Jacob McCrackin
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A home purchase in Colorado Springs usually closes 30 to 45 days after the seller accepts your offer. Temporary Lodging Expense on a stateside move currently covers up to 21 days, according to Army finance guidance. Those two numbers are the whole problem with buying a house after you arrive at Fort Carson, and most of this plan is about making them line up.
Most of the work that decides how fast you can buy happens before you drive through a gate.
If you can arrive with a short list and a pre-approval, the first week can go entirely to touring.
Book showings in clusters around the gate you will use. Drive from each house to that gate at the hour you will actually be driving it, at least once. A house that looks close on a map can be a slow morning if it means the wrong gate or a left turn across Highway 115 at rush hour.
Keep the list short, and photograph the street and the drive as well as the kitchen. By the third day of showings, houses blur together, and the commute is the part you will live with longest.
A strong offer here comes with the pre-approval letter, a closing date that matches your lodging situation, and a plan for the VA appraisal. Once it is accepted, the clock starts:
This is where TLE runs out. If you arrived with no contract and found a house in your first week, your 21 days of lodging usually end before you close. Families handle it in a few ways:
None of these is wrong. What hurts is not knowing which one you are using until the last week of TLE.
Schedule delivery of your household goods for a few days after closing, not the day of. Closings slip by a day or two often enough that a truck arriving at a house you do not own yet becomes an expensive problem. Confirm the delivery window with the transportation office as soon as you have a firm closing date.
Walk through the house the day before closing, check that every repair the appraiser required has been done, and make sure the utilities are moving into your name.
Usually 30 to 45 days from an accepted offer to closing, plus however long it takes to find the house. With a pre-approval and a short list before you arrive, many buyers are under contract within their first week or two.
Often not. Temporary Lodging Expense currently covers up to 21 days on a stateside PCS, and a purchase typically takes 30 to 45 days to close after the offer is accepted. Plan for the gap: extra lodging at your own cost, an earlier closing, a short rental, or buying before you arrive.
Yes. Many soldiers buy remotely with video tours, electronic signing and a closing scheduled for the week they sign in. You need a lender comfortable with remote closings and a buyer’s agent willing to show each house in detail on camera, including the parts sellers would rather you did not see.
Before you write an offer, our guide to military relocation in Colorado Springs covers the wider move, and our page for a VA loan realtor in Colorado Springs walks through the appraisal. When you have orders in hand, talk with us about your timeline and we will build the plan around your report date.
TLE figure: Army finance guidance, January 2026 (21 days CONUS, increased from 14 days effective November 27, 2024). Confirm your own entitlements with your finance and transportation offices. Last updated October 23, 2026.
Jacob McCrackin made his first PCS to Fort Carson as an Army soldier, so he has done this move from the soldier’s side. Today he is an associate broker with Solid Oak Realty in Colorado Springs, working with service members on the buying side of it.