Military PCS Mortgage Support
PCS orders set the schedule, and the mortgage has to keep up. We help military families buy, sell, refinance, and decide what to do with the house they are leaving behind, on the timeline the orders dictate. Licensed in all fifty states, so the same team carries you from this duty station to the next one, and the one after that.
- Licensed in all 50 states
- Fast 2 to 3 week closings
- 3,000+ Veterans helped
Start the Loan Before the Moving Truck
The families who land softly are the ones who start early. You can pre-qualify from your current duty station the day orders drop, shop the new market remotely with your agent, go under contract from a thousand miles away, and close before you ever report. We pull your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) from VA records, the application and document uploads are online, and when signing day comes we send a notary to wherever you are, your current base, your house, or the lobby of billeting. Getting the keys the week you arrive is not a stretch goal, it is how a well-run PCS purchase normally ends.
The Decision Every PCS Family Faces
Orders force one question on every homeowner, what happens to the house you are leaving and the one you are heading toward. There are four clean answers, and we run the numbers on whichever ones fit.
Buy at the new station
A VA loan covers the new primary home with nothing down and no monthly mortgage insurance, and your BAH counts as qualifying income when we size the budget.
Sell the old house
Pay off the VA loan at closing and apply for a one-time restoration of your full entitlement, so the benefit is whole again at the next station. A VA loan is also assumable, which can make your listing stand out when your rate is lower than the market’s.
Keep it as a rental
Second-tier entitlement often lets you hold the old home as a rental and still buy the next one with no money down. The IRRRL streamline keeps working on it too, one of the few refinances that follows a converted rental.
Rent first, buy later
Sometimes the right move is renting at the new station while you learn the area. We keep your pre-qualification current so you can act the week you find the right neighborhood.
Occupancy Rules Were Written With Orders in Mind
Service members worry the fine print will trip them, and it almost never does. The VA asks that you intend to occupy the new home as your primary residence, generally within 60 days, but a spouse can satisfy occupancy while you are deployed or in training, and timelines flex when duty interferes. A Power of Attorney can carry the closing when you cannot be in the room, and we have funded plenty of loans for buyers who first walked through their front door weeks after the moving truck left. We go over exactly how the rules apply to your orders before you commit to anything.
Your BAH Against the Payment
Basic Allowance for Housing is set to track local housing costs, and on a VA loan it counts as effective income when we qualify you. During pre-qualification we line your BAH and base pay up against the full payment, taxes and insurance included, for the actual market in your orders. For a lot of ranks the mortgage lands close to what a landlord would have collected anyway, with the difference that the equity accrues to you, and seeing that math early is usually what turns a renting family into a buying one.
One Lender Across Every Set of Orders
Because we are licensed in all fifty states, the lender does not change when the duty station does. The specialist who closed your Fort Bragg purchase can run the refinance after you convert it to a rental, the new purchase at the next post, and the IRRRL when rates drop, all from one file history that already knows your entitlement, your service record, and how you like to communicate. Military life resets almost everything every few years. Your lender does not have to be one of those things.
Why PCS Families Use PBT Bancorp
We are an FDIC member bank and a wholesale broker in one, with more than 35 lenders competing for each file and more than 3,000 military families closed. The 500 minimum credit score on purchases keeps younger service members in the game, the No Score IRRRL rescues refinances other lenders decline, and every loan gets one VA specialist from the first call to the closing table. Moving is hard enough. The mortgage should be the part that just works. Call 800-697-4371 or get pre-qualified online before the packers show up.
PCS Mortgage FAQs
Can I buy a home at my next duty station before I arrive?
Yes, and it is the normal way we run a PCS purchase. You pre-qualify from your current station, shop remotely with an agent, and close by notary or Power of Attorney from wherever you are, so the home is ready when you report. Starting when orders drop, rather than when you arrive, is what makes the timeline comfortable.
Should I sell my house or rent it out when I PCS?
It depends on your equity, the local rental market, and your plans. Selling pays off the VA loan and lets you restore full entitlement for the next purchase, and an assumable VA loan at a below-market rate can even sweeten your listing. Keeping it as a rental works too, since second-tier entitlement often covers the next purchase with nothing down. We run both sets of numbers with you before you decide.
Does my BAH count when qualifying for a VA loan?
It does. BAH is treated as effective income on a VA loan, so we include it alongside base pay and any other income when sizing your budget. Because BAH tracks local housing costs, the payment on a sensibly chosen home often lands near what rent would have been.
What if I deploy right after buying the home?
The occupancy rules account for it. Your spouse can satisfy the occupancy requirement while you are away, intent to occupy within about 60 days is the standard rather than a rigid tripwire, and a Power of Attorney can handle the closing itself. We walk through how the rules fit your specific orders before anything is signed.
Orders in hand? Start the mortgage now.
Call 800-697-4371 or get pre-qualified online. We will pull your COE, size your budget for the new duty station, and have you ready to make offers before the household goods are packed.