Renting to military

[Jameson Sullivan]

I live in a place thats heavy with military bases. We have air force and navy. In Tacoma where the airforce is, prices are pretty high for homes. Houses are moving all the time and finding deals is tougher. In bremerton though, about 30 40 minutes from here, theres the navy base and its less competitive a market. The marker is stagnant but cash flows seem good. So, being a navy town theres always a solid pool of renters and such ( only 40% of the city is owner-occupant) BUT theyre mostly military. Sure, theres a difference between families and single people and such, but all in all has anyone had any negative experience due to young military people being rowdy or anything?

Thanks,

Jameson Sullivan

[Ben H.]

Currently a military member and have 2 SFR in a military town and purchasing a third. I would treat them no different, nor have different expectations for military, than you would any other tenant. If anything, I would expect them to be better tenants than average given their life experienced. My worst tenant to date is non-military.

Like screening any other class of tenant, older with a family is going to likely be a better tenant.

Quick tip- understand the BAH for your area. This is the housing allowance paid to military; it varies based on duty location, rank, and whether they have a family or not. BAH calculator: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bah.cfm

Regards,
Ben