Got orders to Fort Benning and a report date that doesn’t care whether you’ve found a house? We’re Arrio & Kelsey, an Army family. We’ve PCS’d, sold under a report date and made this move ourselves, and we build every plan backward from your report date, your BAH and the schools your kids will attend.

Orders in hand? Get our free PCS Buyer Game Plan: your timeline from report date, what to settle before you tour, and when to write the offer.

Get the PCS Buyer Game Plan

GA + ALLicensed on both sides of the river

Video or in personTours before you arrive

Report dateWhere every timeline starts

VA loansEntitlement, funding fee, assumptions

How we work a PCS move

Orders in hand

1Get pre-qualified the week orders arrive. A pre-qualification usually doesn’t touch your credit, and with the right lender it can be good for several months, so there’s no reason to wait. It lets you shop with real numbers from day one.

2Work backward from your report date. We set when you need full pre-approval, a shortlist, an offer and a closing, including TLE and house-hunting leave.

3Set the budget on BAH, not the max approval. We price the payment against your housing allowance and the costs lenders leave out.

4Pick the side of the river. Columbus, Harris County, Phenix City and Smiths Station differ on taxes, commute and school system, and we’re licensed in both states.

5Tour before you get here. Live video walk-throughs from wherever you are, and we walk the inspection in person if you can’t.

6Close on your schedule. In person, by mail-away signing or with a power of attorney, so the keys are ready when you arrive.

Keys in hand

Free tool · 10 seconds

Your report date planner

Enter the report date on your orders. We’ll work backward to the dates that matter for buying a home near Fort Benning.

Report date*

*Report date as it stands on your orders. Leave you take, such as a PTDY house-hunting trip, leave en route or signing in early, can move any of these steps earlier or later. We’ll adjust the dates with you. A planning guide, not a guarantee. Lender, contract and household-goods timing can change your dates. TLE and PTDY rules: see our house-hunting timeline.

Schools and the commute decide most PCS moves. Two houses a block apart can be zoned for different schools, so check the exact address in our Fort Benning school zones guide. Then compare the drive to the gates from each area, and the full cost side by side in Columbus vs. Phenix City and Harris County vs. Columbus.

Official PCS steps to line up

✓Household goods. Start your shipment in the Defense Personal Property System at move.mil as soon as you have orders; the orders are all you need. Peak season runs about May 15 to August 30, with lead times up to 21 days (Army guidance).
✓On-post housing. If you want to compare on-post housing, apply online. Your eligibility date is the day you sign out of your last duty station, and applying more than 30 days after you arrive puts you on the list from the application date (Military OneSource, Fort Benning housing).
✓Housing Services Office. For off-post rental listings and landlord problems, call the Fort Benning HSO at (706) 545-3921, Bldg. 35, Ridgeway Hall.
✓Your move plan. Build a personal checklist with Plan My Move from Military OneSource, and ask your gaining unit for a sponsor.
✓Schools. Before you move, ask your current installation’s School Liaison to connect you with Fort Benning’s. They help with enrollment, credit transfers and EFMP services. Then check any address in our school zones guide.
✓Budget help. Military OneSource offers free financial counseling to build a PCS budget and plan out-of-pocket costs, and the Office of Financial Readiness has rent-vs-buy and closing-cost calculators (Military OneSource housing guide).
✓Power of attorney. If one spouse may sign for the other at closing, get the POA early. Military OneSource and your installation legal office can help with POAs and lease questions (Plan Your Next Military PCS).
✓House-hunting PTDY. If it’s approved, you report to your gaining unit at the end of it, so plan the trip to finish where you start.

Where PCS families buy, and the drive to post

Area	Main gate (I-185)	NIM gate	Harmony Church	Airfield (Eddy Br.)
Midtown Columbus, GA	10 min	15 min	16 min	29 min
East Columbus, GA	14 min	19 min	20 min	33 min
Downtown Columbus, GA	15 min	15 min	20 min	25 min
Phenix City, AL	15 min	15 min	20 min	23 min
North Columbus, GA	19 min	25 min	25 min	38 min
Smiths Station, AL	26 min	26 min	31 min	33 min
Fortson, GA	27 min	32 min	33 min	46 min
Cataula, GA	31 min	36 min	37 min	50 min
Hamilton, GA	42 min	48 min	48 min	61 min

Free-flow estimates with no traffic. The NIM gate is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the other three run 24/7. Skip the Sand Hill (Custer Road) gate for a daily commute: it is open weekdays 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. only. Gate hours change; check the garrison gate list. Compare the areas in Columbus, GA or Phenix City, AL? and Harris County or Columbus?.

Commute picker

Which gate will you use?

Tap your gate and the areas re-sort by drive time.

Heads up on Sand Hill: the Custer Road gate is open weekdays 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. only and closed on weekends and federal holidays. Don’t build your daily commute around it; plan on the main gate as your backup.

See homes for sale by gate →

Free-flow drive times with no traffic, from the center of each area to the gate (OpenStreetMap routing). Hours from the Fort Benning garrison gate list; they change, so check before you rely on a gate. The NIM gate is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sand Hill is weekdays 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. only. Drive it at the hour you’ll actually commute before you buy.

Schools follow the street address, not the neighborhood name. Check any address on our Fort Benning school zones guide, and see how on-post and off-post enrollment works before you choose.

Arrio and Kelsey Granum planning a PCS home search at their kitchen table near Columbus, GA

Buying before you arrive

✓Pre-qualify early, pre-approve later. Pre-qualify as soon as you have orders (usually no hit to your credit). Get the full pre-approval about 60 days out from a lender who closes VA loans in Georgia and Alabama, so offers hold up.
✓Video tours you can trust. We show the parts listing photos skip: the street, the yard, the ceilings, the smell.
✓Inspection walked in person. You get the report and a call; we’re there for the walk-through.
✓Remote closing options. Mail-away signing or a power of attorney, set up early with the closing attorney.
✓Military clause. Ask for one in any lease while you shop, so new orders don’t cost you.

VA loans, explained by people who’ve used one

Most of the families we help buy with a VA loan. We handle the parts that decide whether a VA purchase closes on time: the appraisal, the funding fee, and second-tier entitlement if you’re keeping a house at your last duty station. Read the 2026 VA loan rules near Fort Benning, or run your numbers in the VA entitlement calculator.

Leaving Fort Benning on orders?

We sell for PCS families too, including from your next duty station. Start with selling a house with PCS orders, or sell or rent when you PCS if you’re thinking about keeping it.

What families say

“Kelsey did a fantastic job finding us a selection of houses to consider. She put in the time and effort to work us through the home buying process and get us exactly what we wanted!” — Phillip S., Google review

“They know what’s important to us is to feel safe, have good schools, large enough home for 3 kids and us adults… they are being very understanding and patient.” — Donna H., Google review

Ready to plan the move? Get the PCS Buyer Game Plan and we’ll build your timeline together.