Prototype Housing in NY

[prayforthesailors]

Our son is headed to Ballston Spa in June, I was hoping to get any helpful information about housing that I could pass along to him.  If anyone has any insight as far as good situations your sailor encountered or bad situations to avoid, that would be great. Thanks!

[fyrwife (EM Nuke mom)]

Our son and a couple other sailors found a lake front house that is great.  The landlord (an elderly woman) actually owns several houses in the area and only rents to sailors.  Thier rent amounts to $400 per person per month plus utilities.  I will try to get some contact information of the landlord and post it.  I believe he told me that they drive about 30 minutes to get to the training grounds.

My son arrived in BS in February and the lake was frozen over.  They had a lot of fun sliding on the ice and acting like little boys again.

[prayforthesailors]

Thank you Frywife, I'd appreciate the info if you can get it.  Everyone has been so helpful, I am so grateful!

[William in Nashua]

My son is headed there on June 1 and he leased a house right in Ballston Spa with five other sailors.   They are all ET's so will be in the same class at prototype.   It is good to house with other guys in the same class because you can car pool at least during the classroom phase of prototype.   If your son is moving in June he needs to get it taken care of without further delay though because it is only two weeks until June.  My son's group already had their lease all arranged several weeks ago.  I can add to the thread later after I actually see the place; we will visit mid-June (We live in New Hampshire it is just under 4 hour drive to Ballston Spa).  

I think a house is better to save money as long as they all have their own bedrooms because later their hours shift between the day- and night shift.  Also they can pool their resources so they do not spend all of their BAH.  Also a house has a kitchen to cook with.   They will not have to spend for utilities this time of year though the end of November it gets cold so maybe one month of heat.   Make sure there is ample legal parking for their cars preferably in the driveway.

Make sure they notify all the creditors and cancel the cable TV & Internet at Goose Creek.   Make sure their auto insurance company knows they are going to be stationed in Ballston Spa, NY the insurance might actually become a bit cheaper.  If your son has a car get it serviced during grad hold, at least an oil change and make sure the radiator coolant it fine because it is about a 1,000 mile drive.

[prayforthesailors]

Thanks for the information, all very helpful!  We are only about 3 hours from Ballston Spa, so my husband is going to take a drive up there this weekend.  He's been contacting several places from ahrn.  Talked to our son tonight and told him to get on the insurance, cable and car maintenance stuff. Appreciate the insight, thanks!

[BunkerQB]

I happened to wondering to see what was happening with all the nukes. Saved this from a few years ago.  Excerpt is what another mom wrote about her son's experience. 

In shortm my suggestions: 1. Get things in writing. 2. Document  3. Take photos. 4. Be organized as roommates. 5. Save all paperwork. 6. Someone has to be in charge to communicate with rental agency, landlord, etc.

"I was just reading up on the comments and I have a good move-in story at Prototype School in NY. My son and 2 other mates rented a house in Saratoga Springs from Jeffrey E. Brown Realty over the internet with a jacuzzi, pool table, ping pong table, darts, washer/dryer, 4 bedrooms, completely furnished, etc for $1600.00/month $2500.00 security deposit. Their lease also had a required maid service agreement ($80.00 cash left on the dining room table once a month as it turned out). The lease was from October 28-April 27, 2006. One of the guys arrived at the house the day after the lease was in effect, only to find that the owner of the house was still living there. All of the guys had a 2 week leave so they would be arriving at different times. He only wanted to unpack his belongings, leave his car, and head home for his 2 week leave. He ended up leaving his car and belongings at the airport. My son was coming home first so he called me to let me know what was going on (this is definitely a "I need my mom to fix it situation"). I called the realtor and he was mad because they didn't call first. I pointed out the fact that they had a signed lease and they didn't have to call, they technically owned the house for 6 months and although they didn't have a key they could have found a way to get in even if that meant breaking a window and replacing it at their expense. The owner of the house was also using the utilities at the lessors expense. Anyway, they eventually moved in to their 4 bedroom furnished home with the jacuzzi that none of them had time to use so they drained it, the pool table with no cue tips for the sticks, 2 extra refridgerators running in the basement that they unplugged to save on electricity and heating bill that ran up another $300.00-$600.00 per month on average for a typical NY Winter, in that house anyway. The kitchen refridgerator had duct tape holding the interior shelves on the door together, the stove was filthy and the electric burners didn't fit the cooking surface. In the end my son had to call about getting the security deposit back and the owner said that there were a few items that had to be replaced. She sent him a receipt to replace one of the refridgerators in the basement because the hotdog and hamburg buns that "SHE" had left in the freezer got moldy ($600.00). The refridgerator was at least 20 years old. She also charged $300.00 or more for the jacuzzi because she claimed that it had to be repaired because it was drained. I called the repair person and what had to be done was normal wear and tear. All of the receipts were on the same store bought forms. The new refridgerator was bought at a yard sale on a Wednesday.

I think they learned a lesson about rental property. There was a woman at the Naval Base who tried to help, but the owner wouldn't budge and the sailors would have had to take her to small claims court."

[fyrwife (EM Nuke mom)]

I am so sorry it took me so long to repond.  I haven't been on the site in a while and then forgot about getting the information I promised.  In any event, the website that our son and other sailors used was https://www.ahrn.com/nptuballstonspa.php.  Hope this helps!

 

Also, my son has bought a new(used) truck and has his old car that he is trying to sell.  If someone is in need of a cheap car for simple around town purposes, request to be my friend and I can give you further information.