Housing Question...

[CHP Wifey]

Hello, I am hoping to get a few words of advice from anyone who may be, or has been under similar circumstances. My husband is in CTC III-08, and we own our home and have small children. I have been at home and working part-time while he is at the Academy, and he commutes home on the weekends. The dream sheet won't come out until around week 20 or 21 I believe, but I am pretty certain that we will have to relocate, as there are rarely openings near our home. Although graduation is still a few months away, I would like some advice as to when I should start packing and looking for renters to move into our home. We have family nearby, so if it came down to it, my children and I could stay with them for a little while until we find out where we are moving to. I am just worried about waiting to find renters until we have to move, because we won't be able to afford the mortgage payment on top of a deposit and rent for a new place. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[CHPWife]

Well 1st it depends on where you live. PM me with that info.

My advise is that if you know for sure you won't be able to stay in your area and have a place to go start trying to rent your house. It could easily take months to get it rented. But, you may want to make it a shorter term - like 6 months followed by month to month - in case you have to move back in.

[jrsfan]

I agree about starting the process now. This market is so odd right now, that it could take a long time to get a renter, and you guys would be stuck financially. Like CHPWife, I am here to help if you want to PM me with your details or have any specific questions. We just went through this in the Spring, so it's all very recent.

[CHP Wifey]

Thank you so much for your advice! It helps knowing you have been through it recently.

[dtwitch19]

Don't sell yourself short on where you live, the latest cadet assignments have been varied. The last list, two cadets got assigned to Fort Bragg RP so depending on where you live, you may get close.

[tmouse08]

I'm in the same boat. My husband is in CTC III-08 and we couldn't afford mortgage & rent and all of that. It's also hard to find renters when you need to stay in the house at least until January. If anyone can recommend a good property management company in our area (Sacramento area), that would help out tremendously.

[Ruralcop]

My experience...take it for what its worth.......When I graduated the academy, I got the bay area. My wife is a nurse at Kaiser in Roseville which is a full blown career in itself. I couldn't exactly tell her to quite her job, grab the kids....we're moving. I owned a house, we have family all over Sacramento, so I made a choice. Right now the assignments out of the academy are all over the place, but getting the bay area or a L.A. or surrounding L.A. office is the norm. When I got the bay area I worked grave yards and I decided not to pick up my family and move. I commuted 103 miles one way from my front door to the office door. And I did it for 2 1/2 years. I sold my truck upon graduation and bought a little Honda Civic (AM/FM, no A/C, just bare model HX) and made it happen. I spent a lot of time away from home, due to court and overtime, but my 220 (transfer request) was in on the 9th month, back to Sac. I got back to Sac in under three years, which if you talk to really senior guys, thats fast. The first couple of years is challenging for a new officer (alot of changes and new experiences), but the one thing that kept me sane in my new career was the stability of my family, friends and a familiarity of home when I was off. Now the commute my come across as hard and expensive, but I looked at it this way.... during my commute to work it allowed me to get my head in the game so to speak, running scenarios in my head, thinking of vehicle codes, etc. On the commute home it allowed me to forget about my work and focus on being a good husband and loving father when I get home. In time I developed a switch I can turn off and on when it comes to being a cop and then a family man, no matter the commute time. We see mostly bad and have to judge people alot on the job and you don't want to have that mentality at home and treat your family with the same mind set. In my experience in making the commute during my first couple of years it has actually been as good a training tool for the rest of my career as anything else I've learned while on the job. Now this is just an experience from me, but depending on the distance you might not have to move at all if its practical. My classmates and I out of the academy commuted from Sacramento to San Francisco, Oakland, Contra Costa, Redwood City, Hayward and San Jose.... everyday. Now most of these offices are going to the 3/12's, so instead of commuting five days a week, you would only be commuting three to four days a week, which is even better. The commute becomes normal and its not as bad as it sounds. So before you start packing your house up and expect the worst, sit down with your spouse and see what you guys are capable of handling. The first couple of years are just as hard on the spouse, so take what I have posted for what its worth but don't just jump the gun and throw your family into a tornado without talking about it. (The chippy that works to live and provide for his/her family is married only once, the chippy who lives and sacrafices his family for work is still paying child support and alimony to multiple ex-wives). I'm in for the long haul, even if it costs me less sleep and more on my part.

[CHP Wifey]

Ruralcop, thank you so much for your words of advice. It eases my worries when I hear from people who have been under the same circumstances. It's great that your family is so important to you-- that is truly what life is all about. I've already begun packing, and have tried listing my house for rent to see who might be interested. We've talked about commuting, or my husband getting an apartment near the office and commuting home on days off. I don't think we'll be moving out or making any big decisions until we get our assignment-- and we know for sure how far away the office is.