for yourself. Housing can also place you in what is known as military reservations. Wheeler is Schofield?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s airfield and is right outisde the main gate. They have very new housing and extremely old housing. Let me just say when I say old housing I am talking about Pearl Harbor Era. Some of the housing on Wheeler are considered of historical value and cannot be torn down. At that point they try to revamp the inside but their is only so much revamping you can do to a house that old.
Helemano Military Reservation is about 15 minutes from post near the North Shore. I hear mixed reviews on it but personally Schofield is far enough , I wouldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want to be even further at Helemano. The other place they can place you at is AMR. I have friends who live there and they have new housing but there is old housing there as well. AMR is very hilly and high up , but the good thing is you are right near Honolulu . It seems like you have to go to Honolulu to have any kind of life here. Keep in mind in Hawaii military can live in any branches housing, but there are always stipulations on everything . For instance Army can live in Navy housing but they might not be able to get new navy housing.
Many wives ask me what housing areas on Schofield they should ask about when at the housing office. I always say Kaena, Porter, Moyer and Kalakua. Those are the newest housing areas to my knowledge.
Here are a few pictures of a new 3 bedroom home on Schofield in Kaena (my home)
You can view more here if you have Facebook
Do I keep my BAH when I live onpost?
Uh No?¢‚Ǩ¬¶I wish! Now when I first arrived here, there was some pretty crappy housing that they actually were giving some onpost residents 15% of their BAH back. Generally speaking your BAH is taken out of your check and that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s that. if you live offpost you get to keep your BAH and utilize it as you wish for a mortgage or rent and possibly utilities.
Do we pay utilities onpost?
You can read my previous post about Mock Light Billing here.
In regards to other utilities it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the same as any other post. You pay for your cable and phone. Water is free I wonder for how long.
Who takes care of the lawn maintenance onpost?
I am still trying to figure that out myself because since my husband has returned from his deployment we have cut our own yard, Yet and still we see the landscaping guys in our backyard and cutting our bushes.
Best places to live offpost?
If had to live offpost the 4 places I would look into are Mililani, Ewa Beach, Pearl City, and Kapolei. If you wanna know about the site . Read my post about Offpost Housing. I know many people are quick to want to live off post but please be aware Hawaii is very expensive. I know because we looked and I gladly would take on post housing considering the prices, and the utility cost I have heard about here.
See there look at how fair I was and I didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t even talk about how much I hate it here :)
I think I just about covered all the common housing questions. If I missed one feel free to share it in the comments section.
Hooah & Smooches
Army Wife 101
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