Leaving Malmstrom AFB for a Civilian Job: Buying a House in Great Falls After Separation

You do not have to leave Great Falls when you leave the Air Force.

Janicki Industries has said it plans to recruit service members separating from Malmstrom and their spouses for its new campus at AgriTech Park. Other local employers hire veterans every year.

Your VA loan benefit does not go away when you leave the military. It is based on your service record. You can use it to buy a home after you get out, as long as your discharge qualifies and you have income a mortgage underwriter can count.

The hard part is timing. Loan approval depends on stable income at closing, and a separation date sits right in the middle of that.

This guide covers the timing, the VA paperwork, what changes about the loan itself when BAH ends, what to do if you already own here, and how to handle a gap. It is part of our Relocating to Great Falls guide.

Tell Chris your separation date and he will map out a timeline →

Employers recruiting transitioning Malmstrom members

Janicki Industries is the one with a public statement. The company has said it intends to recruit transitioning Malmstrom service members and military spouses for its Great Falls campus. The first building is scheduled to open by the end of 2028, with about 200 hires at the start and 1,000 within five years.

Hiring has not started as of October 2026. Janicki’s Montana page is where postings will appear.

Other large employers in Great Falls hire military members departing the military every year, including the hospital systems, the school district, and the city. We list only companies with a public statement about hiring separating members, which is why Janicki is the one named here. The Airman and Family Readiness Center at Malmstrom keeps a current employer list for transitioning members.

Our Janicki guide has the full numbers and timeline.

One practical note. If you are leaving Malmstrom AFB for a civilian job in Great Falls, the job offer letter is a housing document as much as an employment document. Underwriters use it. Keep a copy.

Timing a purchase around your separation date

Here is the problem in plain terms. Your military pay ends on a known date. Your civilian pay starts on another date. The loan officer wants to see that the income paying the mortgage will continue after closing.

Three windows are common.

Closing before separation, with a civilian job lined up. This can work if you have a written offer with a start date and the underwriter is comfortable with it. Some VA lending shops will close on a non-contingent offer letter with a start date within a set number of days after closing. Others will not. Ask early.

Closing after you start the civilian job. This is the cleanest file. You have pay stubs and the military pay is history. The cost is that you need somewhere to live in between, and house hunting while you start a new job is its own kind of busy.

Closing while still on active duty, more than a year out. If you know you are separating in 2027 or 2028 and want to buy a house now, you can. Your current income qualifies you. Just understand that you are taking on monthly mortgage payments you will need to cover through the job change, and that if orders arrive first, you may be selling or renting the house out from your next base.

What I tell people: start talking to a loan officer twelve months before your separation date, not three. The conversation is free, it tells you which window you are actually in, and it tells you whether to buy at all or rent or buy later. A real estate agent who has done this with other Malmstrom personnel can line the two up.

Using your VA loan after separation

Your eligibility comes from your service, not your current status. If you have qualifying service and an eligible discharge, you qualify for a VA loan after you are out, with the same VA loan benefits you had while serving: no down payment on a primary residence, no private mortgage insurance, and a cap on what the lender can charge in closing costs.

For service since August 2, 1990, VA.gov lists the general requirement as 24 continuous months, or the full period you were called to active duty with at least 90 days. Shorter service can qualify under exceptions such as hardship, reduction in force or a service-connected disability. Check your own situation against the eligibility page at VA.gov.

VA.gov does not attach an expiration date to the benefit in its eligibility language. If you qualified while serving, you still qualify after an eligible discharge.

Paperwork changes at separation. While you are serving, a Certificate of Eligibility is requested with a statement of service signed by your commander, adjutant, or personnel officer. After separation, the Department of Veterans Affairs says you need your DD214. If you apply before you get out, your COE reflects your serving status and may need to be updated once you have the DD214.

You can request a COE online at VA.gov, through your loan officer, or by mail using VA Form 26-1880. Most VA loan officers pull it for you in a few minutes.

One more thing to know. If you used your VA loan on a home you still own, your entitlement may be partly used. Multiple VA loans at once are possible with remaining entitlement, and VA.gov explains how entitlement is restored after a sale and payoff. That is a loan officer conversation, not a guess.

Our VA Home Buyers page covers the local side: lenders who close VA loans here regularly and what the appraisal and home inspection process looks like in Cascade County.

What changes about the loan when BAH ends

Three things shift in a home purchase the day you separate, and all three are about income and cost, not eligibility.

Basic allowance for housing stops. BAH is tax-free, and underwriters count it while you are serving. After separation, it is gone, so the same payment is a bigger share of your paycheck. Run the numbers on civilian pay alone before you decide how much house you can afford when you purchase a home.

Retirement pay and disability compensation count. If you are taking military retirement, that pension is stable income an underwriter can use. VA disability compensation counts too, and a service-connected rating can also exempt you from the VA funding fee, which is the main upfront cost of a VA loan. Ask the loan officer to check both.

The occupancy rule still applies. A VA home loan is for your own residence. VA.gov generally expects you to move into the home within 60 days of closing. If you are buying while still at your duty station and the house is in Great Falls, that works. If you are buying ahead of a move from somewhere else, confirm the timeline with the underwriter.

A conventional loan with a down payment is worth comparing if your credit score is strong and you have savings, but for most separating members the VA loan is the better product because of the zero-down and no-mortgage-insurance terms. A refinance later is always an option; getting into the house is the hard part.

If you own a home here now

If you bought off base while stationed at Malmstrom and plan to stay, the simplest answer is to keep it. You already have the house, and homeownership through a job change is easier than a purchase during one.

If you want to move to a different house, you have a sale and a purchase to line up in a low-inventory market. GFAR estimated in September 2026 that Great Falls is about 630 housing units a year short of what it needs. That housing market favors you as a seller and works against you as a buyer at the same time. If you sell the house and buy another here, plan the sequence before you list.

If you live in privatized base housing, your lease ends with your assignment. Confirm your move-out date with the housing office early. That date is often the real deadline for everything else.

The sell now or wait guide walks through the sequence when you are selling and buying in the same town.

Renting during the gap

Many military personnel separating from Malmstrom rent for six to twelve months first. It is not a failure. It gives you pay stubs, time to learn the city as a civilian and its cost of living without the housing allowance, and a cleaner loan file. For a first-time homebuyer, it is also time to build the credit and savings the purchase needs.

The catch is the rental market. Vacancy was reported under 5 percent in January 2026 by KRTV. Start the rental search 60 to 90 days before you need a place, and do not count on a month-to-month deal falling into your lap.

If you are weighing a short rental against buying right away, the rent vs buy guide runs the numbers.

Military spouse employment

Janicki has said its Malmstrom recruiting intent includes spouses, not only service members. For a two-income household, that can change the housing math.

If a spouse’s job starts before the service member’s separation, that income may be the stable income the underwriter wants at closing. The file will need a history and a start date, same as any employment, and the same is true whether the home buying happens before or after a permanent change of station.

Talk to us

Chris Burton is a U.S. Air Force veteran with Painted Sky Realty Group, Keller Williams Northern Montana Realty. He has been through a separation and a house purchase in this town. Jamie Burton works with buyers and first-time homebuyers.

Text or call Chris: 406-781-1111 · Text

Text or call Jamie: 406-899-9724 · Text

Relocating to Great Falls guide · PCS to Malmstrom AFB · VA Home Buyers in Great Falls · All services

Sources

• Janicki Industries, Montana page: https://www.janicki.com/montana/ (modified Sept 10, 2026)
• Great Falls Development Alliance, Janicki FAQ (Malmstrom recruiting intent): https://growgreatfallsmontana.org/janicki-great-falls-montana-campus/ (accessed Oct 23, 2026)
• VA.gov, Eligibility requirements for VA home loan programs: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/eligibility/ (accessed Oct 23, 2026)
• VA.gov, How to apply for a VA home loan Certificate of Eligibility: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/how-to-apply (accessed Oct 23, 2026)
• VA Form 26-1880, Request for a Certificate of Eligibility: https://www.va.gov/forms/26-1880 (accessed Oct 23, 2026)
• KRTV, GFAR housing shortage estimate, September 2026: https://www.krtv.com/news/is-great-falls-ready-for-its-housing-crunch-realtors-say-the-city-is-at-a-turning-point
• KRTV, rental vacancy, January 2026: https://www.krtv.com/news/great-falls-news/why-housing-affordability-can-be-challenging-in-great-falls