Your first 30 days after orders

Orders arrive and the clock starts. Most of the moves that go badly do not go badly at the closing table. They go badly in the first thirty days, when nobody did the boring things in the right order. Here is the order.

Week one: the lender. Before you look at a single listing, talk to a lender who closes military purchases every week. Ask for an underwritten approval, not a prequalification. A prequalification is a guess. An underwritten approval means a human has reviewed your income, your credit, and your eligibility, and the financing is close to a formality. Gather what they will ask for: orders, two months of pay statements, two years of tax forms, bank statements, ID. If you have used a home loan benefit before, ask about your remaining eligibility now, not in week six.

Week two: the number. The lender will hand you an approval amount. Write it down and then set it aside. The number that matters is the full monthly payment: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any HOA or district fee. Run that payment against your housing allowance. Decide, on purpose, how far past the allowance you are willing to go and who covers the gap. If the answer is a second income, confirm the start date against your close date.

Week three: the gate. Find out which gate you will use and what its hours are, from current post information, not from a forum post. Then search by drive time at the hour you would actually make it, both directions. Shortlist two neighborhoods, not six.

Week four: the team. An agent who will walk houses on a live video call and tell you the ugly parts. An inspector who works for you. A lender who already has you underwritten. Set that team now, before you are house hunting, and the rest of the plan runs on rails.

One more thing: ask your command about a house-hunting trip. Rules vary and your orders set them. Even a short trip changes what you can verify in person.