Here’s how you can accomplish buying a new home while selling your old one.
In real estate, the “chicken or the egg” conversation comes when you need to both sell your current home and buy a new one at the same time. You essentially have three options for going about this: Buy then sell, sell then buy, or try to time both transactions at once. The first step should always be to speak with a mortgage lender to find out how much you’re approved for, how much your down payment is going to be, and what your monthly payment will look like for your new house.
If you choose to buy before you sell, it’s both the riskiest and most convenient option. You’ll buy your next home, move into it, and then we’ll prep and sell your current home. This is risky because you’ll own two homes and make payments on both for a short time (or maybe a long time, depending).
“Once you have the money in the bank, your offer is much stronger.”
Selling and then buying is the least convenient but also the least risky. You’ll have to move twice, but you have the money in the bank to buy once you sell. Then you’re free to make offers without home sale contingencies.
Timing both transactions at once takes skill and falls somewhere in the middle in terms of risk and convenience. It will allow you to make one move (most of the time), but there are a lot more deadlines that need to be met and much more stress involved. It doesn’t always work out exactly like you want it to because there are so many moving parts.
There’s a lot more that goes on with each of these options, and it’s important to come up with a clear plan of attack before you jump into the real estate market. If you have questions for me about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you.
