Before we got here to Yokosuka, I seen videos of what housing on-base looks like.  The thing is those videos are old and I'm not sure if the housing on-base has been renovated.  It would be really helpful if someone could post some pictures just I can have a visually of what they look like.

Thanks!!!!

Did you check the housing section of this webpage? I've also seen plenty of pictures on here of housing if you look for it. When you're on the homepage, go to the HOUSING tab at the top.

I think what you see on the CFAY website is about right. The renovated town houses have wood floors and not linoleum.

I thought the videos were pretty accurate.  A video of empty spaces make it difficult to discern how it will actually look when everything is in place.  Expect things to be small.

I really wish they had more photos of the 4 bedroom duplexes.

The photos of the four bedrooms are very close to what I have in my house. It really depends on what base you live one though. There are some differences in finishes (for example a coworker of mine has wooden looking doors while ours are white. The size is the same and to be honest it is not as small as I expected. In Germany our onbase housing was four bedroom and 1100 square feet so to us this is just fine. It is obviously smaller than the 2200 square feet we came from in the states but you make due when it is free. That is a price that cannot be beat in my mind That being said, I would start considering which base you want to live on because there are definite benefits and drawbacks to each place.

I have a heard a couple times now that the first offer I will get from housing will be for Ikego no matter what they have available, does this sound true? I am really wanting to stay on Yokosuka since my husband is already gone, I don't know a soul here and am pretty freaked out in general. I am pretty nervous about accepting or declining the offer so any advice would be great.

..I have also been told that they will offer Negishi or Ikego right away, whether we qualify or not??? THat doesn't make sense to me..So they offer me Ikego, 2bedroom, no kids and I have pets? I thought I had to have kids to live in Ikego with pets?

Why do they offer something a person doesn't qualify for?

Yes, most of the time, the first offer you get will be for Ikego. They will only offer you things you are qualified for and able to move in to. For example, you might have only one child and be offered a three bedroom in Ikego or a two bedroom in Yokosuka (not sure if this is still the offer they are giving people, but lots of people I know were given this offer). The people who work in housing are very nice and they will usually tell you what is available (somewhat) before you turn down an offer. They can't say - oh, you will definitely get something tomorrow, but they can say "You would be number x on the list for a townhouse on Yokosuka." Then you have to go from there. For me, when I went in they said I would be third on the list for a townhouse and one was available right away. She told me that two others would need to turn it down and we would know in about 48 hours if it was ours or we had moved up on the list. It was a chance I was willing to take. It is all about what you are personally wiling to do. Your TLA will run out, but if you budget well and don't eat out constantly, you should be good to stay in the lodge a little longer just off of the TLA you are given. TLA pays for your lodging and a stipend for food (I think ours averaged about $100/day for two adults and one child - with one adult being at sea part of the time). We banked the per diem by eating in the room and just spent money at the grocery store like we normally would have- so at the end of 29 days we could have stayed an extra 30-40 days and still kept the expenses within the travel allowance.

They would offer an Ikego 3 bedroom to someone who doesn't qualify for it because they have those units available. It is better to fill them than to have units open and be paying OHA to someone to live in town while waiting to housing on the main base. Ikego is nice. Please make sure you check it out before you turn it down. The train is so close and the area is beautiful.

Thank you both for your input

Ikego is wonderful and the housing people (Chiba-san in particular) are very responsive and fabulous. We lived in Ikego for 3 years and loved it. It gave us a place away from the base that was still American and also gave us closer access to Yokohama and Tokyo.

what's the distance in car to the base? Does it have a gym? Train station nearby? I know i can look all this up. This is much easier

11km to the base. I usually took the toll road on the way there and drove around on the way back - it is 25 minutes from Ikego to the main base. Ikego does have a very small gym but the good news is that it is open all the time and never locked! When MWR has instructors who want to teach at Ikego, they have group exercise classes and I believe right now there are classes there. The Keikyu train station is right outside of the Ikego gate. You literally walk through the gate and over the tracks to the Jummiju station. You transfer to the JR train at Kanazawa-hakkei and it goes to the Yokosuka station (local train and express train) and it is about a 10-15 minute walk down "Blue Street" to the Yokosuka base.

great, thank you Donna.

Offerings are dependent upon rank and waiting lists matched up with what is available at the time. We have a pet and a dependent. We were offered a three bedroom tower on base because offerings are not made based on whether you own a pet. Obviously, we had to turn the vacant tower down. However, the housing office is nice and will make every effort to give you what you want, if it is available in my opinion. We were then immediately offered a 3 bedroom town home in Yokosuka that would be open in the next 3 days. We were told to go take a look but not go inside. However, the people moving out saw us and were so nice and generous and let us come in and take a look. The housing location was great and the town home was very clean so we accepted it. They really do work to give you what you want if it is available. We got our housing the first day that we went into the office. That being said, my husband had been on the waiting list for about 3r months while he was on deployment. We came over after him. However, each situation is different.

Posted By cfam2015 on 08-21-2012 1:21 PM
 We were offered a three bedroom tower on base because offerings are not made based on whether you own a pet. Obviously, we had to turn the vacant tower down.  

That's what I mean...why do they even offer you a tower if you don't meet the qualifications (i.e. your pet).

Isn't it if you turn down your offer you're bumped to the bottom of the list? I'm just trying to make sense out of why they offer something you can accept anyway..had you accepted it and they acknowledged you had a pet, it may have been a huge hassle since pets are not allowed in the tower...right?

Yeah, it does not seem very pet friendly here in that regards.  We see our puppy as an important member of our family.  However, it is not viewed that way by housing.  I think they are required to offer whatever is vacant at the time which is why they put that pet stipulation in their paperwork, saying that you will be made an offer regardless of your pet status...my husband did mention the same thing to them when they made the initial offer.