It goes without saying, the coronavirus has now affected just about every part of almost everyone’s lives. That includes the lives of servicemen and women who are in the process of moving across the country.
“Military moves are already hard enough on our families, and then just to be put into a situation where everything is kind of stopped until May 11, and we don’t really know what’s next,” Allison Chance of the group Homes for Heroes, said.
Homes for Heroes helps servicemen and women sell and buy their homes for free when they have to move. The Pentagon halted domestic travel for service members, defense department civilians and family members to try to stop the spread of COVID-19 until May 11. This includes change of station moves, servicemen and women moving for their jobs.
“As a military spouse myself, one of the hardest parts of this life is moving because you literally have to pick up your life, move to your next place and start over,” Chance said. “There’s a lot of frustrations because there are a lot of unknowns, especially for those who were supposed to close on their home this week or next week, and just to have a contract fall apart, you just feel like you’re at the finish line and you have to start all over again."
According to Chance, every year about 450,000 servicemen and women move as part of changing his or her station. About 40 percent of those moves happen in the summertime.
If you’re in this situation and have no other option but to follow through with your move, Chance recommends speaking with your commanding officer to look into what’s called an extreme hardship exception.
She said Homes for Heroes is now doing a lot more virtual showings. The group is also holding drive-thru signings for homes they’re able to close on to protect buyers and sellers.