How to Juggle A Home Sale and a Home Purchase

Delaware Home Gallery Real Estate Video Blog With Jason Morris

Buying and selling a home at the same time can get tricky. Here’s how you can make the situation easier.

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A lot of people have been asking lately how they can buy and sell a home at the same time. How can you get those two transactions to hook together?
Inventory is low right now, so there isn’t much to choose from on the market. This is good news for sellers, but they are still hesitant to put their homes on the market because they aren't sure what they will do when their home sells more quickly than they can buy. There are a few different ways you can manage it.
The first option is buying a home with no contingency. This involves either paying for two mortgages at once, paying cash for your new home, or taking out a home equity line of credit to buy. If you make an offer that isn’t contingent on the sale of your home, those are the offers that sellers will take most seriously.
If that option isn’t feasible for you, the second best option is to have your home already under contract by the time you make an offer. This way, the seller knows that you are a serious buyer, and you already have a buyer for your home. Then you need to develop a plan B.
It could be finding a flexible seller who will allow you to take your time selling your own home. It could also be finding a flexible buyer who will wait for you to make a purchase or let you out of the sale if you can’t. Either way, you should have a temporarily living plan in place as well. Whether it’s living with a family member or in a furnished apartment, it’s good to have a backup situation for every possible scenario.

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You always need a plan B.

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Another option is to assume you will use temporary living and go into it right away as soon as your house is sold. This will let you buy on your own time and you’ll also be able to buy without that pesky home sale contingency. You can shop at your leisure and there aren't as many logistical concerns.
As a last ditch effort, you could attempt to find a seller who is willing to work with you and be patient. There aren’t many of those in this market, however, because most buyers aren’t asking sellers to do this.
If you don’t fit into any of these scenarios, it will be tough for you to balance things. At the very least, you should get your home on the market before you start looking at homes to buy so you can show sellers that you are serious. Remember, you can always say no to a deal that doesn’t work for you, but you can’t always get a seller to work with you if you don’t have a definite timeline to sell your home.
If you have any questions for us or want us to help you work through the logistics of buying and selling a home, give us a call or send us an email and we would be glad to help. We look forward to hearing from you soon.