Talked with housing. Looks like Santa Margarita is our only option - we have a dog & cat, & no kids.

How do y'all like Santa Margarita?

Hubs & I have been spoiled at Cherry Point... & we're worried about base housing. 

I live there and I don't think its too bad. The cabinets in the kitchen are ugly as sin and not all of the units have a microwave, but those are my only real complaints. Not too many noise issues, parking and the size of the house are fine. There's a dog park and a pool nearby too. 

Here-
http://www.pendletonunderground.com/topic.jsp?topicId=11684931

someone asked the other day 

http://www.pendletonunderground.com/topic.jsp?topicId=11684931Link 

Thanks for the link. I searched before posting but it didn't come up for me. Haha 

n.p :-) That link has pictures, i figure it may be helpful 

Talked with housing. Looks like Santa Margarita is our only option - we have a dog & cat, & no kids.

Yeah, they're the only one with availability on the list. My husband and I might move there too. The ones with the newer cabinets/microwave etc are nice, I think. 

Is it just hit or miss on whether you get an upgraded place? Or like... do all the ones on certain streets have them? A friend of mine used to live on Henshaw and they didn't have those brown cupboards. 

They are letting couples with no kids move into a 3 bedroom in wire mountain 3 right now. Huge yards, smaller house but if it's just you two then plenty big. 

They are letting couples with no kids move into a 3 bedroom in wire mountain 3 right now. Huge yards, smaller house but if it's just you two then plenty big. 


Sweet. I'll have to look into that! It'd be weird to have a 3 bedroom house with no kids though; I'd hate to feel like I'm preventing someone else from moving in there who does have kids. My dog would sure appreciate the yard though. 

Don't feel bad, they are letting people with out kids because some units sit empty for so long. 

Many people don't know this but you don't have to take the 1st address/house they give you. They gave us one, we went to go look at it and you could tell the previous people had a dog. The back yard smelled so bad - like pee and poop. We went back to the main office and they gave us a list of the available houses in SM and we drove around and looked at each one until we found one that seemed nice, had a good vibe, and didn't smell (with a killer view to boot). We went back to the office and told them which one we likes and thats the one we got. :-) 

Can I ask why you're not considering living off base when you have no children?

You could save quite a bit of money by renting a small house or apartment out in town. (depending on your qualified BAH of course) 

idn't smell (with a killer view to boot).

U must be on my street, we have a awesome view, well it was better before they did all the things to the school 

I'm on the upper part off Abrell. :-) 

Oh okay Im on henshaw, we have the ocean view. 

We don't have so much of an ocean view but we have a great view of the canyon that runs north into the base. 

Can I ask why you're not considering living off base when you have no children?

Well, we only have PCS orders until May, for school (Hubs is a lat mover & will be going to school). & we're hoping/planning to stay for the contract, but it's not guaranteed. Plus, with rent being $1200+, we're looking @ a $1200 deposit, too -- & that's hard to swallow! Especially since we just got orders yesterday & haven't/won't had a lot of time to save up for the move & that big of a deposit.

I think our money would get the best of us out in town. If we knew our budget was $X, we'd wanna find the best, prettiest place we could for that -- so we wouldn't end up saving the money anyway.

Also, neither one of us have been to any part of the west coast. & we don't want to get stuck in an area that's sketch or scary. So we were kinda thinking we'd spend our 6 months in base housing, let him finish school, get permanent PCS orders, & feel out areas around Pendleton to see what we like.

We live on base housing in Cherry Point, NC. & it's AH-MAZING. Pretty much brand new (several years old), 1100 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths (and the full bath is HUGE), open floor plan, etc. 

We live on base housing in Cherry Point, NC. & it's AH-MAZING. Pretty much brand new (several years old), 1100 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths (and the full bath is HUGE), open floor plan, etc.


You're in for a sad shock then with Santa Margarita. 

You're in for a sad shock then with Santa Margarita.

lmao. Yeah the upstairs bathroom is so tiny. Smaller then the downstairs and the upstairs has a shower lol. Its also not open AT ALL. Dont get me wrong, i like living here, but i am comparing it to our last apartment that was like a shoe box lol 

If you haven't tried living off base here, I'd recommend it. We have the whole time we've been here... my husband wants to move on base though now because he's lat-moving and wants to be closer to work. I mean, we're moving no matter what because we're in Vista and he's tired of the commute but yeah, he wants to be on base. We've never lived on base so I told him I'd try it. It'll be better for our dog anyway! 

You're in for a sad shock then with Santa Margarita

Exactly what I was just thinking. That's one thing I hate about this house is that it's so closed off!! (and the hideous cabinets) 

Bleh. Well, Hubs also wants to be close to work for school -- since he's unsure of the hours & will need to study & all that mess.

I need to be grateful & appreciative... *keeps repeating* I don't want to be stubborn & pissy about it. Hah

A 3 bedroom w/ a big yard would be nice! But, we're not that lucky to be "that couple" that doesn't have kids & gets an upgrade. Haha 

Many people don't know this but you don't have to take the 1st address/house they give you

True...

I always ask for options after moving to WM3. The one they first gave us there smelled, looked horrible, and just didn't feel right. I just brought it up at the office and they gave me 3 more homes to look at. I picked the best of the 3.

When we moved here to WM2 I asked if we could just check out homes that are available so she gave us two sets of keys. One was an alley home in the middle and the other was an alley home facing the ocean. We went with the ocean view and breeze.

Housing will work with you if you're polite and just try to work with them.
Well, we only have PCS orders until May, for school (Hubs is a lat mover & will be going to school). & we're hoping/planning to stay for the contract, but it's not guaranteed. Plus, with rent being $1200+, we're looking @ a $1200 deposit, too -- & that's hard to swallow! Especially since we just got orders yesterday & haven't/won't had a lot of time to save up for the move & that big of a deposit.

If you're only going to be here till May and don't want to live off base just make the best with what you can get. That's really all you can do.. 

Housing will work with you if you're polite and just try to work with them.

True. I guess we'll just pull in to base & see if we can look @ places first.


If you're only going to be here till May and don't want to live off base just make the best with what you can get. That's really all you can do.. 

Yup! We're HOPING we'll be here for 4 years. But there's no guarantee. :-/ 

A 3 bedroom w/ a big yard would be nice! But, we're not that lucky to be "that couple" that doesn't have kids & gets an upgrade. Haha 


You'd be surprised how many empties there are in Wire Mountain 3. They are trying to fill them. 

When we moved here in April, we asked what our other options were and they told Santa Margarita was it for what was avail. Hubby's an E-5, no kids, 2 cats. We wanted O'neil Heights east but there was nothing avail. 

Not sure how they pick who gets upgraded. We live in WM3 and both of our new neighbors have no children. They told me housing said once a house here has been empty for X amount of time they will allow childless couples to move in. 

Hm, I emailed housing and got this reply:
Both of the those communities have availability - unfortunately though Wire Mountain III is not available to you since you do not have children, but Santa Margarita is certainly an option. We don't normally offer tours, but you certainly can call the district office to see if they have the time / staff to show you one of the homes.

Should I go to Wire Mtn III housing on Sat and just ask again? 

Isn't all handled through the main office as to which housing you get placed in? You only go to your district office once you are ready to move in and there after.