@Paula Miser,I don't know your state laws,  but not having water doesn't make it inhabitable.   

One of the many great benefits of the military is the housing allowance, and if you use it to accumulate rentals along the way, you'll be a wealthy man when you return to civilian life.

Alternatives;If you have a decent job (I assume this means you're a credit worthy borrower), decent cash in reserve, no debt etc. obtaining a (civilian) traditional loan isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

We were over paying and he needed a place to stay until he went into he civilian world.

So I decided to go online to find out what rich people do with small sums, like $10K.A Kris Kohn video appeared and he mentioned that you could buy a small business and possibly put only $10K down.I’ve found a few websites that caught my eye and there was a Pizza Place that appeared in my area.Now, I have significant knowledge working in an industrial kitchen because that was my primary job in the military, so I know what everything should look like, but I don’t have a lot of knowledge about a civilian Pizza shop directly.  

We like to see a growing population and civilian jobs within reasonable driving distance of the bases in the area.

I've seen people post about a city being built for so many inhabitants and a place having or not having enough homes. 

While the CCP originally planned for the ghost cities to be inhabited, having them as essentially a GDP/employment bolstering device works, too. 

I was hoping that it will be cheaper than making the place inhabitable with a complete rehab... 

Good - steady, good rents from military and their supporting civilian workers.