Prior to entering into any rental lease or purchase agreement, visit the housing office at 481 Fifth St. Customer service hours are 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. weekdays. Call DSN 461-2150 or commercial (325) 696-2150. Advance Housing applications can be faxed to DSN 461-3445. See your current housing office for more information.

Although you may plan to live on base, you will probably spend some time in off-base quarters first. Reservations for temporary accommodations at the base can be made in advance by calling the lodging facility front desk at 696-2681. The housing office maintains a list of apartments and houses for rent. Leases are usually for a minimum of six months. Be sure to read Texas landlord/tenant laws before entering into a lease. The housing office will brief you. You may have your lease reviewed by the base legal office or the housing office before signing. A military clause will not allow you to break your lease to move into base housing. It is only useful if you get PCS orders and need to break your lease.

Approximately two-thirds of Dyess families live off base. The base is within the city limits of Abilene and the majority of families live within nine miles of their work areas. The commute time from anywhere in the city is less than 20 minutes. The housing office provides information concerning offbase housing with computerized rental and sales listings, including the number of bedrooms, price range and location of properties for sale or rent. The information can be tailored to meet your needs. The availability of housing on the local economy is good and the average costs of apartments and houses in the local community vary. A one-bedroom, unfurnished apartment averages $210 to $499; a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment averages $295 to $799, and a threebedroom unit averages $350 to $900. The price range for unfurnished homes is: one bedroom, $295 to $325; two bedroom, $375 to $600; three bedroom $300 to $950, and four bedroom, $650 to $1,400. Sale prices for one- to four-bedroom homes, condominiums and townhouses can range from $50,000 to $500,000.

Dyess offers housing units on base for junior airmen through senior officers. Waiting times vary from one to 18 months. On-base housing is divided into three housing areas: east, west and south. In all three areas, there is a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom units consisting of duplex and single family houses. There are several different floor plans.

The government provides refrigerators and stoves. All units have central air conditioning and heat.

A military member can submit an advance application for base housing. The member will be placed on a waiting list the first day of the month prior to the month designated for arrival. If the application is not received by the housing flight, the applicant is placed on the respective wait list on the date he or she walks in. If the member does not report on the month stated on the advance application, the date is adjusted to the walk in date.