Moving Stories: The Lane Family

Moving with the military is full of moving stories and surprises – some good, some…unexpected. Just ask Heather Lane. When her husband was asked to extend his service and received orders to Colorado from Texas in September 2020, she had no idea of the challenges the pandemic would add to their move – or the surprising (good!) news they would receive when they got there!

The Lanes had already used MilHousing Network before to buy their home in Texas, and sell their home during this last PCS. Needless to say, they were familiar with the process. “I got in touch with Lindsey back in 2016 to begin our home search in Texas from Virginia. We bought our home in Texas, sold our home in Texas, and bought our home in Colorado – all through MilHousing Network,” Heather said.  

MilHousing Network put the Lanes in touch with realtor Tulio Pena. Lane complimented Pena by saying that his extensive knowledge of military families and their struggles made the process smoother than expected. “He definitely helped us out. We had to wait until we got an offer on our house [in Texas] before we put in an offer on a house here [in Colorado] because the market here is so crazy. Houses go in a matter of hours,” she said, ‘and he told us that they wouldn’t even look at a contingency offer, and not to waste our time.”

Pena helped the Lanes choose the best house for them – without having to pay too much for it. Pena’s extensive knowledge of the housing market in Colorado helped them prepare to buy a house in an unpredictable market. “He [our realtor] said not to waste our time on a few houses because they wouldn’t appraise for as much as they were being sold for. Houses here tend to sell for more than their asking price. With his help, we were able to get a house for $25,000 less than asking price. He really watched out for us, and we appreciate it immensely,” Heather said.

When asked about the biggest challenge they faced during their PCS move, Heather stated that having to wait for each step to work was difficult. “It’s kind of like a gear system. Everything depends on everything else. We wanted to keep going with our setups in Colorado, but we had to wait for everything in Texas to be done. We had to wait for all of these working pieces to start working, and that’s tough,” she said. She also talked about how the COVID-19 presented its own challenge. “It was uncharted territory, moving during a pandemic. We couldn’t take our son inside when we viewed houses, we had to wear masks and gloves, and we never met with our realtor face-to-face in Texas because of the pandemic.”

The family also received some unexpected news after the move – Heather was pregnant! “I’m kind of an older mom. I’m 43, and we lost three children between our firstborn (who is 10) and now. So we kind of just gave up – we figured we were done. But then, we received this amazing surprise, and we are thrilled!” she said. “My husband actually gave me a pregnancy test as a joke because I thought my morning sickness was the anxiety I was feeling due to the move.

When asked about their experience with MilHousing Network, Heather described the experience as really smooth. “Having them kind of “guide the ship” helped us figure out the next step. We’ve been very happy with our choice to use MilHousing Network,” she said. “I am happy with my decision to MilHousing Network, and I’d use them again!” 

Do you have a PCS move coming up? Let us help you! Click here to get connected with a realtor today!

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Thank you Lane Family for sharing your experience for our moving stories series of articles!

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