Military families often receive relocation orders with little time to spare. Packing, travel, school choices, and a new assignment all compete for attention. Finding a home in an unfamiliar city adds one more deadline, and the search often happens from hundreds of miles away.
Tracie Benetz and the Moving Memphis Group at Emmett Baird Realty have worked with military buyers for more than 14 years. Their clients include veterans, active-duty service members, and military families. Many buy with a VA loan, a mortgage backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Understanding NSA Mid-South
Many of the team’s military clients arrive on Permanent Change of Station, or PCS, orders that assign them to a new duty location. Their destination is often Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tennessee, just north of Memphis. The installation serves as the Navy’s Human Resources Center of Excellence. It hosts Navy Personnel Command and Navy Recruiting Command, among other commands.
The base’s location gives families several options to consider. Some buyers want to live as close to the installation as possible. Others accept a longer commute in exchange for a particular home or community.
In the team’s view, no single area suits every family. The agents help buyers understand their options before they fall in love with a particular house.
Communities the Team Knows Well
Millington is often the first community a military buyer knows by name, simply because the base is there. For families who want the shortest possible drive to work, Millington is a natural starting point. Housing there ranges from established homes to newer construction and properties with more land, depending on location and availability.
Atoka lies north of Millington in Tipton County. The team frequently discusses Atoka with military buyers who want reasonable access to the base but prefer to look outside Shelby County. It suggests comparing Atoka homes with Millington homes on budget, style, lot size, and other priorities.
Bartlett, Arlington, and Lakeland sit east and southeast of Millington. For buyers open to a different commute, those towns add more housing choices. They also offer convenient access to other parts of the Memphis metro area. The team regularly helps buyers compare several areas before they choose one.
Looking at the Whole Picture
Distance on a map is only one factor. The team encourages buyers to weigh the commute alongside the budget, property taxes, and the age and style of available homes. Lot size matters too, as does the choice between new construction and an established neighborhood.
Daily routines deserve attention as well. A home near the base may sit far from the stores, schools, or activities a family visits every week. Access to those places can shape daily life as much as the drive to work.
Time is another consideration. The expected length of an assignment shapes how a family approaches a purchase. A family that expects to move again in a few years has good reason to think about resale from the start.
Experience With VA Home Loans
For eligible buyers, a VA loan can offer a real opportunity to buy a home during a move. VA transactions, however, carry requirements that conventional loans usually do not. The team has completed many VA appraisals, which assess a home’s condition as well as its value.
Those appraisals test the home against Minimum Property Requirements, the VA’s baseline standards for safety, soundness, and sanitation. A home that falls short may need repairs before the loan can close. Knowing the standards early can spare a buyer a late surprise.
Buyers also ask about entitlement, which is the amount the VA will guarantee on a veteran’s loan. Entitlement can affect how much a buyer can borrow without a down payment. The team also has experience with VA loan assumptions, which let a qualified buyer take over a seller’s existing VA loan along with its original interest rate.
One misconception still comes up often. Some sellers believe an offer with VA financing is weak. In the team’s experience, a VA offer can compete well when it is structured properly and backed by an experienced lender and agent.
For that reason, the team recommends a lender who originates VA loans regularly rather than one who offers them only occasionally. Knowing eligibility, entitlement, estimated payments, and buying power before the search begins can make the whole process easier.
Buying Before Arriving in Tennessee
Military families often start the buying process before they can be in Memphis in person. The team can help them explore communities, set up a custom home search, and review new listings as they appear.
When a property looks promising, the agents can send additional photos or video and tour the home with the buyer remotely. They research recent nearby sales, describe the property’s surroundings, and coordinate local inspections. They also stay in contact with the buyer’s lender and the other professionals on the transaction.
A family stationed far away gains a reliable set of eyes and ears on the ground. For a buyer who cannot walk a property, that local presence fills the gap.
Planning Ahead of the PCS Date
Touring houses months before a move is not always necessary. An early conversation, however, can help a great deal. Talking through the timeline, financing, budget, and preferred communities gives a family time to learn the local market.
The same conversation shows what a budget may buy in Millington, Atoka, Bartlett, Arlington, and Lakeland. When the timing is right, the family is ready to act.
Official base resources can help as well, and the team points military clients to them. The NSA Mid-South Housing Service Center provides housing support, including details on military and community housing. The Fleet and Family Support Center offers relocation assistance for incoming personnel and their families.
The Team Behind the Work
Tracie Benetz has worked full time as a Tennessee REALTOR® since 2013. Her career sales exceed $187 million, and she has helped hundreds of families buy and sell homes in the Memphis area. Memphis Real Producers, a local publication that profiles leading agents, has named her among its Top 25 residential agents.
RealTrends, a national firm that ranks agents by sales volume, has previously recognized her as one of Tennessee’s leading agents. She leads the Moving Memphis Group alongside REALTORS® Dustin Benetz and Jacob Benetz.
All three agents see their role as that of professional guides rather than salespeople. For military buyers, that approach means honest advice through each step of a VA purchase or relocation. Their message to families still stationed elsewhere is simple: the Moving Memphis Group will serve as their eyes and ears in Memphis until they arrive.
Veterans and service members relocating to the Memphis area can reach the Moving Memphis Group at movingmemphisgroup.com or by calling (901) 647-8267.
