By: David Kucic RA, ABR, AHWD, e-PRO, GRI
First Sergeant, USA (Ret)
Tropic Lightning Real Estate, Oahu, Hawaii
Are you in the Military and on orders for Schofield Barracks, Hawaii or Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii? Both of these installations are just outside the town of Mililani, Hawaii. Are you thinking about buying a home when you arrive on the island? Are you thinking about renting a home off post when you arrive?
Don't get caught in a Catch 22 when you arrive.
First of all, you are authorized Temporary Lodging Allowance or "TLA" upon your arrival as long as you fit one of the categories (accompanied married, single and not authorized barracks space). I am not saying that every other category of Soldier is authorized TLA so you must check on that yourself for your own particular status. As I write this post, I assume that you are authorized TLA.
You arrive on the island and check in to the Inn at Schofield Barracks, Hale Koa Hotel or wherever else you made arrangements for.
YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE TO PAY YOUR OWN LODGING COSTS UNTIL YOU SIGN IN AT THE REPLACEMENT CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once you go and sign in, you will begin to inprocess. Within the first few days of inprocessing, you will be sent over to the housing office. (Note: You will not get your 10 days of permissive TDY for house hunting until after you arrive at your unit).
The housing office will either tell you that they have housing for you or they dont have housing. If they dont have it then you are pretty safe and have some time to go out looking for real estate in Hawaii.
If they offer you housing, you can either accept or decline it. IF YOU DECLINE IT, THEN YOUR TLA WILL STOP IN 10 DAYS.
How can we remedy this so that you can buy real estate rather than getting forced into housing? The first thing that you must do is to begin your search for homes long before arriving in Hawaii. You can do this most effectively on www.davidkucic.com which has the most up to date, FREE, user friendly home search engine available anywhere in Hawaii. Search for homes and begin to narrow down what you are looking for as far as size, price, style and neighborhood.
When you land in Hawaii, you need to IMMEDIATELY go out to look at these homes in person. As soon as you find one that you want, put in an offer and get an ACCEPTANCE.
Now, when you go to inprocess housing, you can show them the accepted Purchase Contract and your TLA will then be extended for up to 60 days until you can close on the house.
Dont wait until you arrive in Hawaii to start this process because it will be too late! start searching for Homes in Hawaii prior to your arrival and narrowing down your home search criteria so you can hit the ground running.
For all of your military information in Hawaii and for purchasing real estate in Hawaii, visit us on the web at www.davidkucic.com or email us anytime with specific questions at david@davidkucic.com.
David Kucic (RA) GRI, ABR, e-PRO, AHWD
First Sergeant, USA (Ret)
Tropic Lightning Real Estate, Oahu, Hawaii
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David.... Some solid advice from someone that knows all to well that planning ahead is a must. Just like sports, having a game plan. Right? ;o) Go Phllies, Eagles, and Red Sox....