He said it best: “The housing market is just going gangbusters across the country, that’s a good thing for the economy, but it makes it challenging if you’re looking for a rental property.” That’s a quotation from Maj. Gen. Omar Jones, deputy commanding general of Army Installation Management Command. He voiced what many renters, including military families, are feeling this year. Fortunately, military families are receiving support in two creative ways. One person’s joy is another person’s challenge Military families face reassignment, or relocation, every 2-3 years. This year, military families have found it increasingly difficult to transition into their new assignments. The relocation challenge is threefold: The housing market is thriving, with buyers and renters both combatting high rates (and each other) for deals.High demand on movers, paired with staffing challenges, has caused scheduling delays. The industry has experienced a 25% decrease in labor and a nation-wide backlog in scheduling.If the spouse is working, the spouse must secure new employment in their field within the designated re-assignment window.On average, military families are given assignment instructions 166 days before their report date. Since the summer, that hasn’t been enough time. The delay has been so burdensome to families that Army authorities are delaying scheduled changes of station. To support families, the Army has initiated a program to help nearly 54,000 soldiers find housing. The program includes more lead-time for families to find housing and secure movers as well as an innovative agreement with Lendlease. Lendlease is an international hotel group that now specializes in privatized military housing. The organization signed an agreement that permits soldiers and their families to secure temporary housing at designated hospitality sites while continuing their search for a house. Military families will receive standard housing allowances in these cases. Additionally,...

Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is slowly but surely making progress on its latest $47 million housing project. As of the December, fewer than 10 out of 71 new homes were completed by Atherton Construction Company and Debcon Inc. Earlier this week, Quad City Times reports that more than half of the homes are completed. Older homes and buildings were demolished late last spring, making way for new construction in the summer. The older homes, mostly constructed during the 1970s, were notably outdated and cramped. More than 50 of those homes were quadplexes. Residents can now choose between two subdivisions consisting of 41 single family homes and 30 duplexes. Single family homes, in three or four bedroom floor plans, span 2,020 to 2,520 square feet. The duplexes, located across from the national cemetery, will offer two, three, and four bedroom options ranging from 1,630 to 2,150 square feet. Each year, 400 service members and their families take up resident in the area. Many families live off of the island due to the housing shortage. The new subdivisions will permit about 24 additional families to live on the installation. Pricing information for the new homes remains evasive, though there is bad news for those relocating to the area. The Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for Rock Island residents has decreased, in spite of increases for many other areas in the nation. BAH will cover 83 percent of rent and 17 percent of utilities for the average family, down one percent per category from last year. For an area in desperate need of new housing, the drop in comes as a surprise. The area has not seen much new construction in more than 50 years. Many families opt to live off of the island in search...

“Hunt Companies is always giving back,” says Crisha Kamphorst, a business solutions manager for Hunt Companies Inc., referring to her employer’s devotion to employees, residents and communities.  Hunt Companies is a Yardi® client that manages more than 32,000 housing units across the U.S. as one of the military’s privatized housing partners. That dedication is rooted in El Paso, Texas, Hunt Companies’ headquarters since 1947.  The Hunt Family Foundation, founded in 1987, has made grants and commitments of $52 million to 548 organizations.  Organizations that have received funding include the University Medical Center Children’s Hospital, Texas Tech Medical Center’s School of Nursing, the University of Texas at El Paso, the El Paso Museum of Art and the El Paso Zoo. Deep Commitment Just as the scope of Hunt Companies’ business extends far beyond El Paso, so does the company’s commitment to residents and their special circumstances.  “From the moment a military family sends us an application to the moment they move out of our house, they’re part of our lives.  We’re part of their support network, we’re part of their group,” says Kamphorst, who as the wife of a retired U.S. Navy chief is quite familiar with the rigors of military life. “As a family-owned company, Hunt is not only committed to employees, it’s also committed to its mission,” adds Dennis McDonald, Kamphorst’s fellow business solutions manager at Hunt Companies.  “In military housing, that boils down to providing the best possible housing for our military members and giving them the support they deserve.  It’s something we take very seriously.” A major event for services members—and for Hunt Companies—is a permanent change of station (PCS), which can uproot a family by redeploying somebody from Germany to Hawaii, from Hawaii to Maine, or from California to Washington...

Do you want to win the property manager of the year award? We’ve got a list of summer camps for military youth that can make you a local hero. Once school is out, your military housing community will be flooded with bored kids and exhausted parents. By distributing this list of camps and workshops for the children of service members, you’re one step closer to peace of mind through the upcoming summer months. More than that, you can offer value-added services to your residents. Summer camps can help families avoid the summer slide, improving kids’ academic performance throughout the year. Camps are also lifelines for children in military families who move often. Camps give kids the opportunity to make new friends, acclimated to a new neighborhood, and a new school district. Below is a list of unique camp opportunities for kids of military families. Air Force Services’ Teen Aviation Camp This selective camp is open to teens with an interest life in the United States Air Force. Aviation Camp takes place during the first week in June. Flying in a Cessna 145 is one of many highlights of this camp. Those eligible are OCONUS and CONUS family members of: Active Duty Military assigned to or living on an AF installation; AF Retired Military; AF Civilian Employees; Activated Air National Guard or AF Reserve; and Joint Bases (AF lead) Active Duty, and Civilian employees. Camp Corral Military kids ages 8-15 throughout the nation can enjoy the “week of a lifetime” through Camp Corral. Attendees will join the ranks of nearly 7,000 kids in 23 camps across 19 states that have enjoyed the adventures of the camp so far. Children can explore outdoor activities such as swimming, canoeing, horseback riding and ropes course challenges. When they...

Once school is out, everyone knows that kids can only entertain themselves for the first few weeks at best. Soon enough, they become bored and antsy. When your community is filled with bored kids, it’s just a matter of time before something interesting happens. Summer camps for military families solve many problems at once. From painting to science, from coding to gymnastics, there is a camp under the sun for every kid in your community—and there is still time to nudge kids (and their parents) in that direction. In your upcoming blog post or newsletter, remind parents that summer camps are a terrific way to keep children active and entertained while preventing the infamous summer slide. Camps can also be a lifeline for children in military families who move often and may be getting acclimated to a new neighborhood and new school district. Since financing summer camps can be tough for many families, we’ve found a few resources to jump-start your search on affordable summer camps for military families. Many are free or offer discounted attendance to service members’ kids. These have start dates well into July and beyond, so it’s not too late to get families involved. Camps have multiple locations, so be sure to link to the city and event closest to your property. Camp Corral Military kids ages 8-15 throughout the nation can enjoy the “week of a lifetime” through Camp Corral. Attendees will join the ranks of nearly 7,000 kids in 23 camps across 19 states who have enjoyed the adventures of the camp so far. Children can explore outdoor activities such as swimming, canoeing, horseback riding and ropes course challenges. When they prefer the cool of the indoors, there are arts, crafts, archery and more. Although any child from...

Yardi client Corvias Military Living, an affiliate of the Corvias Group, has opened Reece Crossings, the Army’s first-ever on-post apartments for junior unaccompanied service members in Fort Meade, Md. Reece Crossings consists of 432 apartments and will house 1,000 junior unaccompanied service members, allowing them to live on the installation, closer to their work and support systems, for the first time. “It’s the first of it’s kind and our vision of what barracks privatization could be and should be for the single solider and service member,” Mike Steiner, Corvias Military Living’s managing director, tells MHN. “The current design for on-post barracks is something called one-plus-one, which is like a college dorm room: two individual rooms with a common bathroom and maybe a microwave. Reece Crossings is well beyond that.” Reece Crossings 1,200-square-foot apartments feature large kitchens with a breakfast bar and full-size appliances, spacious living rooms, a laundry room with washer and dryer as well as free cable, high-speed Internet and utilities. They are all private master suites, which include individual bathrooms, walk-in closets, personal climate controls and private climate-controlled secure storage for military gear. Apartments come fully furnished with a sofa, media cabinet, barstools and coffee table, as well as a queen-size bed, desk and night stand in each bedroom. Amenities include weight lifting and fitness rooms, a state-of-the-art clubroom with multiple flat-screen TVs, pool tables, a sports ticker and video gaming, a cyber café with charging stations and Internet access, basketball and sand volleyball courts. The development also includes gathering spaces, including a 6,233-square-foot community clubhouse, resort-style lap pool and outdoor grilling and picnic pavilions. “It’s nothing like they had before so the appeal is epic,” Steiner says. “We’re trying to help the soldiers get out of their rooms and eliminate the...

Builders, market analysts, corporate bloggers—everyone wants to know what renters want in order to earn their business. For residents of military housing, the list goes beyond granite counter tops and a great community pool. Military families have unique concerns that create  a tall order to fill for builders of new military housing. It’s an even bigger challenge for those who hope to make existing properties more appealing. Properties that manage to supply what military families want, however, will enjoy happy and cooperative tenants for years to come. Proximity to a Major Airport Proximity to a major airport makes flight arrangements and travel times more convenient for service members. Nearby airports also make travel easier for visiting family members and friends. “Sitting on a plane for 16 hours feels worse when you have to drive several hours to get home afterwards. We have a few smaller airports nearby but the flights are more expensive and inconsistent.” Jerrod M. (Fort Benning) Built-in Storage “Small closets, small dressers—with a family, there is rarely enough storage for seasonal items, sports equipment and stuff. We end up buying dressers. Then we have to sell them or give them away when we move. It’s a waste of time and money,” says Laura B. (Austin) Improved Security When a family member is away in service, the last thing he or she needs to worry about is the safety of family members back home. Kristin F. opted to live in a civilian neighborhood because of its safer reputation, “We have had our homes broken into in our last two duty stations and lost many irreplaceable and valuable items.” (Southern Pines) Proximity to Entertainment Wherever there are young adults, there is a need for entertainment. Young adults crave interactive activities and places to...

The US Department of Defense has issued a press release detailing changes in 2014 military housing allowance rates. Most service members will receive additional funds for housing just as fourth quarter market analyses report rent rate hikes. Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) assists service members who have permanent stations in the US. With the allowance, service members are able to obtain rental housing comparable to civilians within a similar pay scale. Each year, BAH is revaluated using data from 306 regions. To create BAH estimates, the Department of Defense acquires data on existing vacancies from property managers, utility cost from The American Community Survey, and renters insurance coverage by state. As these costs have risen in many regions, the average BAH has also risen. BAH does not cover mortgage and other homeownership expenses. For 2014, nearly 1 million new and existing service members will benefit from a 5 percent increase in their housing allowance. This allowance ranges from an additional $75-$85 per household, depending on the number of dependents, location, and pay grade. In some cases, service members will experience a significantly greater increase. Service members in Mobile, AL, Honolulu County, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, for example, have received increases above 14 percent. Laura Baran and Captain James Baran are stationed in Austin, TX with their young son. “Last year’s BAH only covered the cost of rent,” Laura explains. “Our BAH did increase about 7% this year. This will help with utilities, but still not cover them completely. We also don’t know if rent will go up come time to renew our lease.” Even with the increase, the Barans may face out of pocket costs for renters insurance and utilities. BAH increases are more valuable now than in the past, it seems. Civilians battle a...