Duty station Question, any help greatly appreciated:)

[YellowRose]

Greetings all,

I'm just finishing up a civilian FP program, and starting AD in the DC area in July. I'm really considering purchasing a place, but worried about how long i'll be there. I have a 4 year payback (as most of us have), but won't purchase if they only keep me there for less than my 4 years.

My question is..... once you are stationed (DC in my case), will they allow you to pay off all 4 years in one place, or will they all the sudden transfer you in the middle of your payback? any help appreciate.


Yellowrose

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[psychbender]

Do not expect to stay in one place for any length of time. I grew up a Navy brat, and as such moved every 2 or 3 years. From everything I've been told by those on this forum and those I've met in the real world, you will be moved around every few years just like everyone else.

Side note: Are you Army, and if so, are you going to DeWitt or WRAMC?

 

[elderjack21]

Greetings all,

I'm just finishing up a civilian FP program, and starting AD in the DC area in July. I'm really considering purchasing a place, but worried about how long i'll be there. I have a 4 year payback (as most of us have), but won't purchase if they only keep me there for less than my 4 years.

My question is..... once you are stationed (DC in my case), will they allow you to pay off all 4 years in one place, or will they all the sudden transfer you in the middle of your payback? any help appreciate.


Yellowrose

You can probably manage to stay in the same place for four years...provided you volunteer to do a deployment somewhere. A lot is service dependant though and also depends on the size of your duty station.

I was at Ft. Bragg...Army, could have stayed there for pretty much as long as I wanted because there were plenty of positions to move up into for my job, and there were plenty of deployments that I could go on to give me a little more leverage with my branch manager for follow on assignments (to either stay or move on to some other place).

 

[NavyFP]

I don't know that I would recommend buying in the DC area at this time. The market is still very soft and does not look to change much in the near future. You could probably do all four years in DC. It will depend on your command and whether or not they are willing to grant a one year extension.

 

[elderjack21]

I don't know that I would recommend buying in the DC area at this time. The market is still very soft and does not look to change much in the near future. You could probably do all four years in DC. It will depend on your command and whether or not they are willing to grant a one year extension.

Once again, solid advice from NavyFP. DC is kind of hurting right now, but on that note, it may bottom out within the next year, so it may be worth buying in a short time there. Get somewhere temporary to live, get a better feel for the neighborhoods you are looking at buying in, buy you some additional time to watch the market and watch for good deals.

 

[NavyFP]

Once again, solid advice from NavyFP. DC is kind of hurting right now, but on that note, it may bottom out within the next year, so it may be worth buying in a short time there. Get somewhere temporary to live, get a better feel for the neighborhoods you are looking at buying in, buy you some additional time to watch the market and watch for good deals.

Prices are probably at the bottom, the question is when will they start to rise. From 1988 to 1998, prices were essentially flat. I bought a house from a guy in 98 and it was for the same price he paid in 88.

 

[YellowRose]

thanks everyone, very helpful. I'm gonna be at Dewitt by the way.

i'm still on the fense about buying a place. I only plan on paying back 4 years and not staying longer. do any of you guys know of the military transfering attendings before the 4 year payback against there will? if it occurs often, i'll probably just rent a place near Dewitt, thanks.

 

[NavyFP]

thanks everyone, very helpful. I'm gonna be at Dewitt by the way.

i'm still on the fense about buying a place. I only plan on paying back 4 years and not staying longer. do any of you guys know of the military transfering attendings before the 4 year payback against there will? if it occurs often, i'll probably just rent a place near Dewitt, thanks.

If you are planning on renting, look at the new base housing. They just built a bunch of it and from the outside, it looks very nice.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

You'll almost surely stay at the same place, here's why:

To PCS overseas you have to be on station 2 years, then have 3 years of commitment left after you move.

To PCS stateside, you have to be on station 3 years, then have 2 years of commitment left after you move.

I tried to leave my initial duty assignment and couldn't without picking up more commitment.

Your results may vary, but barring you signing something, the only way to force you to pick up more commitment is the infamous stop-loss, which is rarely, if ever, used. So if you just refuse to sign on for more time, they won't move you.

 

[YellowRose]

Thank you ActiveDutyMD, that was very helpful, as i didn't know those specific policies requiring us to stay a certain number of years. thanks!!

 

[mac61]

... is the infamous stop-loss, which is rarely, if ever, used.

I'm not sure why I found this funny...oh yeah...stop lossed twice, albeit not as a doc, so my quote is mostly a funny, not a jab or reflection of my experience with the the current AMEDD.