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Dude, this isn't the WSJ, it's Baseops. Guys post here asking advice from people who've been there, done that. My advice is far better than your non-advice, and I stand by it: real estate is a decent long-term investment if that's what you are looking for and you are comfortable with shouldering the risks/costs in order to benefit from the tax incentives and potential capital gains. That changes though if you go in knowing that you must sell in 3 years, regardless of what happens to the market in that short-term amount of time. If you go in thinking that you'll keep your house long-term, you'll be able to rent it out, and the market shows potential to appreciate, you minimize risk because short-term price fluctuations won't really affect you. If you plan on selling in 3 years, your profits will be offset by the costs of selling the house after 3 years, so hopefully the house appreciates enough to make it worthwhile. Sure there are some good markets out there, but you don't control where Big Blue sends you so if you're going to buy you are forced to buy in that market. I've been on both sides of this argument: I bought and still own at my previous base, and that's worked out well. I came to my current base 3 yrs ago wanting to buy but decided to rent after I did some research, and now my peers who bought are all upside down, some up to $100K. Short sales abound, but granted I am in a location that was hit pretty hard. I am anything but uninformed on this matter, and I am telling you that if you buy, you must be open to the fact that you MAY have to write a check in 3 years to walk away. That or you need to be comfortable with being a landlord after you move on to your next base. If that's OK to you, then buy a house every time you PCS to a decent market, and in 15 or 30 years you'll own several outright. Personally if I were going to be gone 250 days a year, I would split a rental with someone in the same situation, live on the cheap, and invest as much as possible. You'd have to find a great deal on a house in a good market to walk away after 3 years with a better net worth.

There are a lot of assumptions and terrible advice in this thread. When the market is crappy that is exactly the time to buy. There are numerous markets out there where buying makes a lot of sense. My mortgage payment, property taxes and HOA dues all total up to less than what it would cost me to rent the same place each month. It is a fallacy to think that you will always pay less by renting. I would strongly urge people to not take financial advice from this forum.

1. The neighbors who were watching my house/cats got my mail, so that worked out for me 2. I know all my neighbors and they do a good job of looking out for suspicious activity 3. YES, in at least two different areas (say, front room and bedroom, with timers set for appropriate times) 4. Agreed, no reason to pay more on your utility bill for something you aren't using. Don't forget to turn off your hot water heater! 5. Sure 6. As long as you don't have other living things (pets, plants, etc), I would only set it to heat at a low temp (like 62º) to save your pipes if you live in an area that might freeze in the winter. 7. Or a neighbor. 8. Have them drive it to an errand once a month - at least in my car care manual it says a 30 min drive. 9. Good idea. 10. Also a good idea.