PCS orders and a house in Delaware

Orders come with a report date, and the house does not care. Families at Dover Air Force Base, and service members living anywhere in Delaware, usually face the same fork: rent the house out from the next duty station, or sell it before or after the move. This page lays out the federal and Delaware rules that bear on that choice, so the decision rests on numbers instead of a deadline.

The date that matters: your report date, worked backwardCount back from the day you must report: household goods pickup, final out-processing, the last day anyone will be in the house. A listing needs weeks of showings plus a buyer’s financing. A rental needs a tenant, a lease and someone local to call when the water heater fails. Whichever way you lean, start the week the orders land.

Dover Air Force Base and the Delaware housing it touches

Dover Air Force Base is home to the 436th Airlift Wing and, in the base’s own description, the Defense Department’s largest aerial port, with roughly 11,000 Airmen, joint service members, civilians and family members connected to it. Some of those households own a home off base, and with every PCS cycle a share of them has to decide what happens to a house that cannot come along.

The question is rarely just “sell or rent.” It is whether the rent covers the mortgage, taxes, insurance and repairs with something left over; whether you can manage tenants from another time zone; and whether keeping the house a few years changes the tax picture when you finally sell. Each of those has a rule behind it.

Renting it out versus selling it

If you rent it out

You become a Delaware landlord under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code in Title 25, with its rules on leases, deposits, repairs and notice. Local rules stack on top: Wilmington requires an annual rental license and inspections, and owners who live outside New Castle County must keep a property manager licensed in the city; New Castle County runs a rental registration; Dover issues rental permits through its code office. Budget for a property manager, vacancies between tenants and repairs you will not see in person.

If you sell it

The house is off your books before or soon after you report. In Delaware a licensed attorney conducts the settlement, the realty transfer tax is shared half and half by buyer and seller by default, and the seller completes the state disclosure report in most sales. If Delaware will no longer be your legal residence at the time of sale, expect the nonresident estimated-tax form described below.

One rule cuts both ways for military landlords

Bases are full of renters with orders. If your tenant is a service member, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets them end the lease when they get PCS orders or deploy for 90 days or more; on a monthly lease, the lease ends 30 days after the next rent due date following their notice. Delaware’s own code separately lets a tenant who enters active duty after signing give 30 days’ written notice. Plan for that turnover if you rent to the next family coming through Dover.

SCRA basics for homeowners, and their limits

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is federal law, and parts of it protect homeowners. The key word throughout is before: most of the homeowner protections apply only to debts taken on before you entered military service.

The 6 percent interest cap. A loan you took out before entering service cannot charge more than 6 percent a year while you serve, and for a mortgage that runs for one year after service as well. You have to send the lender written notice and a copy of your orders, no later than 180 days after you leave service (50 U.S.C. § 3937).
Foreclosure protection. For a mortgage originated before service, a sale or foreclosure during service or within one year afterward is not valid without a court order or a valid waiver, and a court can pause the case or adjust the payments (50 U.S.C. § 3953).
Lease termination. The lease protections work for you as a tenant, and against you as a landlord whose tenant gets orders (50 U.S.C. § 3955).

If you bought your Dover house while already on active duty, the interest cap and the pre-service mortgage protections generally will not reach that loan. Ask the legal assistance office at your installation to look at your specific loan and orders before you rely on any of this; the statute is short, but how it applies turns on dates.

Taxes that change with your decision

The federal home-sale exclusion. Under IRS Publication 523, profit of up to $250,000 (twice that on a joint return) escapes federal tax when the house was both owned by you and your home for 24 months within the five-year window that closes at the sale. Rent it out long enough and that window can slide past the years you lived there. Uniformed service members get extra room: while on qualified official extended duty, meaning orders of over 90 days, or indefinite ones, to a post 50 or more miles from the house, the five-year look-back can be paused for as long as 10 years. Run your dates past a tax preparer before settling on how long to rent.

Delaware’s nonresident form. Delaware’s code (30 Del. C. § 1126) makes any seller who is not a Delaware resident submit an estimated income tax return to the Recorder of Deeds, with payment of whatever it shows, before the deed will be recorded. Sellers whose gain is excludable can declare that on the form. Your legal residence may not be Delaware even if you have lived here for years, so tell the settlement attorney early.

Transfer tax. Delaware’s realty transfer tax is apportioned equally between seller and buyer by statute; in Kent County every jurisdiction adds up to 4 percent in total. When we buy, we split it with you the same way, half each.

Your options, laid side by side

What PCS homeowners in Delaware typically choose
Route	What happens	Fits when	Watch out for
Rent it yourself	You find tenants and handle repairs from the new station.	Rent comfortably covers every cost and you have a reliable local contact.	Midnight repair calls across time zones, and military tenants who can leave on orders.
Rent through a manager	A property manager screens tenants and handles upkeep for a fee.	You want to keep the house as a long-term rental.	The fee eats into thin margins; watch the two-of-five-year tax clock.
List with an agent	The house goes on the market, usually to financed buyers.	You have several months, equity, and a house that shows well.	Commission, showings while you pack, and a sale that may still be open after you report.
Sell to a cash buyer like us	We buy as-is with our own funds; settlement can fall before or after your report date.	The timeline is tight, the house needs work, or you do not want to be a landlord.	We pay less than a fully prepared house could fetch on the open market.

General information only. Your installation’s legal assistance office and a tax preparer can apply it to your orders and your loan.

If the house is updated, the market near the base is moving and you have a few months, an agent listing will usually net more than we can pay. We make sense when the move is close, when the house needs work you will not be around to supervise, or when you have been a long-distance landlord before and do not want to repeat it.

Have these ready

Your orders. The report date, and whether a spouse stays behind for a while.
The mortgage statement. For the payoff and to check when the loan began relative to your service.
Every name on the deed. Both spouses sign; if one has already left, ask the settlement attorney early how they will sign.
Your state of legal residence. It decides whether Delaware’s nonresident form applies.
Tax and utility accounts. County and city tax bills, sewer and water, so final amounts can be settled.

How a sale to us lines up with a PCS move

One walk-through, scheduled around out-processing.
You receive a written cash number, usually within 24 hours, with the reasoning behind it.
You pick the settlement date: about a week out once title is clear, or one to three months out, including after you have reported.
Leave behind what the movers do not take; we handle it.

If the house will sit empty between your move and settlement, read selling a vacant house for the insurance and registration points. For Kent County offices and tax timing, see Dover, Camden or Kent County.

Free help firstYour installation’s legal assistance office can review SCRA questions and lease terms at no cost. When you want a firm number for the house to weigh against renting it, call us at (856) 226-4289 with your report date.

Related situations

Questions military homeowners in Delaware ask

Should I sell or rent my house when I PCS from Dover AFB?

It depends on whether the rent covers every cost with room to spare and whether you can manage tenants from far away. Renting builds equity but makes you a long-distance Delaware landlord; selling ends the obligation. Run both sets of numbers, including the tax effect, before your report date.

Does the SCRA protect me from foreclosure on my Delaware house?

Only for a mortgage that originated before you entered military service. For those loans, a foreclosure sale during service or within one year after is not valid without a court order or a valid waiver, under 50 U.S.C. § 3953. A loan taken out while already serving is generally outside that protection.

Can I get my mortgage rate lowered to 6 percent under the SCRA?

Only if the mortgage was taken out before you entered service. In that case the rate is capped at 6 percent during service and for one year after, provided you send the lender written notice and a copy of your orders no later than 180 days after your service ends.

If I rent my house to another service member, can they break the lease?

Yes. Under 50 U.S.C. § 3955, a service member tenant who receives PCS orders or deploys for 90 days or more can terminate a residential lease. On a monthly lease, termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent due date following their notice.

Will renting my house first cost me the capital gains exclusion?

It can. The exclusion looks for 24 months of ownership and residence inside the five years before the sale, and years spent renting the house out push your own time there further back. IRS Publication 523 lets service members on qualified official extended duty pause that look-back for as long as 10 years, so check your dates with a tax preparer.

Do I owe Delaware tax when I sell if I am not a Delaware resident?

You have to file Delaware’s nonresident estimated tax return with the Recorder of Deeds before the deed is recorded, under 30 Del. C. § 1126. If your gain can be excluded, for example under the federal home-sale exclusion, you can declare that on the form and owe nothing at that stage.

In Kent County, how is the transfer tax divided?

By statute the tax is split evenly between buyer and seller, and in every Kent County jurisdiction the state and local shares add up to 4 percent in total. Selling to us keeps that even split: you pay half of the tax and we pay the other half.

Can you close after I have already reported to my new station?

Yes. You choose the settlement date, and it can fall after you have moved. Ask the Delaware settlement attorney early how documents will be signed from your new location, especially if both spouses are on the deed.

Do I need a Delaware rental license if I keep the house?

In some places, yes. Wilmington requires an annual rental license and inspections, New Castle County has a rental registration, and Dover issues rental permits through its code enforcement office. Check with the town or county that governs your address before the first tenant moves in.

Is the Dover AFB housing office the right place to ask about selling?

Your installation’s housing and legal assistance offices are good first stops for questions about orders, leases and the SCRA. We have not listed their phone numbers here because we could not confirm them on an official page; use the numbers in your in-processing materials.