The housing market over the past two years has been anything other than ideal, with foreclosures, short sales, and a plethora of other problems rearing their heads all across the country. For military families, that stress has been compounded by a life marked by regular moves and a lack of options when it comes to relocation and real estate.

Foreclosures abound, as do short sales – when a seller, for whatever reason, sells a house for less than what it is worth. Both have hit wide swaths of the country hard, but have hit military families even harder. With few exceptions, most military families face a change of station once every three to four years. There is precious little a family can do to avoid this, and it almost always places stress on homeowners who suddenly are forced into making a huge real estate decision in less than ideal circumstances.

For example, a family can move into a home off base – not all families qualify for or can fit in on-base housing – and settle down, only to be faced with the prospect of moving in a few years. If their home is underwater when the decision draws near – as many are – then they must encounter the prospect of a costly short sale.

For many families, this is a nightmare.

Some military families have even taken to splitting the family, with one parent going to the new station and the other staying behind and hoping that they can unload the house closer to its market value.

The federal government’s Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) provides limited assistance to service members who are in this position, but only if they bought the house prior to July 1, 2006 and were reassigned between February 1, 2006 and September 30, 2010. Those who purchased homes after the July 1st date are out of luck.

The problem with military families echoes one found with many other civilian families today in real estate, and this problem will only continue as foreclosures and short sales abound throughout the year.

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