You got orders. We've got the rest.
A certified Military Relocation Professional and a licensed VA mortgage broker, working your move as one team.
Right now you are juggling a report date, a house you have not seen, a market you do not know, and a VA benefit nobody has ever explained to you in plain English. That is exactly the move we run. Dewey handles the ground in Tampa Bay. Travis handles the money. You handle the packing. By the time you land, the hard part is done.
NAR Military Relocation Professional (MRP). FL License SL3656230. Top Homes Group at Keller Williams South Shore. MacDill Air Force Base is the anchor of this market, and VA loans, BAH, and PCS timelines are the everyday language here.
Military Relocation Professional
National Association of Realtors Certification
Awarded August 12, 2026
MRP and the MRP logo are marks of the Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council. Used by a certified member in good standing.
Trained for military moves, not guessing at them.
Dewey earned the Military Relocation Professional certification from the National Association of Realtors on August 12, 2026. It is a real estate certification, not a military or VA endorsement, and it covers the things that actually decide a military move. VA loan eligibility and entitlement. How BAH fits into a monthly payment. How to buy or sell a home when a report date is already set.
If you are PCSing to MacDill Air Force Base, separating here, or retiring in the area, that is the work. You talk to Dewey directly and he keeps the house, the loan, and your dates lined up.
Want the full background on the certification itself and what the training covers? Read the certification and credentials page.
Certified for this. Not self appointed.
Plenty of agents say they work with military families. The Military Relocation Professional certification is how you know who actually trained for it. It is issued by the National Association of REALTORS, and earning it meant completing their coursework on PCS moves, VA loan eligibility and entitlement, BAH based budgeting, and what it takes to buy or sell a home against a report date.
When you search the National Association of REALTORS directory for an MRP certified agent in Tampa Bay, I am on that list. Certified August 12, 2026, awarded to Duane "Dewey" Kopenga.
Wherever you are in your service, this is the team.
Active duty PCS
Orders dropped and the clock is running. MacDill is CENTCOM and SOCOM, and this market does not wait for you to figure it out. We have the search, the loan, and the timeline moving before your household goods do.
Veterans and separating
Leaving the service does not mean leaving the benefit behind. If you used your VA loan at a previous duty station, we check what entitlement you have left, restore it if we can, and put it to work here. Most veterans have more benefit remaining than they think.
Military retirees
More retirees land in Tampa Bay than almost anywhere in the country, and there is a reason. Sun City Center, Kings Point, and the 55+ communities of South Hillsborough are my home turf, and yes, your VA benefit works there too.
Remote and deployed buyers
You can buy from anywhere. Virtual tours, a VA power of attorney if you are deployed, remote online notarization, and mail away closings. You do not have to fly back to sign.
The Consumer Guide for Veteran Buyers
This is the National Association of Realtors guide written for veterans and service members buying a home. It walks through the VA loan, what the benefit covers, and what to ask before you sign. Grab it, read it, then bring your questions to Dewey.
PDF slot. Save the NAR Consumer Guide for Veteran Buyers to public/nar-consumer-guide-veteran-buyers.pdf and this button serves it.
Why so many military families end up here on purpose.
Florida has no state income tax. Your retirement pay and your disability compensation stretch further here, and that is not a sales line, it is math.
Florida gives disabled veterans property tax exemptions that most out of state buyers only find out about after they close. We put them on the table before you write an offer.
James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa and Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in St. Petersburg are two of the largest VA medical systems in the country, and both sit within a reasonable drive of the neighborhoods we work.
If you retire eligible, MacDill keeps working for you. Commissary, exchange, and medical access are all still on the table.
And you will not be the only one on your street who served. South Hillsborough and Pinellas hold one of the densest veteran communities in America. It shows up in the neighbors, the VFW halls, and the way people treat you here.
James A. Haley Veterans Hospital
North Tampa. Roughly 40 to 55 minutes from Sun City Center depending on I-75, and 20 to 30 from most of Brandon and Riverview.
Bay Pines VA Healthcare System
St. Petersburg. Roughly 45 minutes to an hour from South Shore over the Skyway, and about 30 minutes from South Tampa.
Florida veteran property tax relief
Service connected disability exemptions stack with homestead, with a total exemption available for veterans certified totally and permanently disabled from a service connected cause. Verify with the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser.
Flood zone is not evacuation zone
Two different maps that get confused constantly. Flood zone drives your insurance requirement and your loan. Evacuation zone drives your hurricane plan. Both matter, neither is the other.
Drive times are typical off peak estimates and vary with I-75, Selmon, and Skyway conditions. Tax exemption amounts and eligibility thresholds change, so confirm current figures with the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser.
Where to land, based on what your life actually looks like.
Every neighborhood below gets you to the MacDill gate. The difference is what you trade for the commute. Here is the honest version, including the flood zone question nobody likes to bring up until it costs you.
The South Shore corridor, where value meets the commute.
South Tampa
10 to 20 min to the MacDill gateBallast Point, Port Tampa, Gandy, Interbay, and Bayshore Beautiful. This is the shortest drive to the gate and the easiest resale later. You pay for it. Prices per square foot are the highest near the base and a lot of the housing stock is older. Much of it sits in a FEMA flood zone, so flood insurance is required, and most of it also falls in a low lettered evacuation zone. Get a real quote on the address during your inspection period.
St. Petersburg
25 to 35 min via the Gandy BridgeYou get more character and more water per dollar than South Tampa, plus a downtown that actually has something going on. The bridge is the whole question. Off peak it is a simple run. At rush hour it is not. Drive it once at your real report time before you decide. Waterfront and low lying blocks carry flood zone and evacuation zone designations, while the inland ridge through the middle of the city usually does not.
Brandon and Riverview
40 to 55 min to the gateThis is the trade families make when they need bedrooms and a yard. Newer homes, good schools, and more space for the money. Most of the area is inland and outside the special flood hazard area, which keeps insurance closer to normal, though some parcels near the Alafia River are not. Newer communities often carry CDD fees on top of the HOA. Put those in the monthly payment now, not later.
Apollo Beach and Ruskin
40 to 55 min to the gateCanal homes, boat lifts, and direct runs to the bay at prices that do not exist closer to Tampa. The tradeoff is water risk. Large parts of both sit in a FEMA special flood hazard area and in the first evacuation zones called during a storm. Flood insurance is required there and the premium swings hard on the elevation certificate. Pull the quote early, because it can move your budget more than the list price does.
Sun City Center and Kings Point
45 to 60 min to the gateThis is my home market and it fits retiring veterans better than active duty. Golf carts, low upkeep, and easy healthcare access. Most of it is inland and outside the special flood hazard area, and much of it sits in a higher evacuation zone, which usually means lower insurance than the coast. VA financing works on the single family side. Kings Point condos only work if the association is on the VA approved list, so we check before you write.
Wesley Chapel and Lutz
55 to 75 min to the gateThe newest inventory in the metro and the most house for the money. It is also far. If you report to MacDill every day, that drive gets old fast. It works better for remote roles, retired veterans, or a spouse working the north Tampa corridor. It is well inland, so flood zone exposure is limited and evacuation zone risk is low, but confirm the parcel near any of the creeks.
Sixty days, start to keys. Here is how.
Entitlement and orders
Pull your Certificate of Eligibility, confirm funding fee exemption status, and get a real pre approval using current MacDill BAH. Send me your report date and I build the calendar backward from it.
Area brief
Written submarket comparison with drive times to the gate, flood zone exposure, insurance reality, and HOA or CDD costs by neighborhood. You decide where you are looking before you look.
Touring, live or virtual
In person if you are here, walkthrough video and live video tours if you are not. Every property gets checked against VA minimum property requirements before you get emotionally invested.
Offer written around your dates
Inspection, appraisal, and financing periods sized for a remote military buyer and a VA panel appraisal. Occupancy certification and repair language handled up front, not renegotiated later.
Inspections and insurance
General inspection, WDO termite inspection, four point and wind mitigation if the home is older, and a bound insurance quote on the actual address. This is where Florida deals get won or lost.
Appraisal and clear to close
VA appraisal returns, any minimum property requirement repairs get completed and reinspected, underwriting clears, and the closing disclosure is reviewed line by line before you sign anything.
Keys before you report
Remote online notarization or a mail away package if you are still at your last duty station, power of attorney if you are deployed, and utilities coordinated so the house is live the day you arrive.
Most families get keys in under 60 days from the day orders drop. Not because we rush. Because nothing sits waiting on anything else.
Travis Penny
Licensed Mortgage BrokerThe money side, handled before you ever book a flight.
Travis Penny is a mortgage broker, not a lender. That difference matters. A lender sells you their menu. A broker shops your file across a network of lenders and comes back with the one that fits. He got into the mortgage business in 2004 and he is still here.
On a VA purchase, Travis handles the pieces that stall other people's closings: the Certificate of Eligibility, the entitlement math, second use and restoration, the funding fee exemption if you have a service connected disability rating, and the Florida traps that catch out of state buyers, flood zones, HOA budgets, four point inspections, and condo warrantability.
Here is what that means for you. You get pre approved before you ever get on a plane. By the time Dewey is walking you through houses, the money conversation is already over.
- VA purchase and VA IRRRL refinance, Maine and Florida
- Entitlement review, second use, and restoration
- Out of state closings without flying back and forth
- Direct access to your broker, no call centers
The questions every military family asks us. Answered straight.
No runaround, no "it depends, call me." The real answer first, then what to verify and where. Nothing here is legal, tax, or lending advice, and program rules change, so confirm your specifics with the VA, your lender, and the county before you rely on them.
Get the VA Relocation Playbook
Tell us where you are in the move and we will send the playbook plus a straight answer, not a drip campaign.