PCS Season: A Personal Letter to Our Military Families
Navigating the coastal Carolina real estate market during a Permanent Change of Station
September 2026 · 10 min read
In this guide: A Personal Letter | Understanding PCS Season | Your VA Loan Benefit | The VA Appraisal and Tidewater | The Inspections to Order | Writing a Strong VA Offer | If You're Selling | Negotiating Repairs | When You Get Orders to Leave | A Note on Gold Star Families | Resources
A Personal Letter
This one is personal.
I have spent more of my life than I ever expected thinking about what it means to serve, what it costs those who do it, and what the families standing behind them carry without ever wearing a uniform.
My late husband served in the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California, the unit that is now the 1st Marine Raider Battalion at Camp Lejeune. MARSOC, the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, was activated right here at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in 2006, and the Marines who answer its call are among the most rigorously trained and selflessly committed this country has produced.
My husband was killed in action in November 2009.
I did not write that sentence looking for sympathy. I wrote it because it is the reason I do this work, and you deserve to know why.
After losing him, I had to figure out what came next: not just practically, though there was plenty of that, but what I would do with the years I had and the choices that were still mine to make. His death clarified something only loss can: life is too short to do work that doesn't matter to you.
The work that called to me was helping people find their homes. Military families, in particular.
Because I understand, in a way I wish I did not, what military families give up. The training. The deployments. The months and years apart. The phone calls that don't come when they're supposed to. The knock on the door no one should ever have to answer. These families sacrifice in ways most of the country will never fully comprehend. The least I can do is make sure that when they get orders and have to move their entire lives, they have someone in their corner who understands what that means.
This guide is for every active duty service member, veteran, retiree, and Gold Star family who has received orders, is managing a PCS move, or is navigating the coastal Carolina market. I hope it serves you.
Understanding PCS Season in the Coastal Carolinas
Orders can arrive at any time, but military moves follow a recognizable cycle. Peak PCS season generally runs from mid-May through September, with the heaviest activity in June, July, and August, timed to minimize disruption to the school year.
I help military families across the communities that serve Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River: Jacksonville, Sneads Ferry, Richlands, Hubert, and greater Onslow County, along with Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties, including Hampstead, Wilmington, and Wrightsville Beach.
Your VA Loan Benefit
The VA home loan is one of the most valuable benefits available to eligible service members, veterans, and qualifying surviving spouses, and one of the most misunderstood. This section is general education, not lending advice: confirm every detail of your eligibility and terms with a VA-approved lender.
- No down payment for eligible borrowers with full entitlement. Since January 1, 2020 (the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act), no VA loan limits apply to borrowers with full entitlement.
- No private mortgage insurance (PMI).
- No VA-set minimum credit score, though individual lenders set their own requirements.
- Residual income analysis alongside debt-to-income ratio, which can help some veterans qualify.
- A VA funding fee applies to most borrowers and can usually be financed. Veterans receiving VA disability compensation and certain surviving spouses may be exempt.
- A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is required; lenders can usually obtain it electronically.
VA financing is for your primary residence, not investment properties or vacation homes. It can, however, be used for a two- to four-unit property if you live in one of the units. If you've used your benefit before and still have an active VA loan, ask your lender to calculate your remaining entitlement before assuming you can buy with no down payment.
The VA Appraisal: What It Is and What It Isn't
A VA appraisal and a home inspection are not the same thing, and confusing them is one of the costliest mistakes in VA purchases.
- The VA appraisal is required. A VA-assigned appraiser determines market value and checks the home against VA Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs), which ensure the property is safe, sanitary, and structurally sound. The VA won't guarantee a loan above the appraised value or on a home that fails MPRs. The appraisal protects the lender and the VA's guarantee.
- The home inspection isn't required by the VA, but it's strongly recommended. A licensed inspector evaluates the home's systems and condition in far more detail than an appraiser. The inspection protects you.
For North Carolina VA buyers: a wood-destroying insect (termite) inspection is required for VA purchases throughout North Carolina, reported on the state's official Wood-Destroying Insect Information Report (Form WDIR 100). For the loan to fund, the report must come back clean of active infestation and unresolved damage: any active infestation must be treated, and any damage repaired, before closing. VA rules no longer require the seller to pay for the inspection, so the buyer may pay for it, and who pays is negotiable in the contract. In our humid coastal climate, it's far more than a formality.
Tidewater: A Process, Not a Crisis
If a VA appraiser believes the value is likely to come in below the contract price, they must notify the lender's point of contact before finalizing the report. This is the Tidewater Initiative. The buyer's side then has two business days to submit additional comparable sales and market data supporting the contract price, and the appraiser reviews it before issuing the final Notice of Value.
Tidewater doesn't mean the deal is dead, or even that the appraisal will be low: in 2023, 90% of initial VA purchase appraisals came in at or above the contract price. If the final value does come in short, options include renegotiating the price, requesting a reconsideration of value, the buyer covering the difference in cash, or, under the VA escape clause required in VA purchase contracts, walking away with earnest money protected.
The Inspections Military Buyers Should Order
- General home inspection: the foundation of every purchase and the basis for any repair negotiation. Never waive it.
- Wood-destroying insect inspection: required for VA loans in NC. A clean report is needed for the loan to fund, and who pays for the inspection is negotiable.
- Roof inspection: coastal UV, salt air, and storms wear roofs faster, and the VA requires a roof with reasonable remaining life.
- Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC evaluations: especially for older homes, where coastal corrosion can affect panels, wiring, pipes, and equipment.
- Septic inspection: essential for the many rural and semi-rural homes in Onslow, Pender, and Brunswick counties that aren't on public sewer.
- Survey: confirms boundaries, easements, and encroachments, particularly on irregular or rural lots.
- Flood risk review: if a home is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, flood insurance is required to obtain a federally backed mortgage, including a VA loan. An elevation certificate is no longer required to buy NFIP flood insurance under FEMA's Risk Rating 2.0, but it can sometimes lower the premium, so it's worth asking the seller or an insurance agent about one.
Writing a Strong VA Offer
Military buyers are sometimes told their VA financing makes their offers less competitive. A poorly prepared VA offer can be weak, but a well-prepared one is a strong offer. What makes the difference:
- Full pre-approval, not just pre-qualification.
- A price supported by comparable sales, so appraisal concerns are answered before they're raised.
- Clean terms, without unnecessary contingencies.
- Proactive communication with the listing agent about the VA process, Tidewater, and timelines.
- Careful timeline management with the lender and the other side.
If you've been told your VA benefit makes you less competitive, find an agent who knows how to make it work. Your benefit exists because of what you have sacrificed.
If You're Selling
Military sellers usually sell on a timeline they didn't choose, often while managing the move to the next duty station. The goal is a clean sale that closes on time.
The most common cause of inspection delays and renegotiation is deferred maintenance the seller knew about but didn't address. In coastal homes, focus on the roof, HVAC service records, termite history, crawl space and attic moisture, deck and railing condition, older plumbing and electrical systems, and septic condition if the home isn't on sewer. A pre-listing inspection lets you find and fix issues on your own terms, at your own contractor's price, before they appear in a buyer's report.
Negotiating Repairs and Credits
For sellers: repair, credit, or decline
- Repair when the issue affects VA Minimum Property Requirements or is straightforward to complete before closing at a known cost.
- Credit when the buyer has preferences about how the work is done, or when a price reduction or closing-cost credit is simpler than managing the repair.
- Decline requests for normal wear consistent with the home's age, cosmetic items visible at the showing, or issues disclosed before the contract.
In VA transactions, MPR issues can't simply be credited away. They must be repaired before the loan can fund.
For buyers: what belongs in a repair request
Focus on defects that affect health, safety, or structure; active leaks or moisture; failing systems; roof problems; active termite activity or damage; and anything required to meet VA MPRs. Leave out normal wear, visible cosmetic issues, previously disclosed items, and wish-list upgrades. A focused request supported by the inspector's documentation gets taken seriously; a list of every item in a 40-page report invites a flat decline.
When You Get Orders to Leave
A PCS move is rarely one transaction. When you're departing coastal Carolina, you're selling here while trying to find a home somewhere you may never have lived. My support is built for that:
- Pricing and timing built backward from your report date, so the sale serves your orders instead of competing with them.
- Staging, included for every military seller. Premier-tier staging through Cartwright Decor is a standard part of my listing service for all military sellers, not an upgrade. Cartwright Decor is a staging company I own, and I'll always disclose that ownership to you.
- A personally researched introduction to an agent at your next duty station. I'll look at communities within a workable commute, local inventory, and agents with real experience serving military families there, then introduce you personally. If you work with that agent, Cartwright Realty will typically receive a referral fee from their firm.
- Transaction management after you've left. Many military families close on a home they've already moved out of. I'll handle what needs handling and keep you informed. Talk with your closing attorney early about remote signing or a power of attorney.
A Note on Gold Star Families
Gold Star families have given everything, and you carry that weight every day while the rest of the world moves forward around you.
Surviving spouses of service members who died in service or from a service-connected disability may be eligible for VA home loan benefits. I'm not a lender and can't advise on your specific eligibility; that conversation belongs with the VA and a VA-approved lender. But I have walked this path personally, and I can help you understand the questions to ask and point you to the right resources.
And beyond the logistics: I see you. I know what PCS season looks like when you're navigating it without your service member, when the orders you're following aren't the ones you planned for, and when the home you're buying or selling carries the weight of that absence. This community will always have a place at Cartwright Realty. Not as a checkbox. As family.
When You Get Those Orders, Call Me.
Whether you're buying or selling, arriving or departing, on your first VA transaction or your fifth, the goal is the same: a smooth, informed transaction that gets your family where it needs to be. Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River are home to some of the most remarkable people this country has produced. It would be my privilege to serve you.
Thank you for your service. And for theirs.
Semper Fidelis.
Marissa Christina Cartwright, REALTOR®, Broker-in-Charge, Cartwright Realty, LLC | (910) 777-4759
Request a consultation or email Marissa directly
REALTOR®, Broker, ASP®, BTS, CLHS, ISC, MCNE®, CNE, PSA, CLHMS™
Resources for Military Families
- VA Home Loans: www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/
- VA Certificate of Eligibility: www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/how-to-apply/
- Camp Lejeune and New River MCCS (relocation assistance): lejeunenewriver.usmc-mccs.org
- Military OneSource, Camp Lejeune installation information: installations.militaryonesource.mil/military-installation/camp-lejeune
- NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs: www.milvets.nc.gov
- FEMA flood insurance information: www.floodsmart.gov
Sources
- MARSOC, 1st Marine Raider Battalion unit history: www.marsoc.marines.mil/Units/1st-Marine-Raider-Battalion/
- Military Times, "It's official: Marine Raiders leaving California for a new home in North Carolina" (2020): www.militarytimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/02/12/its-official-marine-raiders-leaving-california-for-a-new-home-in-north-carolina/
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Home Loan Program and loan limits: www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/
- Veterans United, VA termite and pest inspection requirements by state: www.veteransunited.com/valoans/va-termite-pest-inspections/
- NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Wood-Destroying Insect Information Report (WDIR 100): ncagr.gov/divisions/structural-pests-and-pesticides
- Newrez, "Tidewater VA appraisal: complete guide" (2023 VA appraisal data): www.newrez.com/blog/military-lending/tidewater-va-appraisal-complete-guide-to-the-va-tidewater-initiative-process-and-outcomes/
- FEMA, Risk Rating 2.0 overview: www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_rr-2.0_2025.pdf
Cartwright Realty, LLC | NC Firm License No. C29575 | Marissa Christina Cartwright, NC License No. 297187 | PO Box 1224, Hampstead, NC 28443 | (910) 777-4759
Equal Housing Opportunity. VA loan information in this guide is general and educational. Verify all eligibility, entitlement, and benefit details with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and a VA-approved lender. This guide is not legal, tax, lending, or insurance advice.