Where should I buy near JBLM?

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is the largest military installation on the West Coast — I Corps, the 7th Infantry Division, the 62nd Airlift Wing and Madigan Army Medical Center — spread along I-5 between Tacoma and Olympia. It is one of the highest-volume VA lending markets in the country, and it is a Puget Sound market: prices well above the national base-town norm, a freeway commute that defines where people live, and a state with no income tax and a partial, income-tested veteran property tax exemption.

Being stationed at JBLM

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is I Corps, the 7th Infantry Division, the 1st Special Forces Group, the 2nd Ranger Battalion and the 62nd Airlift Wing's C-17s, with Madigan Army Medical Center on post — one of the largest military populations on the West Coast and a heavy training and deployment tempo. Tours run the ordinary two to four years, and the Pacific orientation means Korea and Alaska are common next stops. The Puget Sound housing market is expensive, Washington has no income tax, and the property tax relief for disabled veterans is income-tested. This page is educational: its author is not licensed in Washington.

Where people actually live

Lakewood. At the north end of the base, wrapping the Lewis Main and McChord gates. The largest city adjacent to JBLM, with 1950s-to-2000s housing that varies a lot by neighborhood — Lake City and the lakes area are higher, the areas near the base lower — and Clover Park schools. Minutes to the gates.

DuPont. At the south gate, a planned community built largely since the 1990s, with HOAs, newer housing, its own schools within the Steilacoom district, and a commute of a few minutes. A lot of officers and families.

Steilacoom and University Place. North of Lakewood on the Sound. Steilacoom is small, historic and waterfront; University Place is an established suburb with well-regarded schools and a higher band. Ten to twenty minutes.

Puyallup, South Hill and Sumner. East along Highway 512, avoiding I-5. 1980s-to-current subdivisions, Puyallup schools, a mid band, and a twenty-to-thirty-minute commute to McChord that gets longer for Lewis Main.

Spanaway, Graham and Frederickson. South of Puyallup along Highway 7 and Highway 161. More house per dollar, Bethel schools, and a twenty-to-thirty-minute drive to the McChord side.

Yelm and Roy. South of the base along Highway 507, in Thurston and Pierce counties. Larger lots, wells and septic, the lowest bands in the area, and a back-gate commute that avoids I-5 entirely.

Olympia and Lacey. Southwest on I-5, the state capital's suburbs, and a twenty-to-thirty-minute drive against the flow for the south gate.

Community by gate

What the VA appraisal sees in the South Sound

• Roofs and moisture. The Pacific Northwest's climate ages roofs, siding and decks; moss, rot and failing flashing are common findings. Crawlspace moisture and vapor barriers are routine conditions on older Lakewood and Tacoma stock.
• Peeling paint on pre-1978 homes in Lakewood, Steilacoom and Tacoma.
• Wells and septic in Yelm, Roy, Graham and rural Pierce and Thurston counties. VA requires a water test and, typically, a septic evaluation.
• Wood-destroying organisms. A pest and dry-rot inspection is common practice on VA purchases in Washington.
• Condominiums and townhomes in Lakewood, DuPont and University Place: VA requires condominium projects to be VA-approved.
• Earthquake and landslide. Not VA items, but slope stability on waterfront and hillside lots is a value and safety issue the appraiser will note.

Washington's veteran property tax benefit

Washington's property tax exemption under RCW 84.36.381 covers seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans with an 80% or greater service-connected disability, subject to an income threshold that varies by county. It reduces the taxable value in tiers rather than eliminating the bill, and it is administered by the county assessor. Washington has no state income tax, which is part of the same picture for a retiree. The federal funding fee exemption applies at any compensable rating regardless of state.

The loan side

JBLM is where full entitlement matters most on the West Coast outside California. Puget Sound prices put many purchases above the conforming limit, and a full-entitlement buyer has no VA loan limit — no down payment at any price the appraisal supports. A soldier with a VA loan still open at a prior station is working with remaining entitlement, and the second-tier scenario shows the arithmetic; Pierce County's conforming limit helps, but a down payment often enters the picture at local prices. If you are arriving on orders, any VA lender can qualify you on the orders and the JBLM BAH before you report; the PCS Home Buying Guide has the sequence. For a three-year tour in a market with large transaction costs, the buy versus rent page is worth the read — and if you keep the house at the next PCS, renting it out is what a large share of Lakewood's and Spanaway's owners have done.

Next

• Check your BAH at Joint Base Lewis-McChord →
• Compare the neighborhoods →

Related guides

• The PCS Home Buying Guide