Monday, August 10, 2009

House Hunting

Yes, we have been looking for houses off base. We aren't sure what will happen with our waiver and we must live SOMEWHERE....

These are HUGE houses (and not available) but note how close they are to each other.
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This house was available...but is the same size as base housing....and as you can tell you have houses all around you....4 sides....The tank you see is for Kerosene for the heaters etc.

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Though there is this fun view across the way.....

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We have been told there are HUGE houses off base, but we've not found them. The ones we see are comparable to base housing, with less green yard.
I think grass is a luxury here. Most places have very little space around them. That space is either dirt/concrete...or if they DO something with it they plant flowers/trees/gardens. I'm amazed at the gardens in every nook and cranny.....
If we find something bigger than on base, we'll take it. I think I'd love to have corn growing up to my front door, so that doesn't bother me much. ::snort:: At this point, as I've mentioned, the houses we've seen off base are smaller than what base housing won't offer us.
Our plan is for Mike to track down the waiver and begin pushing. If they deny the waiver (which they've denied another waiver last week), then we'll push to at least be shown base housing. We still want to live on North Side.... Mike hopes to break away from normal chapel duty to finish inprocessing this week - to include some time for house hunting in the day time. ::snort::
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

4 comments:

Renee said...

In Korea, families had to get leases approved by the housing office.. I think it was twofold - a) to be sure it met safety standards and b) to be sure that the landlord wasn't charging "too much"....
so you may want to check to see if there is something similar in japan

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Way ahead of you. ::snort:: There are certain approved agents and all leases must be signed off on base before you sign them.

THAT is why there are so few homes available....we are limited to agents and owners who are on the base programs.

Renee said...

Woo hoo.... despite all the difficulties of getting to Japan, you are on the ball.
and I believe unlike stateside we're not allowed to rent for more than our BAH.... sigh.

Renee said...

It also seems that Misawa is like Seoul in that there is little to no green space among houses/apts off post.... we were very thankful to be on post despite the very cramped 4br apt we had for two yrs