Military families know the drill: the orders come, the clock starts, and suddenly there’s a long list of things to handle before your report date. If you own a home near Fairchild Air Force Base, or anywhere around Spokane, Coeur d’Alene or the Tri-Cities, deciding what to do with the house is often the biggest item on that list.
Here’s a practical guide to selling a home on a PCS timeline, the trade-offs of renting it out instead, and how to sell even if you’ve already left town.
First, look at your timeline
Start by working backward from your report date:
- When do the movers come?
- When does your family need to be out of the house?
- Will anyone stay behind to finish the school year or a job?
- When will you need cash for a deposit or down payment at the new duty station?
A traditional listing usually takes time to prepare, then time to find a buyer, then about a month or more to close with a mortgage buyer. If your window is tight, it helps to know that early so you can pick the option that fits.
Option 1: Sell with an agent
If you have a few months and the house is in good shape, listing can bring top price. To make it work on a deadline:
- Interview agents early and ask how quickly their recent listings sold. Ask whether they’ve worked with military sellers.
- Price it right from day one. Overpricing and then cutting the price costs you time you don’t have.
- Fix the obvious items before the movers pack your tools.
- Plan for selling after you leave. Make sure your agent can handle showings, inspections and repairs while you’re gone.
Selling for sale by owner on a PCS timeline is usually tough. FSBO homes often take longer to sell, and it’s hard to manage showings and negotiations from another state.
Option 2: Rent it out
Many service members keep their home as a rental, especially if they may be stationed here again or the mortgage rate is low. It can work well, but go in with eyes open:
- Do the math honestly. Will the rent cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancies and a property manager?
- Plan to hire a property manager. Managing tenants, repairs and winter issues like frozen pipes from across the country is hard.
- Check your insurance and loan. You’ll likely need a landlord policy, and you should confirm the rules for renting out a home bought with your loan.
- Think about taxes. Renting can affect how a later sale is taxed. Ask a CPA, especially about how long you can rent before the home-sale tax exclusion is affected.
Our post on when it’s time to sell a rental covers what long-distance landlords often run into.
Option 3: Leave someone behind for a while
Some families have the service member go ahead while the rest of the family stays to finish the school year and sell the house. It’s not easy, but it can give the house time to sell on the open market. If you go this route, plan for a power of attorney so the spouse at home can sign.
Option 4: Sell directly for cash
When the timeline is tight, a direct sale takes most of the uncertainty off the table. With Backyard Home Buyers:
- You’ll usually have a fair cash offer within 24 hours.
- We can close in as little as 7 days, or on the date that lines up with your move.
- We buy as-is, so no repairs, no deep cleaning and no showings while you pack.
- No fees or commissions, and we pay the closing costs.
- Need to stay a little past closing? Rent-backs are available.
Because we pay cash, there’s no buyer’s loan to fall through a week before your report date.
Your VA loan
If you bought with a VA loan, selling the home pays off that loan at closing. In general, once a VA loan is paid off and the home is sold, you can have your VA loan entitlement restored for your next purchase. Your lender and the VA home loan site can explain how it works for your situation.
If you have little equity, ask your agent or title company for an estimate of what you’d net before you list, so you’re not surprised at closing.
Selling after you’ve already left
It happens all the time. You can sell a Spokane-area house from another state, or another country:
- Remote signing. Title companies can often send documents to a notary near you or arrange remote closing.
- Power of attorney. Your base legal office can usually help prepare one, but check with the title company first. Some have specific requirements.
- Vacant house care. Keep the heat on or have the house winterized, keep utilities on, and have someone check on it, especially in winter.
- Work with a local buyer. We can walk the house with a neighbor, property manager or family member, and handle the rest by phone and email.
Military OneSource also has free relocation and financial planning resources for service members and families.
Local help for military families
Fairchild sits on the West Plains, and many military families live in Airway Heights, Medical Lake, Cheney and across Spokane and Spokane Valley. Others commute from North Idaho or move here from the Tri-Cities. We buy homes in all of those areas.
Backyard Home Buyers is local and family-owned. Both owners were born and raised in the Inland Northwest, and since 2019 we’ve done over 500 deals. We’d be glad to help make one part of your move easier.
Learn more on our Spokane page, see how it works, or call (509) 461-9079 and tell us your report date.