house rent to military family (Ashland, Dumfries: rental, tenants, school)

[xy1235]

I have a house in Ashland community (234/spriggs rd), prefer rent to military family. It's less than 10 miles to Quantico and 3 miles to the commuter lot to Petagon/DC.

[CaliTerp07]

I don't think you can say who you prefer to rent to. I'd post it on militarybyowner if you want mostly military folks to see it. Or advertise on craigslist all the pluses for being so close to military installations.

[xy1235]

Thanks for your advice!

[ArtyGuy]

I'll second the recommendation to listing it on militarybyowner. The owners of the house we rent are not military and that's how we found our home.

Wen do you plan on listing it? In the military, our big window to move is in the summer. I've been on active duty for 19 years with 8 moves and every one has been in the summer.
However, the Dec-Jan timeframe is also another window---- can transition kids from one school to another between the 1st and 2nd half of the school year. That's not to say we don't move during all months but you won't see the high level of activity that is normal in the summer. One advantage for this area is the high number of active duty.

Do be aware of one factor--- there is a big difference in housing allowance between Quantico and the DC area. If you price it based upon Washington DC values, you might price a lot of folks out who are stationed at Quantico. To put it in perspective, if I was stationed at Quantico, my housing allowance would be about $1000 less per month.

[Lucky★]

If you gave a 20% discount for military, then you’d probably end up renting to military. Not sure if there is any problem with doing that.

[xy1235]

Thanks for your detail information! The house will be available next month. Actually I noticed the difference of the BHA in different base. The closest base to the house is Quantico, but there's a commuter lot (bus to Pentagon) within 3 miles, I don't know if this helps. Thanks again!

[michgc]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

I don't think you can say who you prefer to rent to. I'd post it on militarybyowner if you want mostly military folks to see it. Or advertise on craigslist all the pluses for being so close to military installations.

You actually can if you are renting your own home and you are not a landlord with more than 4 properties. That is my understanding after reading the laws when renting our home out this past spring.

OP, you should list it on AHRN if you want only military: ahrn.com We got pretty good response from there. I actually didn't get as much response on militarybyowner.com as I would have thought, and they charge for listing. ahrn does not charge. You can list it there first and see what happens and then go to military by owner if you don't have many bites. We ultimately found our tenants through craigslist, though.

[ArtyGuy]

Our basic allowance for housing (BAH) is determined where we work/stationed, not where we live. Not to say someone who is going to be stationed at the Pentagon/DC area would not live in the Dumfries area but you're more likely to find a Quantico Marine family (and possibly an Army family from FT Belvoir). With that being said, the Marine family has a lower housing allowance (FT Belvoir BAH is based off the DC area). Simple economics--- most military families are not willing to have steep out of pocket expenses for a rental home because they still need to cover utilities, etc.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by michgc

You actually can if you are renting your own home and you are not a landlord with more than 4 properties. That is my understanding after reading the laws when renting our home out this past spring.

Interesting! Can you specify "no kids" or "families only, no roommates" or "over 30 only" or anything like that too if it's only your own house?

[xy1235]

Sorry I'm kind new to this rental business, I appreciat everybody's advice.