Should I stay, or should I go?

Two years ago, when housing was privatized at Barksdale, there was mass exodus. Most of our friends decided it would be more prudent to put their BAH toward a mortgage and bought houses. We considered it. We even met with a realtor and looked at a few houses. Ultimately, we decided it was better for us not to take on a loan of that size at the time. Instead, we badgered the new housing company into giving us a larger house.

This spring, we began to hear rumors that the Pinnacle, our landlord, wanted to move anyone ranked below O-4 out of single family homes, in order to collect more rent money for the bigger houses. That would mean we’d be sent back to a duplex…after we’ve expanded to fit our house. This caused a lot of uproar, especially since mine and several of my friends’ husbands were preparing for a deployment, but while some got their powers of attorney ready to buy a house in their husbands’ absence, we had faith that this couldn’t possibly come to fruition.

While we were visiting family during John’s post-deployment leave, I got an interesting message from a friend. It seems that Pinnacle has found a way to remove us from our homes – renovating. They hand-delivered letters informing everyone that by March 2010, you will be moved so that your home can be renovated. The catch? If you are ranked below O-4, you will be moved into a duplex with no possibility of ever getting back into your house or another single family home on this base. Pinnacle knows when your home is scheduled for renovation, but they’re not telling anyone until 90 days out, because they don’t want the mass exodus to begin anew.

Where does this leave us? Confused. Eventually, we will have to move. I’d rather it be sooner than later, so that if I am going to buy my own home, I can be putting equity into it and enjoy it as long as possible before our next PCS, whenever that may be. But if we choose to move on our own, we have to do it ourselves and pay for it ourselves. If we wait until Pinnacle gives us that 90-day notice, they pay for us to move wherever our little hearts desire, which will most definitely not be back to their stinking duplex. I want to kick myself for not taking the plunge two years ago.

Why do I post this? Please pray for us. Whatever decision we make will be a gamble, and my stomach is tied up in knots at the thought of having a deadline to find a new place to live, even if it is three months. What if we can’t find a house that we like in 90 days? I trust that this will work out, but in the thick of it, I can’t figure out how it should.