bones_c

iTrader: (3)

Just like the title says... And I have no idea what to do... We are leaving from Hawaii to fort hood. We've got two dogs and two cats we are bringing with us and only ahipping the trans am. We will be taking 30 days leave so when we get there we are driving a rental home to Iowa for a couple weeks and then going back. I just need plenty of advice from you guys that are experienced with this so any tips are appreciated!!! Thanks

Morphine

Have you started researching places to live near the base? try AHRN.com (Automated Housing Referral Network) and other rental or realtor sites. You'll have to decide what's in your best interest, to rent or purchase a house or apartment. Expect to live bare bones for a while until your household goods arrive to the base so don't pack all of your uniform items in your TMO. Do you have a sponsor? How long do you have until you pcs?

bones_c

iTrader: (3)

Should be leavin in about a month. I'm debating buying a home there but have yet to figure that out yet

z28MP

iTrader: (7)

Make sure you get big enough cages for your dogs and cats before you leave. Take enough uniforms including the winter PT's just in case. I forget what type of leave it is, but if you move off post you can get 10 additional days of leave looking for a house. I think you have to apply for that at the shafter housing office. Could be wrong though. I think that's about it.

HowdyZ_28

iTrader: (4)

Hmmmm, let's see....

-- Ship as much as you can, as early as you can (at a minimum, use your 500lbs of "hold baggage" to ship essentials that your family will need as soon as you get there. ie: bedding, kitchen items, bath towels etc).
-- Only certain airlines will ship pets due to the heat. Do your homework cause 4 pets are gonna cost you!
-- The 10 extra days that z28MP is talking about is called Permissive TDY and yes, technically, you can have it put in your orders before you pcs but it ultimately depends on your gaining unit (you will normally get it, especially if your looking for a house off post).
-- That being said, do your homework and decide (before you pcs) if you are going to reside on or off post.
-- Traffic can be HELL getting onto 'Hood, depending on which gate you come in. (It's the most populated U.S. base in the world).

I'll post more as I think of it...


Scott

bones_c

iTrader: (3)

were actually looking to buy a home in killeen or surrounding areas... biggest things im concerned with are getting the pets there and then we are sort of looking to buy a car quick as opposed to renting one and then driving home to iowa... i guess im just basically concerned with how we are going to afford everything... we have a small amount of money saved now and were looking at having around 5000 once we leave... that 5000 is basically just cash in hand not including anything we will reviece from the army... i found a nice tbss for 12995 and IF its still there when we get there i could get them down to around 10000ish and then drop 2000 cash down payment and use that to travel in and for the wifes DD in texas etc....

HowdyZ_28

iTrader: (4)

I HIGHLY suggest moving on post and taking your time to find a house to buy. An investment that big should not be made in a month! Besides, 5 grand will not last long when you consider all the costs of moving ie: buying DD's, all the normal household stuff like cleaning supplies, toilet paper, trash bags, etc.. , paying for all the stuff during your leave, not to mention how much you will be eating out!

Scott

FrankSS

iTrader: (18)

Hey Scott how ya doin? I'm at Hood now so I can give you a little insight... When I PCS'd from HI I had my car shipped to LA and I picked it up there and drive it to Ft Stewart. Like Scott said, pack as much stuff as you can in the 500 lbs they give you to live on. I wouldn't put bedding in there if you can survive on an air mattress I would do that. What is your MOS and do you have pinpoint orders? There is tons of new housing being build around the hood area, so it would be a good bet to get on post first and then look around if you plan to buy... It will help you out in the long run. I would try to get PTDY before you leave Hi, since most of the units here are doing initial fielding training and you prob won't get it if you try to once you get here... It jut has to be signed by the BC/SCO so get it put in now so it will be ready and signed by time you leave. The traffic here like Scott said is horrendous... From where I live at, I gotta leave the house at 0515 at the latest to avoid traffic gettin on main post for pt. I'm lucky enough that I work on west hood and don't have to deal with all the crazies on main post. If you have anything else you want to know feel free to ask and ill try to fill you in as much as I can

Matt

mpmjason

im doing my first PCS also, from Germany to ft polk.
just found out today they will only fly us to louisiana. So i gotta get a rental car from there and drive to Bham AL to pick up 2 of our cars to drive back to polk. Luckily my truck here in Germany will be shipped to New Orleans, so that wont be too bad of a trip to pick that up also.
It's 200 Euro per pet to ship out of here, i imagine it will cost you a ton of money to ship 4 pets.

bones_c

iTrader: (3)

well got a little more info going around... the wife and i stopped by ACS today and got some decent info about whats going on and how to go about it... i dont have the ammendment to my orders yet but should be here by the end of the week. once i get my ammended orders i will put in my leave, go to transportation to get set up for house hold goods, then head to travel and get my tickets to fly... hopefully we will fly delta. i contacted delta about the animals and for the 2 dogs its 200 each and for the 2 cats its 125 each so looking at 650 right off the bat plus vet expenses. i have a good credit card for the vet expenses though that i can get no intrest on etc. not worried about the vet. already bought kennels for the animals from craigs list and garage sales... spent $60 for two airline approved kennels for the dogs but bought new for the cats carry ons....

have an appointment with a ACS finance counselor on thursday to talk about new pay etc and to go over buying a house etc etc. also found out today that i should recieve DLA for another 2000 and some other little bits here and there... hopefully leaving here with about $8000 before paying for animal plane tickets. so actually around 7250 ish

i have family near hood so we plan to go on leave and stay with fam for a week or so and purchase a car in that week (hopefully) we will be buying a car before heading home to iowa...plan to put down 2000 on that (found an 07? AWD TBSS with 50k miles for right around 20000)

as far as home buying... i bank with usaa and have talked to them and enrolled in the movers advantage program... they assign you a realtor and you can communicate with them while still away etc... we have been searching high and low for homes on the internet so hopefully we can narrow it down to only a few before we even arive and then can go take a look at some ASAP and make a decision... i will be calling hood housing soon to get on the housing list so if we dont get a home we want we will have somewhere to go...

whatever happens i guess i will just hope and pray everything goes as planned (fingers crossed) and we have no problems etc...

keep the tips coming though i appreciate them!!!

*as far as my orders and mos etc... I am a 12N heavy construction equipment operator. My orders ssay i am going to 36th engineers but thats all i know any of you guys there?