Military buying and renting when moving to a new duty station

[George J Roth]

Hello all!  New to the BP world but would love to hear why or why not to the question below.

Should a military member keep a house and rent it when they move to another duty station?  I believe the answer is yes (I know I am answering my own question) but the answer is probably more "it depends".  This is one of the old recommendations from senior military folks, buy everywhere you are stationed and then rent it when you move.

So here is the real question, how would I evaluate/analyze my house for renting using one of the calculators?  Like the buy and rent calc since I have already lived in it for 2-3 years.

Thanks!  Looking forward to your thoughts and reasons why or why not.  

[Joshua McMillion]

@George J Roth

I argue that you should not buy & hold at every duty location. First, my goal is to niche in one market that I currently live in and grow my business around where I want to retire. Having all my RE holding in one area made me more flexible to sell in the portfolio and scale up quickly. 

Second, not all markets are equal, and just because there is a military base does not mean the community has a diverse economic system. I learned this lesson the hard way when purchasing in LA two PCS's ago. While the rest of the RE market was on fire during 2020 and 2021, my SFH did not increase in value. Due to the DoD hiring over 80% of the local workforce and the slow to no appreciation, I sold that property and shifted my focus to a market that would appreciate and help me achieve my FI goals. 

Third, your business will become unscalable. You will have a GC, lender, REA, and PM for each state you buy. That becomes almost too complex for the returns you experience. I told myself that I would grow my business around my life, not my life around the business. I also wanted to keep it KISS (keep it simple stupid) and focus on one region. 

For rents, I use three systems. First, I look at comparables on the MLM and see what the fair market rents are. Second, I ask my REA, my PM, and an investor in the local area. Third, I use other RE programs like PropStream. 

Sincerely,