Moving to Fort Drum; Some things you should know

[COLOR=black]Let me start off with a little about myself. I retired from Army Active Duty after serving 20 years. My last duty station was Fort Drum. After retiring I started my career as a Real Estate Salesperson. Here is the housing situation in a nut shell. On post housing has a waiting list, which I have been told is about 8 months long. Rentals off post are scarce, substandard, and expensive. It is a "buyers" market, meaning the inventory is huge. But prices of homes have not really dropped like they have in the rest of the nation.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]The last two weeks I have seen something which has really surprised me. I have had two senior NCOs PCS here with their family (wife, kids and pets) and all their household goods. These particular NCOs came here with the notion they could look for a house, put a purchase offer on one and move into it the next day. "Well that is what I did in Tennessee." one of them told me. Well we are not in Tennessee...this is New York State. New York is an Attorney state. It takes at least 6 to 8 weeks for a home to close here. Even if the seller does agree to allow the buyer to move in prior to closing, they want at a minimum a commitment letter from a lender and a few thousand dollars down payment. USAA takes at lease 5 to 7 business days to get a commitment letter. These two particular NCOs ended up renting [/COLOR][COLOR=black]as they didn't have a place to put their household goods and could not afford a long hotel stay. My advice to anyone PCSing to Drum who is planning on purchasing a home....plan ahead, have patience, and use a local lender. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Todd Wines, [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Licensed Real Estate Salesperson [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Exit More Real Estate[/COLOR]
US Rt 11, Watertown, NY
[COLOR=black]315-489-1496[/COLOR]