PCSing to Fort Leonard Wood
Buy your next home before you get here.
You do not have to be in Missouri to buy in the Fort Leonard Wood area. Tours, the offer, the inspection and often the closing can all happen while you are still at your current post.
Built around your report date
Tell us when you report and we work backwards from it. Every move is different — this is the usual order.
- Orders in handPlan the budgetLook up your BAH, request your VA Certificate of Eligibility through a lender, and settle on a monthly payment. Then get pre-approved.
- 60–45 days outTour from where you areWe send new listings that fit, walk the ones you like on live video, and answer the questions photos can’t: noise, the yard, the street.
- 45–30 days outOffer and close remotelyOffer signed electronically, inspection and VA appraisal scheduled, closing arranged around your travel and leave.
- Report dateKeys, not a hotelWhere the timeline allows, close before you arrive so your TLE days go further and the household goods have somewhere to go.
Short on time? Orders sometimes land late. Tell us what you have and we will tell you honestly what can be done before you arrive.
Buying from another post
You can buy a house here without walking through it in person. This is how it works when you can’t be in the room.
Live video tours
An agent walks the house with you on a video call — every room, the yard, the street out front. Ask to open cabinets, check the water heater, look out the windows.
Straight answers
What is next door, how the house sits on the lot, what the inspection is likely to flag. If we would not buy it for our own family, we say so.
Offers signed online
Purchase contracts and addenda are signed electronically. We price the offer from recent sales and handle the negotiation.
Inspection without you
An agent can be at the inspection while you join by phone or video, and the report comes to your inbox. Then we decide together what to ask the seller to fix.
Closing from afar
Depending on the lender and title company, you may be able to sign with a mobile notary near your current post, by mail, or through a power of attorney. We sort out which early.
VA loan basics
If you have VA eligibility, it is usually the first loan to look at. The short version is below; your lender has the final word on what you qualify for.
$0 down is possible
With full entitlement, an eligible buyer can finance the whole purchase price — no down payment required. You can still put money down if you want a lower payment.
No monthly mortgage insurance
VA loans do not carry PMI, which is a big part of why the payment often beats a low-down-payment conventional or FHA loan.
The VA funding fee
A one-time fee, usually financed into the loan. It depends on your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before. Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability are exempt, along with some others — your Certificate of Eligibility shows it.
The VA appraisal
A VA-assigned appraiser confirms the value and checks the home meets VA minimum property requirements: safe, structurally sound and sanitary. Repairs it calls for have to be handled before closing.
It is for a home you live in
The VA loan is for a primary residence you intend to occupy. Your lender explains how that works when you are on orders or deployed.
You can use it again
The benefit is not one-and-done. Entitlement can be restored once a VA loan is paid off and the home is sold, and in some cases you can have more than one VA loan at a time.
BAH sets the budget
Your housing allowance depends on your pay grade, whether you have dependents and your duty station, and it changes each January. Look up your own rate for Fort Leonard Wood before you pick a price range — then decide how much of it you want the mortgage payment to take.
DoD BAH rate lookupMake TLE go further
Temporary Lodging Expense covers a limited number of days in a hotel during a PCS. The closer your closing lands to your arrival, the fewer of those days you spend waiting — and the sooner household goods can be delivered to your own front door. Check the current TLE rules with your finance office.
Got orders? Start here.
Our agents hold the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) certification and grew up in military families. Send your report date, family size and budget, and we will put together the homes worth a video tour.