PCS Orders: Sell, Rent, or Hold

House set back on a wide lawn

 Three columns, and no vote from us

Write three headings on a sheet: sell, rent, hold. Under each one, put a dollar result and a non-dollar result. The dollar result is what you walk away with, or what you pay every month. The non-dollar result is whether you still own a house in Jacksonville, whether a tenant can call you, and whether your VA entitlement is free for the next purchase.

Families in the same paygrade pick different columns for good reasons. One is coming back to NAS Jacksonville. One never wants another landlord phone call. One needs the equity to buy at the next duty station. I will build the sheet. I will not pick the column. If you want that work started, call (904) 309-0609.

 What a sale clears, and what it costs

A sale pays off the loan if that is what the contract does, and it can free VA entitlement after the payoff is processed. Restoration is a VA and lender process. I will not invent how many days that takes. You also stop carrying vacancy, a property manager, and a Florida house you cannot see. You give up whatever the house does next in value. That part is real, and nobody on this page can promise it.

Selling has a cost. On Northeast Florida custom, the seller pays deed stamps, the owner's title policy, the listing commission, the HOA or condo estoppel, and the payoff. Deed stamps are $0.70 per $100 or fraction. A $400,000 price is $2,800. A $400,050 price rounds up and the tax is $2,800.70. Your price will differ. Commission is whatever your listing agreement says, in dollars on a net sheet, not a number I hide. The playbook for timing and access is the selling page. This page only needs you to see that a sale is a check and a set of deductions, not a slogan.

 What rent has to cover after the real bills

Rent is not the mortgage payment with a smile. Start with rent, then subtract the mortgage, taxes, insurance, the manager's fee, a vacant month, repairs, HOA dues, and any CDD line. I will not put a fake rent on this page, and I will not invent a management percent. Ask two local managers for their fee schedule and use those numbers.

One empty month changes the year. A CDD under Chapter 190 often shows up as a non-ad valorem line on the tax bill. It is not the HOA dues. eTown has a CDD. Read the bill. Do not guess the annual amount. An HOA or condo can cap how many homes may be rented, or require a minimum lease. If the cap is full, the rent column is not available, no matter how the math looked. The landlord page goes deeper on managers, pets, and the beaches. Use it before you promise the house to a friend from the command.

 Holding the house empty

Holding it empty means you still pay the mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, and the lawn. Nobody pays rent. Some families do it for a short school year or a known quick return to the same gate. It can be the right call for a few months. It is the most expensive way to keep options if the months turn into a tour.

Call the insurance carrier before you leave it vacant. Vacant houses are a different risk than a house with a tenant, and carriers have their own rules. I will not invent a day count. Get their rule on your policy. A house with the power off in a Jacksonville summer is not a neutral object. If you hold it, budget the utilities and a person who can walk it.

 VA entitlement if you keep the loan

If the VA loan stays open, the entitlement tied to that loan stays in use. A second VA loan is sometimes possible with what is left. Full entitlement, with nothing else tied up, has no VA-set county cap. Partial entitlement math uses the 2026 FHFA one-unit conforming limit for Duval, Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau, $832,750, not an FHA figure. Pull a new Certificate of Eligibility and have the lender calculate the remainder. I will not invent that dollar.

If you sell and the buyer pays the loan off, ask the lender about restoration. If you sell and the buyer assumes the VA loan, ask whether your entitlement comes back or stays attached to that loan. Do not assume payoff is the only path, and do not assume an assumption sets you free. Those are lender questions with your loan number on them.

 Homestead and insurance once you leave

One permanent residence. If you rent the Jacksonville house or leave it and make a home somewhere else, homestead on this house should come off. A wrongful claim can become a lien with a 50 percent penalty and 15 percent interest under section 196.161. If the next house is in Florida and you will own and occupy it on January 1, portability is Form DR-501T, filed with the new county when you file the new homestead. The old county certifies the Save Our Homes difference. I will not invent the dollar that ports.

If the next duty station is outside Florida, there is no new Florida homestead to port onto. Expect the exemption here to end once this house is no longer your residence. Tell the property appraiser. In Duval that is Joyce Morgan's office, homestead.coj.net, (904) 255-5900. Insurance is a second phone call. An owner-occupied policy is the wrong contract for a rental. Flood coverage is separate. Get the quotes. This page does not publish a premium. For the filing dates, own and occupy on January 1 and file by March 1. As of fall 2026 the 2026 window is closed. The next occupancy date is January 1, 2027.

 How to compare your own numbers

On one line, write the estimated net from a sale after stamps, title, commission, estoppel, and payoff. On the second line, write monthly cash after the manager, taxes, insurance, and one vacant month spread across the year. On the third line, write the monthly cost to hold the house empty. Use your bill, not a metro average.

Then write the sentence that is not a number: are you likely to come back to this gate, and do you want a tenant. Bring both to the call at (904) 309-0609. We will pressure-test the sheet. We will not circle a column because a blog told us to.

 Keep going

• Selling during a PCS
• The military landlord decision

Call (904) 309-0609.