Matt Strickland

I am a retired U.S. Navy officer, a Florida REALTOR®, and the broker-owner of Military Realty of Florida. If you are buying or selling in Jacksonville — especially on a PCS clock into NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, or Blount Island — you work with me. Not a call center. Not a national pamphlet with a local sticker on it.

Jacksonville is the largest city by land area in the continental United States. The house that works for a NAS Jacksonville commute is often a bad daily drive to Mayport. I run the short list against the gate, the VA file, and the report date — then we write the offer that actually closes.

Call or text (904) 309-0609. If you want the long version of the VA benefit first, start at the VA Loan Knowledge Center. If orders just dropped, use PCS & Military Relocation.

Navy, then contractor, then broker-owner

I did the PCS as the service member, not as a spectator. That is why this brokerage exists: veterans building the Jacksonville version of the benefit for the people still on orders.

I am also a Florida registered building contractor. That is not a hobby line. A lot of First Coast inventory is a 1960s–1980s ranch, a flood-zone lot, or a house that needs a real roof and real wind coverage before a VA appraiser will sign off. I read the house the way a contractor reads it, then I run the contract the way a broker runs it.

Military Realty of Florida is the firm. I own it. You can work with me directly, or I will put you with the right agent on the team when that is the better fit. Either way the file does not leave this shop.

If you are buying

Zero-down VA financing is how a lot of military families buy near the three gates. VA does not write the mortgage. VA guarantees a portion of a loan a private lender makes so that lender will go to zero down and skip monthly PMI. The lender still underwrites. The house still has to clear a VA appraisal. Florida still wants wind — and on a lot of lots, flood.

What I actually do on a buyer file:

• Pull the path in order: eligibility, Certificate of Eligibility, entitlement, funding fee, then the house. That is the 12-chapter Knowledge Center I built for this market, not a blog recap of VA.gov.
• Build a short list on the correct side of the St. Johns for your gate — Mandarin and Orange Park for NAS Jacksonville, the Beaches and Mayport corridor for the station, Yulee and 9A for Blount Island.
• Write an offer that survives a VA appraisal, Tidewater, and a Jacksonville seller who has seen three VA deals fall apart on repairs.
• Keep residual income, occupancy, and the report date in the same conversation as the price.

Looking tonight? Start with Jacksonville homes for sale or Buying a Home.

If you are selling

A Jacksonville listing is not “put it in MLS and wait.” It is price against the last 90 days on your street, a repair list a VA buyer can live with, and a close date that matches a PCS or a construction draw — not a hope.

What I actually do on a listing:

• Walk the house as a contractor first. Roof, HVAC, electrical, moisture, wind mitigation. Fix what a VA or FHA appraiser will kill. Leave the rest.
• Price it for the buyers who can actually perform here: VA, conventional, and the ones who will assume a low-rate VA loan if you have one. Assumption is an asset in this market — read VA Loan Assumption.
• Run the calendar backward from your report date or next house, not forward from “when it feels ready.”
• Keep you off the phone with looky-loos. You get the offers, the repair requests, and the numbers.

Ready to list? Selling a Home, or text me the address.

PCS to Jacksonville

Orders print. Then you have a 90-day clock, a BAH worksheet, household goods, school packets, and a commute choice between three different edges of this map. Treating “the Navy base” as one location is how families land on the wrong side of town.

If you already own here and a refinance mailer showed up, start at VA Refinance & IRRRL. If you are a surviving spouse, start at VA Loans for Surviving Spouses, then call me.

Where I work

Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns. The neighborhoods people actually name on a PCS call: Mandarin, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Nocatee, the Beaches, Yulee, Ponte Vedra. I will tell you when a house is a bad commute for your gate even if it photographs well.

How we start

Call or text (904) 309-0609. Send the orders if you have them, the COE if you have one, and the zip you think you want. I will tell you if that zip is the wrong side of the river before you waste a Saturday driving it.