Family relocation to Anchorage after Military retirement. (Kenai, Wasilla: rental, homes)

[derekandrae]

Hello,

Our family is considering relocating to Anchorage after we retire from the military next year. We are a large family (6 kids) and will be dual income IT/Nurse. What are some neighborhoods with good schools, close to a military base, and family friendly? We will be in the $350-400 range 4bd+.

[Music_Man]

$350-400 range wont be in Anchorage or any place i know of in Alaska.

[Braje]

I just looked at Zillow and the cheapest 4 br rental was 1750.00. You won't find a 1 br for 400.00.

[Music_Man]

Are you talking about buying in 350k-400k range?

[derekandrae]

Of course buying...I'm not that delusional...lol....Really it would be up to $450,000.

[Music_Man]

Your best option is to come and look for yourself. There are many places that would fit. Don't forget about Eagle River and Chugiak.

[AKStafford]

How close to JBER are you hoping to be? 10 minutes away? 60 minutes away?

[AKSafety]

There are several homes available in that price range. The biggest issues will be how far from base and proximity to where you'll be working. To see what's available check out Zillow and then ask about the neighborhoods. I would recommend staying away from Mt. View and Fairview in general but most of the rest of them are a mixed bag.

The schools on the whole are pretty good and there's only the one school district but you can check out each school's last state measured performance at Anchorage School District.

[kodiakbearcountry]

JBER is not in the best area of Anchorage but it's heading out towards the valley. I wouldn't try to settle right next to the base. Anywhere in Anchorage is still a doable commute if you two are going to be working on base. You can definitely find some nice homes in the city for around 450k.

School districts -- I went to Rabbit Creek and my friend went to Oceanview, they were some of the best. You want to avoid the inner city districts -- outlier districts, especially heading towards Kenai are better. But it's more of an issue at the high school level. My district fed into Service High School which was at the time one of the better high schools. I've been out of the school loop too long now to give much advice beyond that small amount but web sites like Realtor have a lot of information usually about the schools.

[ThatguyinAK]

For that price range you are looking at either the southside of Muldoon, Eagle River and north to Wasilla/Palmer. You're best bet will be the valley. If just going to FT. Rich or EAFB, the commute will not be that bad.