As far as the move goes, when I checked out on terminal the clerk told me the Navy would pay for me to move anywhere in the lower 48. I think the HOR thing is for people separating, not retiring.
Financially take a look at a couple of things... Does the state you're looking at tax military retirement? That right there will add up to a chunk of money over time. Also check out the overall cost of living there compared to where you're coming from. A dollar goes a lot farther (further??) in some places than it does in others.
Don't forget that while you're negotiating with the company that they probably have selected a couple of alternates just in case someone turns down their offer. There were 70 applicants for less than 20 positions for the job that I was offered... If I had said no there would have been someone else who would have said yes. I'm not saying that all of them were qualified for the position, but they definitely aren't hurting for people to consider.
It's really odd that they didn't put a drop dead date on the offer. They have class convening dates to consider, so you have to be able to start by a certain time. If you still want more time, I'd check to see how long the offer's good for.
Right now 4 months until terminal sounds like a long time, but I can tell you from experience that it's not. I thought I had everything planned out about where I was going to be 12 months before I got out, and finally received and accepted an offer 2 months into my terminal leave. Thank goodness I had the time saved up or I would have really been hurting! If the job they are offering is something you're interested in, and pays the bills then why say no?
Will you receive other offers later if you accept the one on the table? Maybe. If you say no and later change your mind are they going to give you the job? Probably not. Bottom line is that in this economy you have an offer on the table that will more than likely pay the bills on its own, plus you'll be drawing your retirement.
I negotiated a little, but not much. I wasn't dealing with HR directly, but with my future boss, and didn't want to come across as greedy. They offered the job that I wanted at a pay that allowed me to maintain my current standard of living... it didn't take me long to accept.
There is a lot to consider, but I wouldn't count on getting an offer from another company. You probably will, but it's not a sure thing.
