This is the first duty station where we have lived in military housing. I was skeptical at first after hearing the horror stories from the military housing at our last duty station. However, we decided to live in housing  thinking a) we were going to get a second pet and b) housing might give us the most bang for our buck.

It’s been almost a year and I have to say, living in housing has been somewhat peaceful. Whenever I have made a request from maintenance, they have always come to help in 24 hours at most.

Perhaps we lucked out with our neighborhood, but the staff at our housing community has been really helpful so far. I have to wonder why some military housing communities get a bad rep?

At our last duty station, I worked on the MWR side of the military and had to coordinate a lot with the housing folks. Let me tell you something, military housing employees have it rough. So I contacted some former employees to get their side of things and here’s what I found out.

Note: This is from the experiences from 2 former Military Housing employees. The opinions expressed below do not reflect that of any specific or all Public-Private Venture Housing.

military housing

Here are 10 Things that the Folks at Military Housing Want You to Know.

1) Don’t sweat the small stuff
While we don’t mind major or significant repairs or maintenance on your house, the small stuff should be left to residents i.e. changing a 60 wt light bulb. When we do the small maintenance stuff, it backs up the pipeline and that’s what delays more pressing repairs.

2) We try to keep the neighborhood as safe as possible, but some things are inevitable
Crime is significantly lower in military housing but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We encourage residents to keep an eye out for their neighbors and their community.

3) Wait list worries
Sometimes there is an influx of people or current residents change their mind and choose to stay in housing. It’s not like we can kick current residents out. These kinds of situations are out of our control. Trust us, we want you to live in our communities and we’re doing everything possible to get you in as soon as possible.

4) Please pick up after your pet
We love military pets but not the treasures they leave around the neighborhood.

5) We also have a budget to maintain
We would love for every single neighborhood to have the best amenities: gyms, pools, splash parks, dog parks, hiking trails, tot lots. However, these things costs money, manpower, and resources that are not always available.

6) We hope for 100% attendance at community events
Our staff works hard to plan and advertise a program for residents to attend. When there is low attendance and then residents say the community “never does anything”, it makes our head scratch.

7) Sometimes our hands are tied
Even more so if a housing community is on a military base. There are certain regulations and procedures that we have to abide by because our customers are military families. What’s possible in a civilian property may not be possible or happen as quickly in our military communities.

8) What we don’t see
Oh to be accepted into the facebook groups of residents… Current residents should know that we can’t have eyes and ears everywhere. Residents might complain of issues that we are completely not aware of. Definitely bring things to our knowledge and we’ll try to fix issues as best we can with the resources we have.

9) Billing for Electricity = Government Directive
We support energy conservation and efficiency in homes. When it comes to billing for utilities, residents should know that it is a government initiative. Public Private Venture (PPV) Housing do not oversee or manage the program. Rather, they act in a supporting role in the disbursement of bills and the collections of payments. Speaking of electricity…

10) It’s not our fault when the electricity goes out.
…Seriously.


So, guys, do you believe them?