You thought you’d have a place by now, but as the summer winds down, you’re still trying to find housing at your new station. Where to turn for help?
MyCG asked Coast Guard housing experts and members who have done multiple Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves. Here’s their advice.
Let your local housing office know
“Communication — with the local housing officer, ombudsman, your sponsor, and people in the location where you’re moving is something we can’t emphasize enough,” says Melissa Fredrickson, who heads the Coast Guard’s Office of Housing Policy. “Understanding the full range of options is imperative to ensuring members secure housing appropriate to their needs at the new duty station.”
It’s best to reach out early — like when you get your new orders — but even then, the unexpected can happen. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tomasz Lapinski, a housing officer in Sector New York, recently dealt with a Coast Guard couple moving to the area from Alaska who planned to buy a house. Then their contract fell through. When they came to him for government housing, he didn’t have any open units. But he had plenty of local contacts, including at the Ft. Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn, which has privatized housing. With a little maneuvering, he was able to find them an apartment on Staten Island.
“Even if we have nothing available at the time a family applies, we can call friends, colleagues, neighbors, what have you,” he said. “Maybe someone’s next door neighbor has an aunt who is renting a place. My job is to do anything I can to help our members find suitable housing.”
Jennie Langley, a housing officer at Base Kodiak in Alaska seconds this. “It is never too late to reach out to your housing office,” she said. “We are here to help and working with members year-round.”
You can find your housing officer here. Or check out the ombudsman registry to find your local ombudsman.
Join Coast Guard-related social media
In Kodiak, Alaska, most members live in base housing. For the 5 percent of families looking to find their own place, Langley’s first recommendation is to join the local Facebook page, PCSing to Kodiak. “Families here are happy to answer questions and share experiences with incoming members,” she said. “They are also quick to respond and will even share house pictures.”
Looking up the local Facebook page is a good idea when making a PCS move to almost any new area. Although these pages are not official Coast Guard sites, they’re typically administered by members, and you must ask to join. In addition, some members told us they’ve found good housing and other local information by joining the Facebook pages of nearby military bases, as well.
There are also several PCS/Coast Guard-related general pages and sites where military members often post listings for housing. Coast Guard members specifically recommended the following:
- Coasties on the Move - Coast Guard members can subscribe to this Facebook page, which is run by Wendy Lachowicz, a self-described “Coastie” spouse and realtor in Virginia. The page includes home listings and realtor references. It is regularly updated with new listings, which you can search by Coast Guard district. It also has a website .
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Coast Guard PCS – This Facebook page is run by Chief Petty Officer David Micallef and his wife, Erica Lynn to offer help during PCS season. It often has homes for sale or rent, as well as inquiries from members looking for housing in a certain area. Recent postings included a house for rent in Cape Cod, a Washington, D.C. member looking for a roommate and a Coast Guard spouse looking for a place to live in New York, who received several responses.
Check out these housing websites
Homes.mil The Coast Guard Housing Office recommends this site, which includes referrals for housing that you can search by military installation. While many of the listings have rental start dates further in the future, you can find properties that are immediately available in some areas.
AHRN.com K.G., a retired active-duty member, who now works for the Coast Guard as a civilian, recommended the Automated Housing Referral Network, which is designed to help military members around the world find available housing. It’s free to use, and automatically calculates your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to display homes in your price range.
Militarybyowner.com Many members also recommended this site. It was started by a former Marine and advertises homes located near military bases. You can search for places to buy or rent by base, city, or zip code, and many properties are available currently.
Hotpads.com Capt. Lisa Schulz recommends this site to find rentals. “Property managers will post on their own website and cross post on hotpads so you don’ have to hunt for the local property managers,” she said. “Owners can also post, so it is good for Coasties who want to rent out a property, as well.”
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Resources:
Local Housing Office Directory
In the news:
House hunting help for the 2021 PCS season