The 90-Day PCS Home Buying Timeline: What to Do and When
Jeanette Spain
21-year Air Force veteran. Central Texas Realtor.
The short answer
Start 90 to 120 days before your report date. That window covers pre-approval, market research, the active search, the option period, VA appraisal, and closing. Waiting for official orders to arrive before you start is the single most common reason PCS purchases get rushed — and rushed purchases are expensive.
90–120 days out: Pre-approval and market orientation
Get pre-approved before you have orders in hand. Lenders will work with a projected PCS letter and current income documentation. Get your Certificate of Eligibility pulled, confirm your entitlement status, and clarify your funding fee situation. Start orienting to the markets — Austin, Georgetown, Round Rock, Killeen, and Liberty Hill each move at different speeds and have different inventory conditions.
60–90 days out: Active search
This is when you're scheduling tours — in person if you're close enough, via video walkthrough if you're not. Remote purchases close regularly. You're looking for properties that can clear a VA appraisal: structurally sound, utilities functional, no active safety hazards. That rules out unfinished renovations, deferred maintenance at a level that fails minimum property requirements, and properties overpriced to a point where the appraisal won't support the contract.
30–60 days out: Under contract
The option period in Texas is negotiable — typically 7 to 10 days. Use the full period. Get the inspection done in the first 3 days, not the last. If repair items surface, you have time to negotiate. The VA appraisal is ordered by the lender after you go under contract. In a normal market, it comes back in 2 to 3 weeks. Factor that into your closing date target.
The closing sequence once you're under contract:
- 1Inspection completed within option period
- 2Option period ends — earnest money goes hard
- 3Loan processing and underwriting begin
- 4VA appraisal ordered and completed
- 5Underwriter issues clear to close
- 6Closing and funding
Waiting for orders in hand before you start creates a situation where you're trying to close in 45 days against a report date that's 30 days out. Get your pre-approval done, know your market, and be ready to move the moment the orders arrive.
Related.
