Military Mortgage Pcs
Selling a house before a PCS?
I want to know what people did when they owned a home and found out they were PCS’ing. Specifically, if their house didn’t sell before the move. Did the military member go on ahead, while the spouse stayed behind to continue to try to sell? If so, does the military member get to stay in some kind of temp. housing? I know logically that they shouldn’t be allowed to because they get BAH for housing, but it’s too expensive to pay a Mortgage in one place, and rent in another. Needing advice here on how to handle this situation should it arise. I am hoping I can lease the house if it doesn’t sell. Thanks in advance for your answers!!
Unfortunately, this is one of the areas that make owning a home while in the military a bit tricky. Depending on where you are PCSing to, if you have children involved and assorted other factors, the military generally prefers to move the entire family in a single shot. This would mean having to sell your present home from your new location. it also means that you will more than likely have to pay both your old mortgage and any rent/mortgage in the new location simulataneoulsy if the house doesn’t sell easily. yes, you can continue to own the home and rent it out to cover costs, but there are a lot of issues that arise from being a landlord and if you are not planning to return to the previous location to live at some point, in all honesty selling the house outright is probably the easiest and best option. Unfortunately, you can not get housing allowances for two areas, so there is also the very real chance that you may get less BAH when you move than you were getting (of course, you could luck out and get more, but that would most likely be because you are in a more costly area).
The first thing to do is get the house on the market. It is far better to have the house sell quickly and have to find a temporary place to live for a month before moving than run the risk of having to deal with the situations above. If you are undecided about renting it out, contact a realtor that handles sales and property management to get their input. Next, if you know where you are going, take a look at what your BAH will be and the cost of housing there. It may be that even after selling your current home, the cost of ownership in the new location or the overall market will hel you decide what housing route you want to go once there…base, rental or purchasing, Finally, make an appointment with the base legal office to find out what will need to be done if the house is not sold by the time you leave and what leasing it could mean as far as landlord responsibilities. You should also talk to finance to get information on how to handle the cost of housing in two locations and to the person co-ordinating the PCS to see what options may be if one spouse chooses to stay behind to sell the house. Good luck
