I never considered buying a house until I was out. Mainly because I didn't know where I wanted to live.
I prefered living on post. The quarters were nicer than what I could afford to rent and we did 90% of our shopping on post. Also living on post ment less travel time for me. When I was at White Sands Missle Range, living off post ment a 44 mile trip to work and then 44 miles back home.Living on post it was only 5 minutes to and from work.

Sgt. P

Buying a home off Post just seemed to make sense economically to us. Our first 2 years on our first duty station cost us about $10,000 in rent not including utilites.We figure that using that money and buying our own home was a better investment. At least when we are ready to PCS to a new duty station, we have the option of selling or renting our home, both of which will profit us in the end. Not to mention it really helped us build our credit. Look at it this way, the millitary gives about $900 more or less (depending on your duty station) just in housing allowance. My Mortgage is about $750, giving me an extra $150 on utilities...doesnt it just make sense to let the military buy your house for you?

This is the first time I have lived on post and that is because the nearest town is 45 minutes away. I live in the "projects" but all the other neighborhoods on post are really nice. Mostly I think the decision is based on your spouses rank, the duty station and if you can afford the rent and utilities off post. If your spouse is in the Army most installations have been privatized so this means you pay "rent" which is you BAH (housing allowence) but trash, electric and water are payed for. So you really need to lokk at that before you decide. You should also see how long the waiting list is for post housing, and what the area around post is like if it is a bad area then that should influence your decision. A good website to go to is onestop.army.mil if your are Army.