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Military RelocationMost service members can request up to 10 days of permissive TDY for house hunting during a PCS, and those days are not charged against your leave balance. Command approval is required rather than automatic, and the government does not reimburse travel, lodging, or per diem for the trip.
Ten non-chargeable days to go find where your family is going to live. It is one of the more useful benefits attached to a move, and it is also one of the most consistently mishandled. Not because anyone is careless, but because the trip gets planned around the wrong assumptions. Here are the ones that cost people the most.
Mistake 1: Never asking for it
Plenty of service members do not know house hunting permissive TDY exists, and some are told it is not available when the regulation says otherwise. It is authorized under the Joint Travel Regulations, it is non-chargeable, and it applies to CONUS and OCONUS moves alike.
Two things narrow eligibility. You generally have to be authorized to occupy non-government quarters at the new duty station, so someone headed to the barracks does not qualify. And your command has to approve it. The regulation authorizes the absence, the commander grants it, and mission requirements can reduce or deny it. Ask early, in writing, as part of your PCS leave request.
Mistake 2: Assuming ten days means ten working days
This one varies by service and it catches people. Some guidance describes a flat ceiling of up to 10 days. Navy and Marine Corps residence hunting guidance frames it differently, authorizing up to five normal work days, extended to a total of 10 calendar days only when combined with weekends, holidays, and liberty.
Those are not the same benefit. One gives you ten business days of agent appointments and lender calls. The other gives you five, with the weekend filling out the calendar. If you built a house hunting plan around ten full working days and your service authorizes five, half your scheduled showings do not exist. Confirm the actual number with your command before you book anything.
Mistake 3: Planning to close during the trip
This is the expensive one. A VA loan generally takes 30 to 45 days from accepted offer to funding. Appraisal, underwriting, and title work alone commonly run 25 to 35 days. No version of a 10 day window closes a purchase.
| What people plan for | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Tour homes and close before reporting | Tour homes, get an offer accepted, close weeks later |
| Ten days of showings | Five to seven productive days after travel and setup |
| Government covers the trip | Flights, hotel, and meals come out of pocket |
| Decide everything on site | Final walkthrough and signing usually happen on a second trip |
The approach that actually works is to use the trip to get under contract, then handle closing separately, either on a return trip, through a power of attorney, or with a remote signing. Escrow does not require you to stand in San Diego North County while it runs.
Mistake 4: Showing up without a pre-approval
Arriving with ten days and no financing in place means spending the first three getting a lender to verify income you could have had verified a month earlier. In a market where well-priced listings go pending in a couple of weeks, an offer without a strong pre-approval letter behind it does not compete.
For first-time buyers and anyone using a VA loan for the first time, this is where the trip quietly fails. The homes were available. The financing was not ready to move on them.
Mistake 5: Expecting the trip to be paid for
Permissive means the absence is free, not the travel. There is no per diem, no lodging reimbursement, and no funded airfare. Budget the trip like a personal one, because that is what it is financially. Space available travel may be an option worth checking, but plan as though it is not.
Pro Tip: If you cannot get the days, or the timing does not work, a spouse-led trip needs no command approval at all. The permissive TDY applies to the service member. Nothing stops a spouse from touring with an agent while the service member joins by video. This is common during deployments and dense training cycles, and it works fine as long as whoever is on the ground has authority to make decisions.
What a well-run trip actually produces
The goal is not keys. The goal is an accepted offer, or a confident decision that a specific area is wrong for your family. Both are wins. A trip that eliminates three neighborhoods and produces nothing is still better than arriving cold on your report date with a lease signed sight unseen.
Veterans and military buyers who get the most out of these ten days tend to do the same things. Pre-approval finished before departure. A shortlist built remotely. An agent who already knows the report date and works backward from it.
If you have orders and want a house hunting trip built around your actual dates, call or text me at (619) 485-8293, or reach me through my Connect page. I have run this trip from both sides of it.
Ask Your Command This
Two questions to ask before you book travel:
- "How many days of house hunting permissive TDY will be approved for me specifically, and is that counted in work days or calendar days?"
- "Does my approval need to come from the losing command or the gaining command, and what form do you need from me to start it?"
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days of house hunting leave do you get?
Commonly up to 10, though the structure differs by service and some commands approve fewer. Navy and Marine Corps guidance frames it as up to five normal work days, extendable to 10 calendar days with weekends and holidays included. Confirm your number rather than assuming the ceiling.
Does house hunting leave count against my leave balance?
No. Permissive TDY is non-chargeable, which is the entire point of the benefit. What it does not include is travel pay, lodging, or per diem.
Can I use it if I am separating or retiring instead of PCSing?
There is a separate category for that. Transition permissive TDY allows a longer window, commonly up to 20 days, covering job hunting and house hunting together. Approval usually comes from the losing command.
Can I take the trip before I have orders in hand?
Generally you need written reassignment orders first. Most people request the days after receiving orders and use them after signing out of the old command and before reporting to the new one.
What if my trip ends without a house?
That happens, and it is not a failure. You have narrowed the search and you can keep working remotely with a shortlist that now means something. Many families go under contract weeks later on a home they never physically toured, because the groundwork was already done.
How many days did your command actually approve, and did the trip produce what you needed? Drop it in the comments, because the number varies more than most people expect. More on PCS moves and VA loans in San Diego North County is on the blog.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal or financial advice. Permissive TDY policies vary by service and command and are subject to change. Confirm your entitlement with your command and the current Joint Travel Regulations. All real estate services comply with NAR, HUD, and California DRE regulations.
