Moms Who Kinda Surf
By Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | June 2026
I'm going surfing this week.
Let's be clear: I am not a surfer. I'm a 50-year-old military spouse, mom of two, realtor, and professional keeper-of-everyone-else's-schedule who found a group called "Moms Who Kinda Surf" and said yes before I could talk myself out of it.
Kinda is doing a lot of work in that name. It's not "expert surfers." It's not "surf club." It's an invitation to show up exactly as you are — skills optional.
I've surfed before. I fell off, stayed on, swallowed half the Pacific, and had a great time anyway. Then life happened — kids, career, a household that runs on my energy — and surfing landed on the "someday" list, right next to everything else that quietly never happens.
Someday isn't a day of the week. So I'm scheduling it. This week.
A quick word to my fellow military spouses:
You move a lot. You rebuild a lot — friend groups, routines, a version of yourself that fits the new zip code. It's exhausting, and you're usually doing it while also running the household solo and showing up for kids who need you in big ways.
So here's your permission slip: take care of yourself too. Not someday. This week.
It doesn't have to be a board and an ocean. It just has to be one yes you've been putting off.
I'll be the one in the water, kinda surfing, falling off in front of new friends and getting back on anyway.
Come find me.
— Alexis "Lexie" Dindal, military spouse, mom, and San Diego real estate agent specializing in military relocation and VA loans.
619-721-7868 | lexie.dindal@compass.com | @alexisdindal.realtor
The 2026 Market Isn’t What You Think
Every June, I get a wave of calls from military families who just got orders and are trying to figure out whether to sell. And every year, they come in with the same assumption: either the market is hot and they'll be fine, or the market is slow and they should wait.
In 2026, neither of those is quite right — and that distinction matters a lot for how you approach a PCS sale.
Here's what's actually happening in San Diego right now, and what it means for military homeowners making decisions this summer.
The Market Has Split — And Which Side You're On Changes Everything
San Diego doesn't have one market right now. It has two.
Single-family homes are holding strong. The median price for a San Diego single-family home hit $1,090,000 in early 2026 — up nearly 2% year over year. Demand is real. Well-priced, move-in-ready homes in military-accessible neighborhoods are still moving quickly and attracting multiple offers.
Condos and townhomes are a different story. Townhome prices have dropped over 5% in the past year. Condo prices are down nearly 2%. And because a large percentage of military homeowners near bases like NAS North Island, 32nd Street, Miramar, and Pendleton bought condos or townhomes — this is the number that actually matters for most of my clients.
If you don't know which category your home falls into, or what your neighborhood is doing specifically, you're making decisions blind.
More Inventory Means More Competition
Here's the other shift that doesn't get enough attention: San Diego inventory in 2026 is at its highest level since the pandemic-era recession. More homes on the market means your listing is competing against more choices.
That doesn't mean you can't sell well. It means you can't afford to be lazy about it.
Overpriced homes are sitting. Homes that need work are sitting. Homes with weak photos and no strategy are sitting. "A" homes — well-located, well-prepared, correctly priced — are still moving fast.
For military sellers, this is critical because you often don't have time to recover from a slow start. If orders have dropped, you're working against the clock. You don't get to take it off the market, regroup, and relist without consequences.
Your VA Loan Is a Listing Advantage — If You Use It
This is the part most agents miss entirely.
If you bought your San Diego home in 2020, 2021, or 2022 with a VA loan, there's a good chance your interest rate is somewhere between 2.5% and 3.5%. That rate is assumable. And in a market where buyers are financing at 6.5–7%, an assumable loan at that rate is worth real money — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars in buyer savings over the life of the loan.
That means your home has a feature most listings in San Diego don't have. It can be marketed differently. It can attract a specific pool of VA-eligible buyers who understand exactly what they're getting. In a higher-inventory environment where buyers have more choices, that's a competitive edge that can justify your price and shorten your time on market.
Most sellers don't even realize this is on the table. Most listing agents don't know how to execute it. I do — it's a significant part of what I specialize in.
What This Means If You Have PCS Orders Right Now
If orders have dropped — or you know they're coming — here's what the current market demands:
Know your real number. The condo/SFH split, your specific neighborhood, and your condition relative to competing listings all determine your outcome. A generic Zillow estimate won't tell you what a military buyer will actually pay for your home this summer.
Don't assume you're too late. June and July PCS sellers can absolutely close before they need to report. I've managed remote sales — offers, inspections, negotiations, closing — for sellers who were already at their next duty station. It's entirely doable with the right systems in place.
Prepare the home, not just the listing. In a competitive inventory environment, the homes that sell fast are the ones that are ready. That means upfront consultation on what's worth addressing and what's not — not a last-minute scramble.
Use your VA loan as a marketing asset. If your rate is sub-4%, it needs to be in your listing description and actively communicated to buyer's agents. It's not a detail. It's a headline.
The Bottom Line
San Diego is still a strong market for sellers — but it's not forgiving of bad strategy the way 2021 and 2022 were. If your home is a condo or townhome, you need to price it correctly from day one. If you have an assumable VA loan, you need an agent who knows how to leverage it. And if you have PCS orders, you need someone who can execute a remote sale without drama.
I've done this hundreds of times. I know what this market is doing neighborhood by neighborhood, and I know what military buyers are actually looking for this summer.
If you want to know what your home is worth and what your options are before you decide anything — start with a free home valuation by texting, emailing or calling me.
No obligation. No pressure. Just a clear picture so you can make the right call for your family.
Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | Compass Military Division | San Diego 619-721-7868 | Lexie.Dindal@compass.com DRE# AB066667; MSLRA021 | Military Relocation Specialist | VA Loan & Assumption Expert
How to Sell for More When You PCS Out of San Diego
By Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | Compass Military Division | June 2026
I've helped hundreds of military families sell their homes. The ones who walk away with the most money aren't always the ones with the nicest homes. They're the ones who had a strategy.
After 25+ years in real estate, I can tell you exactly what separates a strong sale from a stressful one — and it comes down to four things: pricing, timing, staging, and preparation. Get all four right and you're not just selling, you're maximizing.
Here's how I approach every single PCS listing.
Pricing: Slightly Under Market Is the Smartest Move You Can Make
I know that sounds counterintuitive. You want more money, so why would you list for less?
Because buyers in 2026 are smart, well-informed, and have more inventory to choose from than they did two years ago. They know what things are worth. The moment a home is priced above market, it signals one of two things: the seller is unrealistic, or something's wrong with the property. Either way, buyers move on.
Here's what actually happens when you price slightly under market value:
You generate immediate interest. Multiple buyers schedule showings in the first weekend. You create the conditions for competing offers. And competing offers — not wishful asking prices — are what push your final sale price above market.
I've seen sellers walk away with more than they would have gotten at a higher asking price, simply because the pricing strategy created urgency and competition instead of hesitation.
For PCS sellers, this strategy is especially important. You don't have the luxury of sitting on the market for six weeks waiting for the right buyer. Overpricing costs you time you don't have, and a price reduction after 30 days on market signals desperation — which costs you money. Price it right from the start, generate the competition, and close on your terms.
Timing: Stop Waiting for the "Right" Time
Here's the honest truth about timing a PCS sale in San Diego: stop overthinking it.
San Diego is not a seasonal market the way the Midwest or Northeast are. Our weather is consistent. Military buyers arrive year-round. Demand from incoming service members doesn't stop in October. The idea that you need to wait for spring, or that summer is too late, or that the holidays are the wrong time — that's advice built for other markets, not this one.
What actually determines your timing is your orders and your preparation. Those are the two variables that matter.
If you know a PCS is coming — even informally, even before orders are signed — that's when you call me. We start the conversation early. We do the walkthrough. We talk through what needs to happen before you list. The sellers who come out ahead are the ones who started the process 60 to 90 days before they needed to, not the ones who called me two weeks before they had to report.
Time buys you options. Start early, and the timing takes care of itself.
Preparation: The Four Mistakes That Cost Military Sellers Money
In 25+ years of listing homes for military families, I've seen the same mistakes over and over. Here's what not to do — and what to do instead.
Mistake #1: Waiting Too Long to Start
Orders drop and suddenly everything is happening at once — coordinating the move, finding housing at the next duty station, managing family logistics, and now trying to get a house ready to sell in three weeks. It's too compressed, and something always suffers.
The fix is simple: start before you have to. Even a few weeks of lead time lets us schedule repairs, get the deep clean done, arrange staging, and hit the market in a position of strength rather than scramble.
Mistake #2: Over-Improving the Wrong Things
I see sellers spend $15,000 on a kitchen remodel they'll never recoup. Or replace carpet that just needed a good cleaning. Or repaint the entire interior in designer colors when neutral white would have done the job for a quarter of the cost.
Before you spend a dollar on improvements, talk to me. Some things move the needle — fresh interior paint, updated light fixtures, clean landscaping, repaired deferred maintenance. Others are money out the door with no return. I'll tell you exactly what's worth doing and what isn't, based on what buyers are actually responding to right now in your specific neighborhood.
Mistake #3: Leaving It Too "Lived In"
Military families live in their homes. That's not a criticism — it's a fact. But when it's time to sell, buyers need to be able to see themselves living there, not you.
That means depersonalizing. Family photos, military memorabilia, kids' artwork on the refrigerator, pet beds, sports gear in the garage — all of it needs to go into storage. It also means addressing things you've stopped noticing: pet odors, carpet wear in high-traffic areas, the crayon mark on the hallway wall you've walked past for two years.
Buyers notice everything. A home that smells clean and looks move-in ready sells faster and for more money than one that needs imagination.
Mistake #4: Skipping Staging and Relying on Empty-House Photos
An empty house photographs terribly. Rooms look smaller. Buyers struggle to understand the scale and flow of the space. And without furniture, every flaw in the floors, walls, and paint becomes the only thing in the frame.
Professional staging changes this completely. It's not about making your home look like a magazine spread — it's about helping buyers emotionally connect with the space and picture their life in it. In my experience, staged homes sell faster and consistently command higher offers than vacant homes at the same price point.
If you've already moved out ahead of closing, staging isn't optional — it's essential.
What "Sell for More" Actually Looks Like
Let me give you a realistic picture of how this plays out when it's done right.
A Navy family in Chula Vista gets PCS orders in April. They call me in late April — eight weeks before they need to close. We do a walkthrough. I identify four things worth addressing: a deep clean, fresh paint in two rooms, professional staging, and a repair to the back fence that would flag on a VA inspection. Total out-of-pocket: around $4,500.
We price the home slightly under the most recent comparable sale in the neighborhood. It hits the market on a Thursday. By Sunday we have four offers. We counter the strongest two. Final sale price: $18,000 over asking.
The family walked away with significantly more than they would have gotten pricing high and waiting — and they closed with time to spare before reporting to their next duty station.
That's not a lucky outcome. That's a strategy executed well.
The Bottom Line
Selling your San Diego home before a PCS doesn't have to be stressful, and it doesn't have to mean leaving money on the table. But it does require a plan — and the earlier you start, the better your outcome.
If you're looking at orders on the horizon, or you just want to understand what your home is worth before you decide anything, let's talk. I've done this hundreds of times. I know what your neighborhood is doing, what buyers are paying, and exactly what your home needs to compete.
Start with a home valuation below — it takes 30 seconds and gives you a real number to plan around.
Or call me directly: 619-721-7868
Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | Compass Military Division | San Diego619-721-7868 | lexie.dindal@compass.com DRE# AB066667; MSLRA021 | Military Relocation Specialist | VA Loan & Assumption Expert
House Hacking With a VA Loan: How Military Families in San Diego Are Living for Less (and Building a Portfolio)
By Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | Compass Military Division | June 2026
Most service members know the VA loan gets them into a home with zero down and no PMI. Fewer realize the same benefit can be used to buy a duplex, triplex, or fourplex — live in one unit, rent the others, and let your tenants offset a significant portion of your mortgage.
It's called house hacking. It's completely VA-approved. And in San Diego, where rents are high and military housing demand is constant, it's one of the most powerful wealth-building moves available to active-duty families.
Here's how it works, what the rules actually say, and a real-world example of what the numbers look like.
What the VA Actually Allows
The VA home loan program is built for primary residences — but that includes multi-unit properties up to four units, as long as you occupy one of them as your primary residence.
That means you can purchase a duplex, triplex, or fourplex with:
Zero down payment
No monthly PMI
Competitive VA interest rates
Rental income from the other units starting day one
You do not need to wait to rent the non-owner units. As long as you are living in one unit as your primary home, the other units can be leased immediately.
What you cannot do is use a VA loan to purchase a property you never intend to live in. The VA requires genuine owner-occupancy intent at closing. That's not a technicality — certifying false intent is a federal offense. But if you buy with the plan to live there, and life changes later (PCS orders, deployment, family circumstances), the VA program accommodates that. Military reality is built into the rules.
The Numbers: Funding Fee and Rental Income Qualifying
Funding Fee
The VA funding fee applies to multi-unit purchases just as it does to single-family homes. In 2026, the rates are:
First use, 0% down: 2.15% of the loan amount
Subsequent use, 0% down: 3.30% of the loan amount
5%–9.99% down: 1.50% (first or subsequent use)
10%+ down: 1.25% (first or subsequent use)
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation at any level are exempt from the funding fee entirely — a savings that can run into five figures on a multi-unit purchase.
The fee can be rolled into the loan rather than paid at closing, though that increases your monthly payment and total interest.
Using Rental Income to Qualify
Here's where multi-unit VA purchases get powerful: lenders can count 75% of the projected rent from non-owner-occupied units toward your qualifying income for DTI purposes. The 25% discount accounts for vacancy and maintenance.
On a duplex where the second unit rents for $2,500/month, that adds $1,875/month to your qualifying income — which can significantly expand the loan you're approved for, often beyond what your W-2 income alone would support.
Important: For triplexes and fourplexes, most lenders apply a self-sufficiency test: the net rental income from all non-owner units (at 75% of market rent) must cover the full mortgage payment (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance). This is a lender overlay, not a VA rule, but it's common and worth knowing before you write an offer on a triplex or fourplex. Duplexes are not subject to this test.
Also worth knowing: some lenders have additional overlays — they may count only 70% of rental income, or require documented landlord experience before crediting any rental income at all. Working with a lender experienced in VA multi-unit financing is essential. Not all VA lenders handle these files the same way.
What This Looks Like in San Diego
San Diego is a high-cost market, and multi-unit properties near military installations aren't cheap. But the math can still work — particularly in South Bay neighborhoods like National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach, which sit within commuting range of Naval Base San Diego (32nd Street), Naval Station Coronado, and the Chula Vista waterfront corridor.
Duplex inventory in Chula Vista has a median listing price around $1.19M. North County markets near Camp Pendleton — Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos — also carry multi-unit inventory, though at varying price points.
San Diego County's 2026 conforming loan limits for multi-unit VA purchases (for veterans with partial entitlement) are approximately $1.4M for duplexes, $1.7M for triplexes, and $2.1M for fourplexes. Veterans with full entitlement face no VA-imposed loan limit and can purchase with zero down regardless of price, subject to lender approval.
A Story: Chief Petty Officer Marcus and the Chula Vista Duplex
The following is a composite example for illustration. Numbers are based on real 2026 San Diego market data.
Marcus is a Navy Chief Petty Officer stationed at 32nd Street Naval Base. He and his wife, Danielle, had been renting a two-bedroom apartment in Chula Vista for $2,400/month. They had no investment properties, solid income, and full VA entitlement — meaning zero down, no loan limit.
During a routine conversation about their housing situation, Marcus mentioned he'd heard about house hacking from a colleague. He'd never seriously looked into it because he assumed VA loans were for single-family homes only.
They weren't.
With help from a VA-experienced lender and an agent who knew how to search multi-unit inventory, Marcus and Danielle found a duplex in Chula Vista: two well-maintained 3-bedroom units, both with updated kitchens, off-street parking, and a strong rental history. Purchase price: $895,000.
The numbers:
Down payment: $0 (full VA entitlement)
Funding fee (first use, 0% down): 2.15% = ~$19,243, rolled into the loan
Total loan amount: ~$914,243
Estimated mortgage (PITI at ~6.5%): ~$6,800/month
Market rent for second unit: ~$2,600/month
Income credited toward DTI (75%): ~$1,950/month
Effective housing cost: ~$4,200/month out of pocket
They moved into one unit and leased the second immediately. Their actual monthly housing cost dropped from $2,400 in rent to roughly $4,200 in mortgage — but now they own both units, are building equity across the entire property, and have a tenant covering nearly 40% of their payment.
When Marcus receives PCS orders in two or three years, the plan is straightforward: rent both units. The property cash-flows. The VA entitlement may be available again for their next duty station. They've already started building the portfolio.
The PCS Advantage: One Move at a Time
This is the strategy military families are using across every duty station. Buy a multi-unit with VA financing. Live in it. PCS. Convert it to a full rental. Buy again at the next station — potentially with restored entitlement, or using second-tier (bonus) entitlement if the first property still has a VA loan on it.
Each PCS becomes an acquisition. Over a 20-year career with several duty stations, a disciplined service member can build a portfolio of income-producing properties they never would have been able to afford with conventional financing — because the VA loan's zero-down requirement removes the largest barrier to entry at every step.
This is not theoretical. It's what a growing number of military families are doing right now, and the ones who started in San Diego are sitting on significant equity.
What to Watch Out For
House hacking with a VA loan is powerful, but it's not without complexity. A few things to get right:
Use a lender experienced in VA multi-unit files. Multi-unit appraisals are more complex than single-family, and lender overlays vary significantly. A lender who mostly does single-family VA loans may not know how to structure your rental income correctly, or may apply a more conservative self-sufficiency test than necessary.
VA Minimum Property Requirements apply to every unit. The VA appraiser will inspect all units, not just the one you're occupying. Each unit must meet VA habitability standards. Deferred maintenance in a tenant-occupied unit can trigger required repairs before closing.
Get your entitlement status confirmed early. If you've used a VA loan before and still have a balance, you may have partial entitlement. That can still work — but it affects your zero-down ceiling and needs to be understood before you start making offers.
Intent matters at closing. If you're buying a duplex with no intention of living there, that's occupancy fraud. The VA takes this seriously, and so does the federal government. The strategy works because it's legitimate — don't shortcut it.
Is This Right for You?
House hacking with a VA loan isn't for every military family. It requires managing a tenant relationship, handling maintenance on a larger property, and qualifying for a higher loan amount than a single-family purchase.
But for the right family — one who's staying in San Diego for a two-to-three-year tour, has stable income, and is thinking about what happens after the military — it's one of the most financially sound moves available.
If you're incoming to San Diego or approaching your next PCS and want to understand whether this strategy fits your situation, I'm happy to walk through the numbers with you. I work with lenders who specialize in VA multi-unit financing, and I know the inventory near each major San Diego installation.
Call or text me directly: 619-721-7868 Or use the home search tool on this site to start looking at multi-unit listings near your future duty station.
Alexis "Lexie" Dindal | Compass Military Division | San Diego 619-721-7868 | lexie.dindal@compass.com DRE# AB066667; MSLRA021 | Military Relocation Specialist | VA Loan & Assumption Expert
Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. VA loan rules, funding fees, and lender requirements can change. Consult with a VA-approved lender and qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.