The Housing Search

We had our housing brief today, at which time we were informed of our rent ceiling, our utilities allowance, COLA, and all the other information we need to live either on or off base.

At first we were fairly dead set on living on base. On base housing gives you two locations, one of which is right near the base, but is only 20% of the total base housing. One is about 30 minutes away, and is the other 80%. Guess which one is offered first every time. I had no desire to live 30 minutes away, so I started thinking about off base options.

Without getting into the grimy details, there are a few options off base, regular rent setup, or a setup that is much like base housing, but yet off base in the community. We looked at an awesome apartment that is about 15 minutes from the base through the city, and it was amazing. The rent is 165,000 yen, which is about $1,650 a month, but we get $1,600 a month in housing allowance so I'm more than willing to kick in 50 bucks for how great it is.

Its in the Nonaka area and has a grocery store, a bus stop, and a major highway all within a block. A great covered parking space, a nice balcony, and a beautiful view of the Sasebo River. We are very excited.