Clovis/Portales Apts? (Cannon AFB: affordable apartments, rentals, home owners insurance)

[Milstaino]

Hi folks,
I got orders to come to Cannon AFB, what can i expect to pay in clovis or portales for a 2bed, 1or2bath apt that is in a good, safe, clean part of town? it seems to be a friendly town from what i can see! Any info on this matter would be greatly appriciated!

[EDnurse]

Originally Posted by Milstaino

Hi folks,
I got orders to come to Cannon AFB, what can i expect to pay in clovis or portales for a 2bed, 1or2bath apt that is in a good, safe, clean part of town? it seems to be a friendly town from what i can see! Any info on this matter would be greatly appriciated!

There are very few rentals available in either town. You will not find much online. You must act fast. Everything will be gone by August.

I recently rented a 3 bed 2 bath with a fireplace and a 1 car garage townhouse in NE Portales for 975/month on a 1 yr. lease. The unit is in a clean safe area. It has stainless steel appliances and microwave in the kitchen. It also comes with a washer and dryer. I don't need that much space, but I only had a couple of days to secure a place so I grabbed it. I guess a lot depends on your standards. Be ready to make some compromises and adapt. The real question is how much are you willing to pay. You can get a REAL hole in the wall for about 400. Something semi decent probably 650 to 800 IF they have it. The waiting lists are long.

If you have a pet, forget it. They just don't take pets. The "best" part of town is the Northeast. Portales has less crime. Both entrances into Clovis (east and west) look dismal. There is a lot of dilapidated housing. Yes, the people of Clovis are very friendly, but you asked about housing and money. Don't be beguiled by friendliness. You'll be going to Clovis to help provide a living for most and enrich a few even more. You can serve your country and live anywhere else. When you get to Clovis, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

The people who authorized the move of Special Ops to Cannon FAILED to realize that there just isn't enough adequate housing to accommodate all the incoming personnel. Either that or they just did not care. Naturally, the number one concern was to continue the supply of federal dollars to the town of Clovis and never mind the troops and their families. Cannon AFB is like a huge federal welfare program.

You can always buy a house which they will happily sell you for a very inflated price. They're trying to sell houses that are 20 or 30 years old (and need a LOT of serious updating) for over $100/sq foot. Please. The Air Force would label such houses as "substandard". There is some new construction going on, but not enough. There are a lot of nicer homes that sell for over 225K and up, but I don't see how an E-4 or E-6 with two kids and a stay at home spouse is going to afford it. I wish the AF would reassess the housing situation in Clovis and increase the BAH accordingly.

If you're curious, no I am not active duty. I spent a few years in the AF and I was stationed at Cannon after pulling a remote in Osan. I punched out after they wanted to give me yet a second assignment to Korea.

I will soon return to Clovis/Portales area because of my spouse's job (non federal and non military).

Hate to repeat it, but you really need to move NOW and fast. If you cannot take a permissive TDY in the next couple of weeks, take regular leave now and go to Clovis. If you are religious and church going person, go to a whatever corresponding church: meet the pastor and ask them for help in securing housing. I'm serious. A lot of those church going christians have houses for rent and they do not put them in the paper. This is what I was told by a church member about 2 weeks ago.

Good luck and thank you for your service.

[nategdh]

If you think its hard for the military to afford these outrageous-overly priced homes..imagine what the citizens that already live here are thinking...They got to do something with these prices..why doesnt Clovis start recruiting construction workers..I see abt 50 houses getting built right now and there should be like 500 getting started..and there are no aprtm ion either place..I went looking couldnt find any

[Milstaino]

Well, im willing to pay all my BAH which is 870 plus more if need be! I am tasked to report there November 30th, so i cant really make a move cause they wont let me leave my base yet! So im kinda screwed huh?

[Fickle]

Just FYI.. ALL housing here is supposed to be 100% filled this summer.


Just to give you an idea of how many ppl are PCS'ing this PCS season. 09

[Milstaino]

So what does that mean for the airmen that cant find housing on and off base? What will happen?

[Shelsi]

You can buy a brand new home for $140K. I don't see all the outrage over cost. I totally understand the outrage for not having enough housing available. Maybe it's because I'm coming from D.C. and if you want to build a new house you'd be paying at least $800K.

[debra86]

You can get on the waiting list for Foxtrail Estates. We've been on the waiting list since May for a 2bed/2bath. They're building more units and they are REALLY nice. A few of our friends lucked out and got them in March.
FoxTrail Estates - Combs' Properties Newest Portales Subdivision

To be honest with you... there aren't many rentals available. My husband and I looked around and almost had a house built in territorial estates.
Territorial Estates
We decided not to do it because we didn't want to get "stuck" with a house here when we don't plan on retiring here. So we sucked it up and took base housing. It isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

For a decent rental in the area... expect to pay more than your BAH. 870 isn't enough. You can buy a house in territorial for $132,000 and your mortgage and home owners insurance will be right at 870 a month (depending on your credit).

EDNURSE- I agree with EVERYTHING you said. It's sad... apparently they're suppose to raise BAH again but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon.

[New West 2020]

Affordable apartments? LOL If you have a couple of days,do like the Duke boys and fire up the muscle car and go hit the dirt roads. Remember they cross every square mile of both counties. OK it will take two weeks.

But, there ARE eventually nice country places with tiny little "For Rent" signs on them and some are not expensive.

[New West 2020]

But seriously, there is finally a Craigslist for Portales and Clovis and I've seen some good rental deals in decent locations in Portales - like $650 for a nice little house - but like everything on Craigslist that is a good deal, I bet you have to move fast. When the students leave Portales in December and May there should be some good rentals available under $700 due to the regular turnover, and often some great little homes for under $90K.