We're here and I need housing help, please?

[Julie Moore]

So we got here safely at 2300 on Tuesday night. Wednesday was newcomers brief, Thursday we got our drivers licenses and looked for a car and Friday was our housing brief with automatic housing offers. Sooo I am confused!
They automatically offered us 2 four bedrooms, one at chibana and one a the plaza (?). The plaza was so bad that we didn't even go in. Lots of mold and other issues that are too much to type! Chibana was just ok. Not completely horrid, but old with very old flooring and very old cabinetry, etc. Not complaining, just a stating a fact. But she said if we wanted to waive our right to a four bedroom that we could have one of the newer multiplexes behind the PX on Foster. We drove over there and there was a couple who was kind enough to show us their multiplex. Nice and new! But no four bedroom and no bonus room like at chibana.
We are so tired and so confused!! We are stationed at Lester so the Foster location and newness is nice. But Chibana is bigger and we really need space. Does anyone have any input, please?
Also Foster the kids could walk to school and Chibbana (kadena) they would have to take a bus. But Foster is smaller and not available for four more weeks and Chibana is available now! Oh my....
I just need advice and another point of view from someone who knows this island better than I do. This is a very hard decision for us. The housing people were very, very nice.... I don't know why but I was really surprised.
Does anyone know of any other places that are open close to them, that we could ask about? Right now I am just a little overwhelmed and need some guidance. You have all been great before, so I am asking again :)
Thanks in advance!

[Sarah C.]

Welcome Julie!!

I wish I had more insight for you on this issue...all I can give you is my perspective from living over on Lester...it is a pain sometimes to not be on Foster itself but still needing to utilize it so much...my older daughter is in high school and so she does take the bus there...not a big deal...the problems arise if she wants to hang out over on Foster on the weekends. The Green Line does not run at nights or on weekends from Lester to Foster so we are constantly having to figure out how to get her there or get her home. She has walked on occasion but that can be a lot to do in the summer heat. I often wish we had taken the Tower offer which was across the road from Foster proper - she would have been MUCH closer and saved us a lot of grief. While I do enjoy some things about Lester (we are within walking distance of American Village and Araha Beach, we have the emergency room) I do often feel the pain of living off the main base.

So if you live on Chibana but your kids are going to school on Foster you will have to be prepared for a lot of shuffling them back and forth for school events, sports, friends, etc. Of course you will be very close to Kadena but still you will have to transport them as it is too far for them to walk and get to the movies, bowling, etc.

If you live on Foster itself well then you dont have all those issues but you will be a little more close for comfort. Oh also those houses are BRAND NEW and really nice so that is a big plus. Believe me, living in 1980 housing gets old real quick LOL!

How old are your kids again? Will they be able to do some independent stuff with out you or will you need to chaperon them no matter where you live? If they can go off and do stuff without you then I would for sure take Foster. You will be able to walk to the PX, movies, bank, post office...also the Green Line stop is right there behind your area and if they are old enough to ride it alone it will be a great asset as they can take it to other Marine bases or down to the Spot, the library, bowling etc ( i think the age to ride alone is 12 or 13 but am not totally sure). And if you ever are without a car then your ability to be close to all this will be great too...it can happen believe me I had a car accident and was totally house bound until it was fixed.

If you will have to chaperone them wherever they go while you are here then you might as well take Chibana and have the extra living space.

I assume you dont qualify for the 4 bdrms on Lester? I forget what your husband's rank is but I think it is all E7 and above on Lester. You can check with housing on that. I know for sure they have 4 Bdrms on Old Lester.

Anyway that is my 2 cents....with older kids the ability for them to get out of your house and get around by themselves is a HUGE PLUS to living on Foster...I would take cramped any day over having to deal with shuffling her all over and i just have ONE!!

Hope that helps...let me know what you decide.

[fam.us3]

Nicely put and great points made Sarah! l was also wondering about your Hubby's rank is, and what branch of service he's in? Mainly because where I live, the house next door is vacant and I think may be ready to be offered; but it's rank structured residential.

[Sarah C.]

Oh and dont be afraid to push on housing about the "not available for 4 weeks" thing for the Foster offer...it might suddenly change to your benefit i have heard of this before. In the long run if you do think Foster is a better choice what is waiting a few weeks as compared to the three years you will be here?

[Dawn Hudson]

I would say stick with the four bedroom. Your kids are only going to get older in the time you are here and will want and need more space. Chibana isn't all that bad and you would be amazed at what paint can do for your house and you get it for free. It may not look like much now but you can make it feel like home. About the mold issue We had mold when we saw our house and we told them about it and the cleaning people back here to clean and we had them re-clean the floors also. I believe your kids would be going to Kadena elementary and it's a good school, though most military schools are since they are DOD. The commute for your husband may be more of an inconvenience but there is away to get to Foster the back way from your house and that should cut off some time then coming back through Kadena to hit 58. About the buses. They are very nice and I was worried that they would look like the buses in the states and they are anything but.

[Julie Moore]

Thanks so much for the input! Hubby is an E-6, so I know we don't qualify for Lester housing, which would be a nice location. My children are 12, 9 and 7. So the 12 year old may be able to go places with friends in the next year or so, but the other 2 are years away from going anywhere by themselves.
So Kadena elementary is a good school? Where would the middle schooler go? And is it a good school?
I know they would ride the bus, they really wanted to walk to school, buy certainly not a deal breaker.
Truth is I really did want a nice CLEAN, NEWER place. However, they will only get older and we will need more space. Just a hard decision... smaller, shiny and new or OLD with more space!! What a decision. Practical me says take the 4 bedroom, but I sure do like the cleaner/newer space.
I also really like the Foster area, everything seems clean and well kept. I just wish I knew now, what I'll know a year from now : ) If only that were possible.....

[Suzy]

I live in housing similar to the chibana that you were shown. I really wanted to live in those new ones by foster a few years ago when we arrived but they weren't being occupied due to mold issues so they sat empty for a few years. I heard the problem was completely cleared up and they were starting to move people in finally. While I like the extra space that I have right now, I really have to say that I still wish we could have gotten into the newer housing on the island. I have developed a severe mold allergy in the past year and a half. I'm ok as long as I'm out of my house but as soon as I get home things get ugly. So, that's something else to keep in mind. The housing on chibana and shields are both about the same age and have similar issues when it comes to mold. The other issues that I have with these two bases are the A/C and heat. We have no control over either of those. It's really rediculous. We can turn the old control on and off but Kadena determines whether or not we should have A/C or heat. There have been days when it was in the 80's and we didn't have A/C. Also, there were days when it was 75 outside and heat was radiating out of my vents and it was a sweatbox in here lol. Those are really the only issues I have with this housing area though. It's old and not very pretty but it's not terrible if you can get beyond the other stuff. I just really wish that we had been warned about the A/C issue (which is why I'm bringing it up here). I think I may have chosen differently b/c of that depending on what our choices were had I known. Good luck! I hope you get the house you want:)

[Julie Moore]

Thanks Suzy. Mold that bad? UGH!! You can't just stay our of your house... that stinks!! They told us at housing that we get to control our own AC on chibana. Is that not true? I certainly want to know what we are getting into BEFORE we move in. I Just wish I knew what to do. Is there NO new 4 bedroom housing?
I was going to ask one last time if there was anything else on Monday, before we make our decision... but we still can't decide. The new multiplex housing is SO nice in comparison, but you just can't beat the room at Chibana for 3 growing boys. Wish I didn't have to make this decision... But I do.

[Suzy]

Unless Chibana has been remodeled within the last 2 years then all you can do is turn the knob on and off for the A/C (if the base main unit is turned on that is). Kadena'a policy states something about providing A/C during certain times of the year and then they shut it off. It wouldn't be so bad if they could turn it back on after they've shut it down during little heat waves. They get a lot of complaints about it all. It also is a policy that is supposed to be enforced all over Kadena but is not. It seems like the only two areas that this is enforced in are Chibana housing and Camp Shields (I could be wrong though, there may be others). I think it was the Christmas before last that it was so hot in my apartment that we ended up not cooking anything for dinner inside. I had to wait to make a turkey a month later when it was finally cooler. Last year they actually left it on a while longer and then restarted it before schedule because of so many complaints. I just really don't like waking up at 2am sweating b/c my house is in the upper 80's. I don't know about the bedrooms on the new units. I would think they have 4 b/r ones. But, I really don't know. Definately ask though. If you're really nice and get someone who's really nice then you may luck out and get exactly what you're looking for:)

[Julie Moore]

Thank you Suzy! I can't believe that we don't warrant the right to control our own AC?!?!

[Sarah C.]

NO there is no "new" 4 bedroom housing as far as I know...the only new units being built all seem to be 3 bedroom or maybe some 2 bedroom...all multiplex styles.

I know this is a TOUGH decision....hopefully the input you are getting here will be helpful....but you might ALWAYS think "what if" no matter which unit you choose.

See for us space wasnt as huge of an issue since we didnt bring a lot of stuff....really location was our key issue...unfortunately we ended up getting places plenty big for us but not with great locations so what can I tell you...it is just how it goes.

I know when you are looking to buy a house the realtor will tell you the most important thing is "LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!!"....lol....not sure if that applies here but to me it was really important.

When do you have to tell them you answer?

[Dawn Hudson]

If the house you looked at has central air then you control it but if its the older units then there is a good chance they will get turned off. THough if they said you control them, then you do. They usually don't lie about things like that. The air gets turned off if the outside temp is under 65 for 5 days in a row and will get turned back on when the outside temp is over 75 for 5 days in a row.

[Sarah C.]

Julie if you still have the keys go over and check out the Chibana house to answer the A/C question if you dont want to wait til Monday to ask housing. I dont know anything about it, we have individual units in each room of our place that we control ourselves. But if it is an issue for you then def ask about it!