How to Buy and Sell a Home at the Same Time

Buying a home is one of the most exciting experiences in life. Selling a home, while equally exciting, can be incredibly tasking. And doing both at the same time is a delicate balancing act that can be a huge source of stress. It doesn’t have to be! Many of our clients find themselves in this situation each year, and we’re here to help. Here are a few tactics our agents use to effectively navigate this process to achieve a “stress free” home transition.

Research a bridge loan or HELOC

Instead of trying to simultaneously buy and sell, you might want to pursue a bridge loan that will allow you to access your current home equity. Bridge loans essentially “bridge the gap” between two properties. This provides you with short-term financing so that you can buy a new home before you sell your house. However, you are essentially financing two properties at once (temporarily). There are no guarantees in real estate though, so you will need to have a firm understanding of the risk of owning two properties and a plan for what to do if your home does not sell for the price you hoped. Once your previous property has sold, you’ll pay off the temporary bridge loan with the proceeds of the sale.

Bridge loans can be difficult to procure, so a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) can be an alternative solution. It is best to speak with your lender about these options and essential to have an adequate amount of equity in the property to achieve this method.

Consider doing a lease back

If the home you’re selling goes under contract before you are able to find a new home that suits your needs, consider asking the buyers for a lease back. This means that you will sell them the property, but they will not take possession. Instead, you will be leased the home that you previously owned by the new owners until you are able to find a suitable property. If the buyers are not in a hurry to home or are stuck in a lease themselves, this is sometimes a perfect solution for all parties involved.

Contingent offers

The most common approach is to make your home purchase contingent on the sale of your current home. However, this can be an undesirable option to the sellers of the property you wish to purchase, and in a multiple offer situation, it could be the reason they go with a different buyer. It adds another layer of uncertainty to the purchase, another factor that could go wrong. Many agents practice the strategy of getting your home on the market and under contract before pursuing a home purchase, which will make your future offers more desirable, as you have already secured a buyer for the property. Either way, be transparent about where your home is in the sale process.

Understand the market

Our current market is a seller’s market. That means that there are more buyers than there is inventory, so competitive offers are common. That’s great news for you as a seller! If your home is priced correctly, it should sell quickly. You should be prepared for a quick sell period and ready to move forward on your home search as soon as it is listed. A lease back approach is used frequently in these markets if you’re unable to find a suitable property for yourself.

In a buyer’s market, there are more homes listed than there are interested buyers. Buyers typically have the upper hand in these markets and will have an easier time finding a new home than you will have selling your old home. Sellers may be more willing to consider an offer contingent on your home sale (meaning you can sell your home and buy a home at the same time).

Know what you have

A clear understanding of your home’s worth is essential to buying and selling at the same time. You’ll need to know what issues might be underlying on your property, so a pre-listing inspection might be a great tactic to getting ahead of inspection issues and repairs. You’ll also want your ARC agent and/or lender to prepare a net sheet for you early in the process, so that you can understand exactly how much you’ll be able to put into a future purchase. Be sure to budget for the unexpected!

Work with an ARC agent

Our agents are trained to help make the home buying and selling process run smoothly. Reach out to an ARC agent today to get the process started!