So we have orders to 29 palms this summer. I have so many questions and I was wondering if you all could help me with a few. First I know we will be living in Occotillo so any info about that area you all could give me would be awesome. We have 3 kids (2,5,14) and a dog. We will be getting a 4 bedroom and am wondering what the average sizes of the houses in that area are? Also anyone from past experience how fast that wait list goes during summer time and if you get there and have to wait where you live? Do we just rent something off base? Stay in a hotel? Does the base have a place they put you up? Sorry I have never lived in base housing and I am confused by the different answers i am getting by different people at the housing office. Like I said any info about base living would be much appreciated as this is a new venture for our family that I am really looking forward to! 

wait list is rank based. if you say that you have no where to live they tend to get you in sooner. and summer is PCS season you may luck out with getting a house soon 

I would go by the wait time. My husband is a SNCO, we have 3 kids, and one has an EFMP. Wait was 2-4 months and housing made us wait four months. EFMP called and tried to help and hubby's command got involved. There was another family in our same situation that waited the full time as well. 4 bedrooms for Officer are 6-12 or 9-12 months. If SNCO it is 2-5 months. I have rarely seen Officer wait time vary much. Just my experience. 

http://www.29palms.marines.mil/Staff/G4InstallationsandLogistics/FamilyHousing/WaitTimes.aspx 

The housing office said officer housing was 3-5 month wait time right now. I sure hope it does not end up being longer then that 9 to 12 months is crazy! Maybe I will get lucky with a summer time move? I guess I should really pray! 

I can't say much for summer wait time as we came in a Nov and it was back dated to when my husband left Cherry Point. I think it would have actually been something like 4 months if we'd just come straight here. I'm in a 3 bdrm so I also can't say anything about the other sizes. But on another note, I am also in Ocotillo and have a 2 and 5 y/o. If you want to get the kids together or anything once you get here, just shoot me a PM :) 

Sounds great! Who knows maybe we will be neighbors :-) I have a 2 year old girl and 5 year old boy and also a 14 year old boy. 

Oh and what did you all do when you where waiting to move in? Where did you live? 

I have a son who is 14. I heard you can find month to month rentals, but we couldn't find one that was affordable without a swamp cooler (can't have a swamp cooler due to asthmatic child. 

My 2 y/o is a boy and the 5 y/o is a girl. Our moving situation was different. He officially left Cherry Point sometime in June or July 2011 (I can't remember when) and checked in here Aug 1 and then had to go straight overseas. Because of that, the kids and I hung back in NC and packed the house and got it ready to rent. He had put us on the list when he got here. I got a call late Oct from housing saying ours would be ready in Nov.When he got back, he came and got us and when we got into town, we were able to pick up our keys. We timed the trip out so it worked. Like Baybay said you can do month to month and there are 6 mo leases out in town too. I didn't have to do that, so I don't know anything about it all. Sorry! 

We moved here a year ago, (November 2011) and we waited 6 weeks for a three bedroom snco house. We rented a month-month in Joshua tree. 

My husband PCS'd here back in July and housing said it would be a 3-6 month wait for a 3bd SNCO house. Well, 7 months later, they JUST called us with a house that will be ready in March which will make our total wait time 8 months! We moved during PCS season too, so we were optimistic on the closer to 3 month wait, but that didn't happen. If you are moving into Officer housing, it might be different. I hope you don't have to wait that long!

We ended up renting a pretty decent, newer duplex in town while we wait. It has a 2 car garage AND a/c, which seems pretty rare in town. We signed a 6 month lease, but I know a lot of people do month-to-month at 10% more a month. AHRN.com is really the best place to find rentals. You have to sign up for a free account to access it, but it is worth it. We ended up with a house managed by Josh Harris, and he has been great. On AHRN, you can even search by month-to-month leases or some even do a 3 month. If you let housing know you are in a lease in town, they will work with you on a move-date for on base housing that works with the end of your lease.

There is a facebook page for 29 Palms with some great info and even pictures of housing. They do have a few of Ocotillo on there, so if you have a facebook account, send them a friend request. It is a private group and they make sure everyone on there is really stationed (or soon to be stationed) at 29 Palms, so they will send you a message to verify your info. Just a tip that the message goes into your "other" inbox on facebook so you won't get notified, you just have to keep checking. 29 Palms Facebook Page

I hope this helps a little. I sure could have used it when we moved! I should also mention that there are some pretty run down houses in town that can make you question if you will ever find a place in town, but there are some great places too, I promise! My husband looked at a bunch of houses in pretty bad shape before we found the one we are in. 

Shanna- thank you so much for this info! It was so helpful! I am going to check out the web sites you listed. 

Shanna, where are you moving? We are in Ocotillo Height but SNCO and there is a 3 bedroom that has been empty since December!! 

We will be in Joshua Heights. That's crazy that a house has been sitting empty that long! My husband was hoping for Ocotillo so he would be closer to work, but I just can't wait to move. The place we are renting in town is nice, but just smaller than base housing. I have already driven down the street we will be on to check it out, lol. 

I live in Joshua heights. 

I live in Joshua heights.

Do you think that a bunk bed would fit nicely in one of the bedrooms? I have a floor plan from housing and it seems like it might cover a window wherever I put it. If I had to cover a window, I guess I would pick the smaller window in the bedroom that has 2 windows (if that's how yours is) 

My girls have a bunk bed in their room. They have the bed room in the back of the house with one window. They have PLENTY of room and we do not have the window blocked. 

Housing said they did not have floor plans online. Did they give you a print out of one? Or is there a web site? 

My girls have a bunk bed in their room. They have the bed room in the back of the house with one window. They have PLENTY of room and we do not have the window blocked.

Awesome, thanks!


Yes, for some reason housing here does not keep their floor plans online like everyone else seems to. I went into the housing office and she printed them right out for me. I think that they will also email them to you depending on their mood, especially if you already know which housing area you will be in. Some of their floor plans are more like blue prints and a little harder to read though.