Well, you asked me to share so here it goes. It starts as of 07 Jan when we began looking for orders. As we began asking questions regarding certain orders, we were told "hey by the way your rotation date has changed and well you need to chose today!!!" At least they gave us 2 days. They could have chosen for us at this point. Just when we thought our "window" had begun, it had actually just ended!!! So, orders were minimal and choice was made in 24 hours and come to find out, choice made meant spouse/Daddy must leave in 2 months!! Yes, we were getting ready to put house on market but didn't realize it was going to be "now". Needless to say we weren't able to get it ready for the market until just after spouse transferred. This was end of Mar 07. We are now on our 2nd realtor, possibly going to 3rd one and market sucks. We have 3 children, 2 of which are 2 year old twins with severe food allergies which causes Mom to have to stay home as daycares are unable to deal with this and a job wouldn't keep her with the time off needed. No family, friends also transferred, spouse transferred....leaves for a bit stressful (more so than usual) life. Oh yea, and a beginning hormonal daughter!! So, we just find out our neighbors who are civilian government employees are being transferred and need not worry about housing market as they are able to participate in the buyout program? This, as my spouse is over in Iraq with his life in jeopardy but can't get these benefits!!! Why is this so unfair that our active duty must be treated so much less than the civilians? It makes no sense. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share and I will be taking your advice and forwarding to Senators and any others possible.

Wendy, I know now why my Husband keeps getting worried about getting "orders"when we talk about buying a house here in Kansas. He is in Iraq right now, and had only been at this duty station 6 months before being deployed ot Iraq. So here we sit not knowing what to do. Want a home (lucky to live in military housing) but want land so we can have our horses with us there. And we are so afraid of doing anything but it is a gamble with a big finacial risk attached. Especially when they expect the Soldier to be beyond reproach when it comes to finances, i.e., defaulting could be a carrier breaker for a Soldier! but yet they offer no true 'relocation buyout', only a relocation assistance in that they move your stuff. The civilian government workers that you speak of (I am one of them) generally have a 'choice' to move or not to move, the Soldier does not. So why shouldn't the Solider receive that same consideration or BETTER, as you said it is the Soldier that is putting their life on the line everyday for this country. Totally agree something needs to change and fast. With the current shortages of military housing, I am told that the wait list for military housing here at Fort Riley is now 11 months, reasonable rentals are very scarce if not impossible to find, buying is the only option for some military families. Buying can be much more affordable for Military than renting, not to mention a better investment and tax benefits! So why not allow the Soldier to make that commitment KNOWING that he will be ok IF the military suddenly needs him elsewhere. Give the military families and Soldiers a relocation 'buyout' program if attempts to sell their house fail, them the government temporaily buys out the house instead of foreclosing on a government loan!

Wow, I hear you! I am in the same situation..... my husband has already transferred and my 2 year old daughter and I are stuck in a house that we can't sell!! Not to mention, we will have to pay for his barracks room since we are receiving BAH, so there's another $775/mo that we have to pay for housing simply because our house hasn't sold. There has got to be a better way to take care of military families. We are scared now to buy at our new duty station for fear this will happen to us again in another 3 years (or less).

We are in the same situation. My husbands unit was going to close, then not, then close, then not again! We couldn't do anything with our house when we didn't know if we were moving or not. Well the unit finally did close and he was given orders only to have them taken back. He was told he could stay here but transfer to another unit. Three weeks later he was given orders again, found out he couldn't transfer units. He had to be at his new duty station in 3 months. We put the house up for sale with Assist2Sell, they were a nightmare. Not only did they never show our home, we could never reach them. We are now with a different realtor, Coldwell Banker, and they are very good. My husband has now been gone for a month, living on base and paying $37 a day! That adds up to more than our house payment per month! We have no choice then to be separated and it's very frustrating, especially with the holidays coming. Know of anyone moving to Scott AFB in Illinois?? We have a home for sale in a great school district! MLS Number: 2717315

This note is responding to Babs in Scott AFB. this is Joe Gladden, with VR SAM, the moderator for this forum. We fully understand your situation and suspect thousands of Military Families are in the same situation...we were there more than once when on active duty. The intent of this forum is to continue to document the "pain" and eventually build grassroots momentum to get this fixed. We are just getting this forum underway, and it will start slowly...however I have one request and one suggestion.
1. I request you ask your friends / other Military Families to make the thoughts known on this forum. Please check back as we will be offering suggestions on how to attack this problem.
2. You can list your home FREE on two great web sites:
www.moresam.net and www.SeeAllListings.com. You can do this "by owner" or ask your realtor to do it. On both sites, you can also load photos. There is another excellent site that charges a nominal fee, but gets excellent exposure. www.militarybyowner.com.

If you have any questions / concerns, please let me know at homesformilitary@vrsam.com. Best of luck and help us help the Military Family. Joe Gladden

We are in the same situation as many of you. Daddy has already left and we are sitting here alone waiting. I have talked to many civilian friends who say that we don't have to worry because the military will buy our house. Oh how blissful ignorance can be. All of our friends are moving and the market shows no sign of turning in our favor. And, by the way-Daddy is living in a pop-up camper in the fam-camp at his new base. Isn't that a proud way for our military families to live?

Dee,
We at VR SAM really appreciate what our Military Families go through...have been there! We also believe the stress and trauma of buying and selling homes when moved by military PCS orders is for the most part unnecessary. We believe that it could be fixed by a well thought out program for military families similar to what the government does to take care of other federal agencies. We are doing out best to start a grass roots movement to push military leaders, military non-profits, trade associations to force Congress to address this issue. It will likely be a long involved process but we believe it can happen...but first, we need folks like you do ask your friends, family, professional associates, and all Military Families to make their voice heard by commenting on this forum. Please forward this to as many folks as you know so we can move this effort ahead. And stay tuned for more.

We wish you the best of success in selling you home and thank you and your family again for their sacrifices!

Joe Gladden, VR SAM, Capt. USN retired

"Adding Salt to the Wound" We are in the same situation as many, husband got orders to WI and we can't sell our house. What makes it even worse is that they lower your BAH rates on top of it!!! So now we have his added living expenses (not at a military base) our BAH rate is lowered by $700/month and we loose separation allowance!!! We did not choose to seperate willingly, we had no other choice. I could not go to this small town in WI to make enough money to pay the mortgage here in VA plus rent a house up there!!! When the governement asks about retention, this might just be one area to look at. What about the enlistment bonus that they are offeringhuh?? Give put that money in a "fund" to help soldiers out in this kind of situation and mybe that soldier would not get out and have to be replaced!! Use the money to keep the already trained and experienced soldiers in and not to recruit and train the "new" soldiers.
Needless to say I could go on and on...thanks for letting me "sound off"!!!

Christina, we certainly appreciate your frustration. Please read the Military Safety Net concept paper on this forum and send to as many friends / families as you can and ask them to comment on this forum! We are serious about documenting this issue and forcing a resolution. Thanks and best wishes. Joe Gladden, Managing Partner, VR SAM, inc.

I for one am writing my state legislators today. Probably won't help our situation much but if it helps military families in the future then it is time well spent.

When we transferred to our current duty station it was with the intent to retire here. We purchased our very first home after 18 years of military service, I mean if my hubby is willing to dedicate his life in service to this country he shouldn't have to wait until retirement to grab a piece of the "american dream", right!!! We purchased the very first home built in that neighborhood with very high hopes and at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately as the community grew so did the amount of crime. It got to a point where we had no choice but to move.

We are now in our 2nd home and have been happy as clams until it came time for orders. We chose our current duty station because it is very large and the rotation from ship to shore would be fairly easy. We have been lucky with that for the last 10 years. THE LUCK HAS RAN OUT!!!

As hard as my hubby tried we just couldn't do it this time and he transfers next month so our game plan had to change and we decided that rather than me stay here while he is in another state for the next 3 years that we will make his next duty station the place we retire. It is closer to family and actually makes more sense in the big picture anyway. BUT we can't sell our home and the idea of spending yet even more time apart is breaking our hearts and quite frankly our spirits. My husband is considering putting in his papers to end his 23 year career with only 3 left before his max because of this situation. I have to believe that somehow, someway we will get through this nightmare without additional heartache but somehow I don't see that happening. The fact of the matter is that everyday the value of our home is dropping and if it doesn't sell soon we will owe more than the current market value. If he leaves his military service and we stay then it doesn't matter, we can ride it out however why should giving up his career even be on the table when his employer could provide the same benfit to him as it does other federal employees. IT SHOULDN'T, simple as that!!! I am so frustrated to read the news everyday and see all of the ways that the government is trying to help out individuals/entities who acted irresponsibly over the last several years while we sit here facing the next 3 years apart or separation from military service because we can't sell our home with current market conditions.

Good Luck and thank you for all that you are doing!!!!!

GaS, Thanks for sharing your situation with us, and by all means, we strongly encourage you to write your elected Federal Representatives and Senators. We also suggest you forward this link to every Military Family you know and others who are likely to be sympathetic to this issue.

To update everyone, VR SAM intends to begin an email petition to Military friendly Realtors and Military Families. We expect Realtors to sign up to encourage the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to take a stand on this issue. They have tremendous clout and should be supportive of this. It will take us some time to get the software established, but please keep checking in. It's coming, we are building momentum!

Joe

I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am. I am a 28 year old mother of 4, working a full time job, my husband is in the Navy and we are ALSO in this situation.

We were told not only that we were moving but, we were moving to where they told us because we have 4 children.

My husband and I have literally worked our behinds off trying to scrape enough money together to buy a house in the first place while trying to support 4 kids. If I wasn't working we wouldn't have been able to save enough for a house on his pay.

Well needless to say times up and he is leaving WITH or WITHOUT us. We can't get separation pay, we will loose BAS, but BAH will stay the same. So we are loosing money now that he is leaving.

I have no help. I feel like there isn't any type of cussion for us. They basically say well your family didn't come in your sea bag. San Diego cost of living is high enough but now to try and support two households with less money is insane. Not to mention me here with the kids, still working so we can pay our bills and trying to keep up on the house for showings.

I appreciate your efforts to try and help others in our situation. THANK YOU!

Hopeless Homeowner

Hi, this is Joe Gladden, VR SAM responding to "4mykidslove." We appreciate your sharing your dilemma with us. We are documenting all of these frustrating circumstances to use to convince trade associations, non-profits, and eventually Congress that our Military Families need relief. I won't kid you that this will be a fast process...but what you can do to help is to ask all of your family, friends, associates that are in this situation, or empathetic, to make their comments on this forum. In the near future, we are going to provide emails to Congress to make it easier for you to contact them...but don't wait. Call them, email them now if you can. Hang in there.

We too are going throught his...EVEN if we do sell we will owe up to $20,000 in closing costs...My husband is leaving in a few months, I have a special needs child and we DO NOT have an extra $5 to give to anyone!!!

My son and his family have to go to WA by July 1st. and they have to try and sell their home or be seperated as a family. This is terriable and there seems to be no help insite. The government should buy these houses and then they would have housing for the next family. That would be a win win for everyone.

Our service people are also trying to make ends meet in this economy. But they are at a huge disadvantage, in that they are not in control of their present or future. Some allowance should be made for these service personnel and their families when they are transferred!!! When corporations move people,
buy outs of their homes and such are commonplace. Please don't put these people in a deeper hole, and ruin the future for them. After all our future depends on them!!

FRC---RA

I'm a prior military member that luckily never had to go through this; mostly because I choose to rent instead of purchasing a home. One of the main reasons for this is what is being documented here and having the headaches/stress of selling/buying a home every few years in locations that are not always favorable to military members. I regret not having invested years of housing allowances into a home for my families future... it kills me to think of all that rent money going into someone else’s pocket instead of where it should be going - a home for the service member and family. I know of at least one company (Target) that has taken steps to alleviate the headaches and stress from its employees who are relocating for the company; it will purchase your house at fair market value if you don’t sell prior to your moving date (if you do sell on your own they give you a bonus). Can’t our government do better for our service members that are putting their lives at risk for our freedoms? They should at least guarantee you get what you paid for your home upon transfer; they could utilize the local military “housing office” to rent these units until sold; most already have the management/maintenance personnel they need to do this.

Hi, This is Joe Gladden replying to Jess in GH. We are working at several different levels and with several different entities to get visibility on this issue. Thanks for sharing your situation and please encourage your friends / family, and anyone who supports this effort to hit this forum with their thoughts. It will be critical to our efforts. We certainly hope your family gets some relief on this situation. Joe

Thanks Joe, the last three reply's have been our family members...Thanks for putting up this forum.
Jess

Ok all, as with you I and my family are in the same situation. I am Coast Guard and was planning on retiring in Florida, a 3 year stretch I thought,but received orders and now I am in Virginia.
We had our house up for sale for 8mo., no buyers, not even an offer, so I thought, well we will rent and refi to get a payment that will be below our rent.........WRONG!
I had to wait a month or two so I didnt have a prepay penalty of $8-10 thousand and when that time came the market fell badly. Now I cant refi and I was in a 2yr fix adjustable rate/to improve my credit. You know what that means. I have already bought a new house in Virginia and slowly but surely things are snow balling, I cant sell the house unless I am going to take 20-30 thousand of the debt myself. The house wont even appraise now for what it did 3yrs ago, not even 1yr ago.
I have 4kids with one on the way, not to mention we have an autistic child that takes alot of our energy and patience; but rewarding with how far he has come when doctors said he wouldnt do alot of things. I have a renter in the house that doesnt cover the mortgage and it is increasing, and to boot we cant afford it any longer and are between a rock and a larger rock and dont know what to do. We cant even get a buyer to offer anything on the house, its in a great neighborhood, largest house for blocks, but it just wont sell, and if it did right now my family and I have to come up with 20-30 thousand just to have someone buy the house. So what are we suppose to do, were serving our country and have to follow orders and the family couldnt stay behind because we cant afford to live there and I live in another state.Yes I have heard of a military buyout program but only for officers, so where is the justice for the enlisted.
We need help or we are going to be another statistic for the books. Im just waiting for a foreclosure letter to come anyday now, So if there is a buyout program that can give some relief I need to know soon. I just past the 7-10yrs. from bankruptcy and foreclosure after a bad divorce, now it seems that I am back in the same circumstances financially but this time due to military requirements that I cant change.
I worked so hard to get my credit back up and put my bad mistakes behind me just to fall back into ruining my credit once again, but this time its for serving my country. For all that we and our families go through for service of the military they should start giving back a little. Separation, financial stress, not knowing our own children/wife, is all the military has given its members here recently, does it pay to be in the military when family is involved? Wheres the recognition from serving our country? Divorce/ bankruptcy/ foreclosure!!!!
So where are these people in the buyout program for the active military, theres other govt employees that can get help and they are deskpushers. We are in the field protecting our country in the risk of leaving their family and in harms wayhuhhuh We dont afford the same privileges, we are less, someone needs to speak up and start showing us; the active military the recognition we deserve and when we are backed in a corner there is help for us. The military use to have housing for their members which offset costs of the economy, but we dont have that anymore. With my size of family I cant rent cheaper than owning, so theres no way around it, I have to be able to feed my family. I hope there is something that can help us along with the other people that are in a bind. All I can say that pertains to this thread, other than HELP SOH