Hawaii Military Life: How To Sell Your Home When You PCS

If you’re PCS’ing from Hawaii and own a home, selling it before you move can be nerve-wracking with all of the other logistics involved. How do you make sure you have the best experience when you sell? Call a Realtor. I happen to be one…And every member of my team happens to have PCS’d many times.

How do you make sure you have the best experience when you sell?

Anyone in the military has probably been introduced to the concept of backward planning. You may recall that the day the mission is executed is “D day” and all time calculations are based off of that. We’ll call the day you wave goodbye to Honolulu from the airplane “D Day.”

Monica Schaefer, Jason Fieldman, and Alison Wisnom from the Hawaii Life Military Specialized Team

A Timeline For Sellers

Here’s a general timeline of events to successfully sell your home in plenty of time. (Keep in mind, this is flexible depending on the time you have available and your level of comfort with the various steps in the process. We’ll tailor this schedule to your needs, but the timeline will be clear to you from the beginning.)

D -120: I’d like to visit your home about 120 days before you leave, to learn about your situation and make recommendations about any repairs or improvements you should accomplish in the next 30 days. I’ll line up any contractors you need to assist. I’ll also explain the paperwork processes involved in listing and selling your home. Of course, this can be done less than 120 days in advance, and for peace of mind, you may want to have this conversation more than 120 days in advance. Either way works for me.

D -119: By this day, I’ll provide you a complete market assessment for your property, showing you how much other homes have sold for, how long it took them to sell, and how they compare to yours.

I’ll recommend a price range for listing your property based on the market details and on our previous conversation. I’ll also provide a detailed list of the expenses involved in selling your home, such as commissions, title and escrow fees, and transfer taxes, so you know how much money you can plan on taking with you to your next duty station. Anyone who walks in the door with an exact number in mind has not taken the condition and improvements in your home into consideration.

If you’re planning on buying another home, I’ll also interview a few military focused Realtors at your next duty station and recommend the best fit, or give you a few to speak with. I ask the tough questions for you. You should now start getting familiar with your new location and the homes available in your price range.

D -90 to D -60: Depending on how quickly the homes in your neighborhood are selling, we’d list your home for sale in this window of time. The week before we list, you’d need to have any repairs made, your personal items “de-cluttered” and stored, and the home clean and ready for photographs. I’ll walk you through that entire process and help with staging, so your home is represented in the best light possible!

Prior to D Day, you’re welcome to have the movers pack your household goods, move to temporary housing, ship your cars, and all the other out processing tasks whenever you like. We’ll plan that together to best suit your needs.

D -15: By this date, you’ve signed the deed transfer documents on your Hawaii home and are ready to close the sale. If you’ve decided to leave early, I assist escrow with providing a mobile notary who will come to you, wherever you are, making your life easy.

D Day: All you have to do is get yourself, your family, your pets, and your 37 checked bags and one last case of pineapple onto the plane. Easy, right?

D + 10: By this time, you’re on leave en route, or you’re signing into your new unit, and your boots on the ground with a new Realtor looking for your next home. Your cash proceeds from your sale have been wire transferred to your bank, your VA Certificate of Eligibility has been restored, and you’re ready to make an offer on your next home.

Here to help you successfully sell your home

Put My Experience to Work For You

Let my experience in this market and with military moves work for you. Contact me today.