House Hacking in NAS Pensacola, FL

[Anthony Trumbull]

I’m looking to buy a duplex down in Pensacola near NAS Pensacola. Is anyone familiar with the area or know the average rent they are experiencing in the area? If anyone is familiar with the housing market there, I’d greatly appreciate any help.

I was also wondering if Pcola had any special perks to it (or towns near military bases in general) and how investing in rentals changes given that military members are afforded the VA loan, a zero down payment loan afforded to us. Is anyone familiar with house hacking with a zero down payment loan?

Hundreds of new military officers (including myself) are sent down there every month for flight school. With a waiting time of 7 months, and flight school being around 1-2 years, I’d imagine finding solid renters would be pretty easy? With a property manager, can you ask them to specifically look to fill the rentals with other military personnel or should you leave it up to them to decide? I’m very new to all of this, so again any help or pointers in the right direction would be very much appreciated!

[Tom Gillotti]

It's a hot market there right now. I've had several unsuccessful offers on properties there lately. It's all about what you want, though. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the area and use tools like Zillow and Rentometer to get a better feel for housing costs and rent trends.

Tom