Relocation Resources and Services for Military Families

Moving can be so overwhelming. There is a never-ending to-do list as you leave one duty station and arrive at the next. Thankfully, the relocation industry is thriving and full of resources that pride themselves on helping ease the transition. Below are 10 services that will help assist you during your next move.

1. Cost of Living Calculators

A cost of living calculator considers certain data from a city like its economic breakdown, demographics, and quality of life indicators to aggregate specific cost numbers. Using a cost of living calculator may help you to determine how much house you can afford, how far your earnings will go, how much it will cost to live in your new city based on the lifestyle you’d like to maintain.

2. Real Estate (selling and buying)

Whether you have a home to sell in the town you’re leaving or you are looking to buy in your new city, a licensed real estate professional will help you with every phase of your move. Buying and selling a home is one of the biggest purchases or sales a person will make. The wisdom and expertise of a qualified third party are essential.

3. Scouts

With a military move, sometimes the distance between locations is too far to travel ahead of time to access the area and research homes. Services like MILLIE Scouts offer you “boots on the ground” help to review houses (both for sale and rentals), review neighborhoods, and offer household goods delivery and pack-out assistance.

4. Mortgages

During a relocation, mortgage companies and brokers serve as the middleman between the lender and the borrower and handle the time-consuming process of securing a loan and gathering the considerable paperwork involved.

5. Insurance

Moving companies often provide insurance to cover the cost of your belongings. Adding additional insurance can be used to supplement that coverage. Some can even provide coverage for up to 90 days while your belongings are in storage or transit.

6. Renter’s Assitance

If the military orders you to move before your rental or lease agreement ends, a renter’s assistance service may come in handy. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers more detailed information here.

7. Moving Companies

Whether you are looking for just a little help or a lot, most moving companies can provide a wide range of services to you during your relocation. Maybe you just need help unloading a truck or a place to purchase boxes and bubble wrap or maybe you want someone else to disassemble furniture, pack, load, and unload your belongings. There’s no need to do any part of a move that you don’t want to do. Let the professionals step in to do the heavy lifting.

8. Temporary Housing

Are you looking for a place to lay your head after your house gets packed up? Need a home away from home while you await your household goods or minor repairs on your new house? Temporary housing solutions like extended-stay studios, Airbnb, and VRBO can offer space and comfort during that in-between time. Many offer deep discounts for longer stays.

9. Storage

If you are PCSing overseas, your smaller weight allowance may mean that you’ll need to store large or sentimental items for a few years. Deployments, geo-baching, and having more stuff than house space are also reasons many military members choose to store items. Storage companies offer climate-controlled spaces to safely keep your belongings. Many today offer digital rental and entry practices giving you 24-hour access to your things.

10. Discard and Donate Services

Whether you decide to clean out, organize, and purge before you move, or decide upon arrival at your new house that you need to offload some of your possessions, many discard and donate services are jumping at the chance to help you out. Many charity organizations will give you proof of donation for tax purposes and some will even pick up so you can keep

During a relocation, the to-do list can get long. If you start to feel overwhelmed with the many things you have to tackle, just remember there is probably a professional that would be happy to step in and offer help or assistance to you. Outsource what you can and use the resources at hand.