PCSing to Fort Benning (Housing)

2013-10-29T08:55:24-04:00

I'm PCSing to Benning in February. My wife and I are torn between on or off post housing based on price, our current house and what we're used to, options available, etc. Does anyone who is there or who has been there (we've never been) have any insight as to preferences between on or off post? If on post, where's best for CPTs to be? If off post, basically same question. Based on our current house here at Fort Hood and the amount of stuff we have and our current and hopefully growing family, I think we would be ok with about a 2,000 sq ft place (step down from our 2300 at Hood), with minimum 3 bedrooms and ideally a study or just 4 bedrooms. Any info you could provide regardless of detail level would be great. Details about whether it's best to rent or buy, especially for those who already own would also be helpful.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 7 at 2013 3:10 PM

2013-11-07T15:10:39-05:00

Sir,

I was stationed there from 2002-2009, and Fort Mitchell, Al has alot of nice houses in that area. It's right outside Fort Benning. You can also go on the AHRN website, and get help there looking for homes for sale and rent.

Response by LTC Jason Bartlett made Nov 22 at 2013 3:11 AM

2013-11-22T03:11:58-05:00

Having been stationed there in the past ( and I was just there for my sons Ranger School Graduation) not much has changed as it pertains to officer on posts housing. The only advantage is you won't have much of a commute by living on post however the speed limits will need to be consider when traveling during PT hours on post. So nothing to get excited about 01-03 housing is crap (my opinion only).

http://www.villagesofbenning.com/incoming/

Incoming - The Villages of Benning

The Villages of Benning approach to property management is family-focused. We start with dedicated, experienced personnel. We employ the best operating practices from our private sec...

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2013 8:58 AM

2013-11-22T08:58:38-05:00

Sir,

Fort Mitchell as mentioned has some nice places. North Columbus is also very nice. If you pull a place up on Google Maps and it is between the Fort and Macon Rd. I would stay away, most of the nice houses in that area are in bad neighborhoods.

If you like I can get you my realtor's contact info.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2013 9:22 PM

2013-11-22T21:22:21-05:00

We lived at Benning from 1999-2002. We stayed for the first ten months at the Hampton Place Apartments. They are about 25 minutes away from Benning, but they were really nice. We had a great view of the pond and there were all kinds of weird looking ducks there (I think they were called "Muskogees"). There was one duck that loved cheese doodles - lots of fun.

In Feb 2000, we moved into the then-newly renovated "White Elephants" on Lumpkin Road (402B). We lived downstairs and had an upstairs neighbor. The house was pretty nice, but the kitchen and first bedroom were tiny. Also, we know the upstairs neighbor had hardwood floors like we did because we could always hear their 2-year-old running around and screaming when she ran into something. The downstairs people were supposed to mow the front yard and the upstairs people had the backyard. We maintained our yard, but could never get our upstairs neighbor to mow his. I got really tired on walking through knee-high weeds to get to my car.

But on the plus side, that house was very convenient to everything on post. I was able to go home for lunch on most days. It was very convenient to live on post during the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.

I don't know if you have school-aged children, but that is one of my primary considerations when I decide where to move now. Greatschools(dot)com has a great website to tell you about the area schools.

Good luck at Benning.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2013 10:58 PM

2013-11-22T22:58:08-05:00

I live in Smiths Station AL, which is 20 minutes up the road from Ft Benning. I work in downtown Columbus. I don't know much about on post housing as I moved to this area during my post military career as a civilian, but I can tell you that living in Alabama is much less expensive than the Georgia side of the line, My husband and I live in a 1300 sqft house that cost just under 100K, and the same house in Columbus would have gone for $140K plus.

There are alot of really nice neighborhoods out and about in town though. North Columbus is really nice. If you're looking for a church when you get here, check out St Mark United Methodist http://www.stmarkumc.com/ We've been here for 5 years and we love it.

Send me a private message if you are looking for anything in particular and I'll be happy to help!

St. Mark United Methodist Church

Your church home in Columbus, GA.

Response by LtCol David Gran made Jan 22 at 2014 4:59 PM

2014-01-22T16:59:39-05:00

CPT, I have never lived at Fort Benning, but I have been at the same decision point many times.  There are a couple of other variables I always considered.  For some reason I was always a numbers guy.  I would look at the pros/cons of Renting, Buying, or living on base.  However, most of the time I would consider this question: "Will I deploy from this duty station".  If I was going to deploy (a lot) we generally lived on base and when I was in a garrison job most of the time we bought or rented.  <div><br></div><div>One thing to consider if you buy is what you will do if you cannot sell it when you get your next set of orders.  Will you rent it or will your family stay there until it is sold... and then you PCS as a geographic bachelor?  Another consideration... Is there a chance you would get repeat orders to Fort Benning later in your career.</div><div><br></div><div>It's a big decision.  I know several families that have bought at almost ever duty station and have done very well holding on to those properties as rentals.  However home ownership comes with some financial risks that are compounded by normal PCS cycles.</div>

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Feb 6 at 2014 9:25 PM

2014-02-06T21:25:06-05:00

On post housing isn't that bad, and is much more convenient to get to PT in the morning (Columbus's roadways suck). The issue with off-post housing is that the nicer stuff is farther out around exit 10 on the highway or across the river in Alabama. Either way, you're gonna have to a bit of a commute.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2015 4:09 AM

2015-03-23T04:09:33-04:00

Digging this up to piggyback. Does anyone know who the service providers for Internet are at benning?

Response by SGM Jeff Bullard made Sep 16 at 2020 12:46 PM

2020-09-16T12:46:54-04:00

On-post housing is descent, but with the BGA and what you’re accustomed to I would recommend living off-post. If you live across the river in Alabama you’ll get more for your money. Taxes are lower. You can do a non-resident form for your vehicles and pay $20-30.00 for your Alabama car tags.