When Nate Lucas got orders to report to Kings Bay Naval Station in Georgia, he and his wife, Anna, only had a month to find a place to live.
Both were still working in Charleston, S.C., where Nate was stationed. They drove to Jacksonville to house hunt on weekends.
On the first weekend, they realized the homes they could rent near the base in St. Marys, Ga., were not in good shape.
On the second weekend, they realized if they crossed the state line into Florida, rents were expensive. At $1,400 per month, it would be a better deal to buy.
On Saturday of the third weekend, they looked at homes for sale. On Sunday, they put in an offer.
Because of changing orders, they gave up their rental in Charleston early, put their belongings in storage, lived with family and waited for the closing.
“We were literally homeless,” Anna Lucas said.
A Realtor who helps a military family find the perfect home quickly learns that compressed timelines and tricky procedures come with the deal.
But, with 35,000 military jobs and 10,000 military-occupied houses in the Jacksonville region, it’s a market worth pursuing.
Real estate agents have to work harder for their military clients, said Stephanie Saylor, an agent for Watson Realty who helped the Lucases find their house.
“Once they have their orders in hand, they need to find a home immediately. They can’t wait six months to get the right price,” she said.
Even though the Lucases did a lot of Internet research, the couple didn’t know the Jacksonville neighborhoods.
“This was the biggest community we’d ever lived in,” Nate Lucas said. “We didn’t know what areas were safe or where there were families.”
Saylor directed the couple through their whirlwind search as they switched from rentals to for-sale homes, discarded the idea of getting a foreclosure and ultimately settled on a new D.R. Horton house on the Northside.
Because they couldn’t be there, the couple gave Saylor a list of options they’d chosen and had her do the final walk-through.
There are other ways a military move can be tricky. “A lot of times your personal possessions are behind you,” Saylor said.
The military moves the property on its schedule.
Also, household members may be in different places. When a soldier is on deployment, the spouse becomes the point of contact for the closing. Meetings may take place on Skype, Facebook or Google Hangouts.
There’s not enough military housing for everyone to live on base, Saylor said, and those living off-base don’t always choose to rent.
In her experience, about 40 percent of military home seekers buy. Some do so because their assignment at a duty station is expected to last several years. Others do so to build equity.
Saylor understands — her husband has been a naval officer for 22 years. The couple purchased their first home after realizing they had spent a small fortune in rent.
“You don’t want to start paying for a house when you’re 42,” Saylor said.
She helps military homebuyers purchase an investment home — one they can rent out if they can’t immediately sell it upon moving. Or she can help them find a “forever home” if they are close to retiring — one they will come back to after completing their final tour of duty.
For Nate and Anna Lucas, Saylor found an up-and-coming neighborhood with kids playing outdoors and a shopping mall nearby, all within a half-hour drive of the base.
“I was so afraid to tell our parents we bought a house,” said Anna Lucas. “I thought they’d be like, ‘What are you doing with your money?’ But when they heard, they thought it was a good idea.”
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