PCSing to a new area is hard, especially if you’ve never been there before. I’m a military spouse myself and I know the challenges you’re facing. 30 days in Fort Stewart TLF is not enough time to learn your way around a new city, figure out what towns you like best, find a house, write an offer, go through the inspection and appraisal process, and close.  It’s hard enough finding a place to LIVE, let alone finding the right home to BUY.

Well, if you’re searching for Fort Stewart housing, I have a brand new idea to help you!

It’s called VIRTUAL REALITY HOUSE HUNTING.

Here’s how it works:  First we get you preapproved for a mortgage.  I have several terrific lenders who specialize in working with military clients and know the VA loan inside and out.  If you’re looking to purchase a home in the Fort Stewart area, the loan officer will take your BAH into account and qualify you for a mortgage that you feel comfortable with.  Click here to find out what the VA loan limits are in the Savannah area.

Then we have an in depth consultation so I can find out exactly what you want in a house.  Do you want to be close to Fort Stewart, closer to the beach, closer to downtown, do you want to be in a fabulous school district?  Do you prefer a single story house, a house in a neighborhood with a pool, do you need a garage?  I will email you lists of potential houses that qualify for Fort Stewart housing.

NO LOOKING ON ZILLOW PLEASE!  Zillow is notorious for having outdated properties that are either under contract already, that sold months ago, or houses that are not even for sale at all!  I will email you ONLY properties that are currently available. You look at the pictures, the description of the house, Google map it, and decide if that house makes your short list.

When you find a house online around Fort Stewart that looks great, I go take a video with my 360 degree camera. I send it to you and you watch it on your phone or on your computer. And if you really want to have some fun, you use VR goggles to watch the video! It really feels like you’re standing in the living room.

We can do this BEFORE you even arrive in Savannah. No need to wait to see any homes around Fort Stewart until you arrive in town.  This way you’ll have a HUGE head start with your home search.  Some people have even written an offer on a house just from seeing the video.  Then when they get to town they see it in person for the first time, and they have all said that the house looks exactly like it looked in the video so they were not disappointed or surprised.

Watch a short video about this state of the art offering.

I used to use Facetime when helping clients who were PCS’ing here and looking for Fort Stewart housing but Facetime has a few drawbacks.

1. You have to have a strong wifi signal at the property or it won’t work well.  And I can’t usually get good video of the street because I’m too far from the router so the signal gets lost.
2. The client has to be available when I’m at the house.  When there’s a big time difference this is a challenge.  I can’t show houses at 10:00 pm or 6:00 am.
3. You only get to see the house one time.  You can’t go back and watch the video again later.

With a 360 degree video you can watch it over and over again, share the link with your family and friends, and wear those VR goggles!  I will tell you if the house smells like cats, smoke, or mildew.  You will hear if the neighbor is blasting rap music at 9:30 am and see if he has 7 cars on blocks in his yard.

I can give you insight that a photo simply won’t be able to.  Have you ever seen a house online and thought it looked great, and then when you see it in person you are really disappointed?  That happens because the agent who represents the home being sold is having it photographed to show ONLY its features and not its flaws.  That doesn’t happen with 360 video!  So if you’re looking for Fort Stewart housing there really is no other way to do it that makes sense.

Here’s a little more information about the actual process.  I use a platform that hosts all these videos called the Savvy Homes Portal.  I give you a login and password and you get your very own portal.  In the portal I can put every video so you can watch them over and over if you like.  I also have recorded videos about the home buying process in case this is your first time buying a house.  That way you always know what to expect and what comes next.  Buying a new home around Fort Stewart doesn’t have to be scary or stressful.  My job is to make your transition here as smooth as possible.

To view the videos you can use your smartphone or your computer.  You don’t need the VR goggles – they’re just fun!  You can watch the video on your phone and swipe on the screen to spin the room around.  Use your mouse to click and drag if you’re on your computer.

But if you are going to use the goggles, you open the link on your phone, put it into VR mode, and put the phone in the VR headset.  Then watch the video!  I like to watch it sitting down because you’ll start walking around like you’re actually in the house and crash into a wall in your actual house!  (Not that I have done this myself or anything.)

How much does this service cost? NOTHING. It’s a FREE service I offer to all my clients who are PCS’ing to Fort Stewart and wish to buy a home.

UPDATE: I was recently interviewed by Fox News here in Savannah about this service!  Watch the new clip now.

 This concept even works for people who live in Savannah already and are planning to buy a new home.  I had a client once who works at Gulfstream and he often didn’t get home till 7 pm.  It’s pitch black out at 6:00 now so the only time he really had to see homes was on the weekend.  This way I could preview the homes for him, and based on the video he would either cross it off the list or make time to go see it.  He only had to see THREE houses in person before writing an offer, but watched about 10 videos first. This program works well for EVERYONE, whether they live here already or not.

So if you have orders, you know you’re PCS’ing to Fort Stewart, and you’re looking to buy a home, let’s talk!  Simply fill out a form with your contact info at the link below and I’ll contact you to discuss your timeframe, and we can get to know each other.

Thanks for reading this and thank you for all you do to serve our country!

– Karin Carr

Here are some other articles you might find useful:

Moving to Savannah – 10 reasons why you should

Buying a home using your VA entitlement

Selling your house when you’re PCS’ing to a new post

About the Author: The article above about PCSing to Fort Stewart was written by Karin Carr, an authority on Savannah real estate and a leader in the field of real estate blogging.  A frequent guest on Easy Agent Pro’s blog and podcast, Karin loves to use blogging, social media marketing, YouTube videos, and all things techie to serve her clients and grow her real estate business.  Karin has helped literally helped hundreds of families buy and sell homes across the country since 2005, from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA to Dobbins AFB in Atlanta, to Parris Island to Hunter/Ft. Stewart.

Are you thinking of selling your home? I’m very good at marketing homes to sell quickly, and for more money. If you’re a first-time home buyer then you’ll be in good hands – check out my video just for first time buyers. I’ve helped countless first-time home buyers through the entire process of buying that first home!  I have a real passion for helping folks buy and sell homes here in the great state of Georgia and I would love to connect with you!

I help people buy and sell real estate in the following north Georgia cities: Rincon, Pooler, Guyton, Savannah, the islands, Richmond Hill, Hinesville, and the surrounding areas.  If you’re looking for Hunter Army Airfield or Fort Stewart housing it would be my honor to assist you!