Where to live while in the Academy? (Family) [Archive]

View Full Version : Where to live while in the Academy? (Family)

cg+fd2chp

07-05-2007, 03:32 PM

JohnKD

07-05-2007, 04:19 PM

Should me/my family rent a house for 6 months with the kids in a local school
or should I buy a house in the Sacramento area before the Academy and hope to be asssigned near it?

Sacramento obviously would be a place we wouldn't mind staying..

:hitwall:

I should preface this post by saying that this is information that was obtained by attending the background orientation seminar at the academy. The person running it stated 'If you think you will be assigned anywhere in the Valley right out of the academy, you're dreaming.'

I don't know if this was meant to intimidate, or was a realistic expectation.

gabriel

07-05-2007, 04:22 PM

DJR917

07-05-2007, 04:32 PM

I was told by many in the CHP that your normally put either in the Bay Area or LA. If you take a look at prior posts you will find a list that shows where all of the openings have been, you’ll find no Valley openings on that list. I would suggest not buying a house in the Sacramento area until you know where you’ll be going. Rent for now!!

rayni

07-05-2007, 05:04 PM

Should me/my family rent a house for 6 months with the kids in a local school
or should I buy a house in the Sacramento area before the Academy and hope to be asssigned near it?

Sacramento obviously would be a place we wouldn't mind staying..

:hitwall:

If you could handle not moving your family til graduation pending you actually attend the academy that would probably be best. Renting a home would be better if you chose to move to West Sacramento. Seniority is how the CHP works w/ transfers. I wish you the best in the process sincerely. I recommend that you look up ASSIGNMENTS w/ our friend SEARCH here & you will see the initial assignments are BAY AREA & SO. CAL. There are cadets who never go home or see their family while at Camp Snoopy so their family won't have to move until necessary & God bless them that is family strength at it's finest.

cg+fd2chp

07-05-2007, 05:16 PM

Currently own up in Humboldt County. I'm thinking we'll sell here, rent there, buy where we go next if we like it.

Thanks for the replies

cg+fd2chp

07-05-2007, 05:17 PM

Does the CHP pay to move you like the service does??

retchp

07-05-2007, 05:46 PM

No. Unless you are administratevly moved, which you will not be, unless there are extenuating circumstances which don't apply to cadets. Leave your family where they are or better yet at mom's place until you get an assignment.

dlg2k6

07-06-2007, 07:27 AM

I really would suggest that you stay put where you are now until you graduate and find out where you are going to go. That 6 months really will fly by even though it may not feel like it initially. Chances are very likely that your family will have to move again upon graduation. Uprooting your family twice in a year is a huge ordeal. Not to mention with you gone, it will be helpful for them to stay in familiar surroundings. You will worry less about them knowing that they have friends and/or family to lean on in your absence. Trust me when I say you will need to concentrate entirely on you during that time and that will be much harder to accomplish if you are worrying about them in their new surroundings.

lovin'life

07-06-2007, 07:51 AM

Personally my expectations are to be "Quite far from home" regardless of where I'm placed. I can do a year "Quite far from home" easily - I think it's fair. If anything, I'm thinking the closest I'll get to home (San Diego) will be East L.A. IF THAT!

GL

I know when my husband graduated it was a different time then now....(middle of a hiring freeze) however, some places it takes LONGER than a year to get to. I understand you said San Diego (which I think a cadet went to El Cajon recently) but for those who do want the valley (Bakersfield, Hanford, Fresno etc) it is much longer than a year. For us it was 5 years and he is still commuting 1.5 hrs one direction! makes for a very long day.

cg+fd2chp

07-06-2007, 07:55 AM

rayni

07-06-2007, 11:00 AM

I just transferred to the Eureka, CA area and my wife does not like it much at all. She has some family in the Sacramento area. I think I'd be able to concentrate on myself much more if she was in a place she liked and the family was closer.

I agree with the moving 2x a year chaos and instability, but I think the family staying there for 6 months without me would be worse. The only logistical issues I have is with the kids and their schooling. By then one will be in 1st grade and the other in Pre-K.

I appreciate all of the input,

Thanks again
:wink: What works for the wife works for the whole family. There are 2 experiences going on while in the academy yours & your family's. In the beginning it maybe hard to adapt to the balance of academy & family, but w/ a strong support system it is easy to remember that it is just temporary.

cg+fd2chp

07-06-2007, 11:44 AM

:wink: What works for the wife works for the whole family.

EXACTLY :lol:

We'll have no issues with the 6 months / Wed nights / Weekends thing.

That is nothing compared to a deployment. :neutral:

Mom

07-06-2007, 12:31 PM

Should me/my family rent a house for 6 months with the kids in a local school
or should I buy a house in the Sacramento area before the Academy and hope to be asssigned near it?

Sacramento obviously would be a place we wouldn't mind staying..

:hitwall:With all the unknowns, I would not recommend buying. The housing market is not climbing, and when you come out of the academy, you have a limited time to move. The costs of buying twice (because if you buy, you definitely will not be near Sac, its just the way things work!) for only 6 mos do not equal any tax savings.

lilgordo78

07-09-2007, 09:33 PM

My husband just graduated on June 15th. We recieved placement a little over 1 month prior to graduation. We lived in Yuba City, and were placed 2.5 hours away. Just so you know... DON'T BUY IN SAC!!! Most likely you will not be placed there upon graduation. When my hubby was at the meeting regarding the list they said "Ok for those of you who are wondering if there are openings in the Valley or Northern Division the answer is NO"
If your wife wants to move to make it easier to visit on libertys then i would sujest it. But if you have children it may be hard on them to move for 6 months and then move again. You have 10 days to move till you start your Break In. And, you'll have about 1 month for your wife and you to find somewhere to live during weekends when your home. Trust me from someone who just did it with a new born baby.. it is hard!!
Also for the person who wondered about the cadet getting placed in El Cajon, there was 1 cadet who was placed there. This past list for my hubbys class was pretty good. Alot of people got there 1st choices (us being one of them) Which is rare. And the office where we got placed from my understanding hasn't recieved any new officers for like the last 10 years.
I hope you do well in the academy... just keep a lot in mind before moving your family for 6 months.

Tha Dunn

04-18-2008, 07:11 PM

Right now I am going through the Medical and soon the Psych., I live in Northern California, Lake Oroville to be exact, with a wife and two kids. I have owned my home for about 4 years now and the CTC III-08 starts in July, most likely I'm still will be able to go back to Oroville on liberties when I am at the Academy. But once I graduate, I'll most likely head down to LA since my SS # is 0674. So here's the question do I sell my home having the comfort of not worrying about it in the hands of renters and at the same time not worrying if I have renters there to make mortgage, or do I rough it out. People that I have talked to say that valley division is the hardest to transfer into, plus the area I live in is the cheaper area of valley division, the likely hood that I would be able to get back there must be in the range of 5 - 7 years and that's still lucky. They mention that if you own a home and have kids it helps out but I don't that it will work out in this case. :(

So if anyone has any experience in this area, please let me know, thanks.

Also it makes it hard when both Grandparents live here too.

cal911gal

04-18-2008, 10:10 PM

There are similar threads in here somewhere...I just didn't find them. My two cents: make it in to the Academy, then make it to graduation.

Then figure out what you all want to do. With grandparents nearby, your wife has a support system in place already to help while you are in the Academy. You "might" get real lucky and get a Sac office or something relatively close, especially since you own your home.

I would wait until such time as you are in a position to put yourself on the wish list, and then make a decision. A lot can happen in the next year, both with you, and with the economy.

As I said, just my two cents. But with new positions being added, and retirements etc, you never know what might be open to you at graduation :)

HIPCHIP

04-19-2008, 03:27 PM

When I went through the Academy 30 years a go, pretty much everybody went to LA or San Francisco. That has all changed and officers are going to places that used to take 20+ years to get in to. With the housing market the way it is, people either can't sell there houses, or can't afford to sell them, so transfers are probably down, which opens up a lot of areas that would normally be closed.

Another thing to think about, a lot of officers work in the Bay area and commute home into the Sac area. I've heard that some officers chip in and rent an apartment and spend the work week there and then go home on their weekends. If you have several officers chipping in with rent, and it's just a place to sleep, it's not too bad, so unless you can't afford your home and a apt once you graduate (IF you graduate, something else to consider) then I would keep your home and wait to see what happens.

snowdog

04-19-2008, 09:52 PM

My two cents: make it in to the Academy, then make it to graduation.

Then figure out what you all want to do. You "might" get real lucky and get a Sac office or something relatively close, especially since you own your home.

I would wait until such time as you are in a position to put yourself on the wish list, and then make a decision. A lot can happen in the next year, both with you, and with the economy.

With all due respect, I have to strongly disagree. You must have a plan, and a back-up plan before you step foot on Academy grounds and be realistic of your chances of getting home. Don't go in hoping to get lucky. I tell all applicants that the odds of getting Sacramento are close to none. (Last cadet to get a Valley office, S.L.T., was in 2003). Lake Oroville is more than 1 hour from any Golden Gate office so it will fall right back to the SSN, 0674.
A couple more things to consider:
With CTC III-08 currently scheduled for 240, that's about 50 more people in the class that will be looking for prime locations.
Valley Division has been putting high numbers into the classes. If that trend continues then the competition to get back to Sacramento is also increased.
HAVE A PLAN, MAKE SURE YOUR SPOUSE IS ON BOARD WITH YOUR PLAN AND BE REALISTIC.

08CHPhopeful

04-21-2008, 07:52 AM

With CTC III-08 currently scheduled for 240,

How many are proposed for the CTC-II-08 class?

CHPwannaBE

04-21-2008, 02:25 PM

With CTC III-08 currently scheduled for 240,

How many are proposed for the CTC-II-08 class?

Do you mean how many will be in CTC308? Your signature states that you are in CTC208, so why does it matter, you are in!:doh: You will know better than any of us if/when you make it that far at the academy.:doh:

08CHPhopeful

04-21-2008, 09:33 PM

Do you mean how many will be in CTC308? Your signature states that you are in CTC208, so why does it matter, you are in!:doh: You will know better than any of us if/when you make it that far at the academy.:doh:

I heard on here awhile back that 210 was the number, I was curious to see if thats what is going to be!