Can I buy a new home before I sell my current one?
Yes, and plenty of owners do. It usually comes down to one of three things: you can afford to carry both homes for a while, you use financing that lets you tap your current home's equity before it sells, or you write an offer that depends on your home selling first.
Which one fits depends on your income, your savings, how much equity you have, and what a lender will approve. I'd start with two things before you look at a single listing: what your home is worth right now, and what a lender says you can buy with it still unsold. You can get your home's value here.
Why would I buy first instead of selling first?
Mostly so you only move once. When you sell first, you can end up in a short-term rental or with family while you shop, with your things in storage and a deadline hanging over your search. Buying first lets you move straight from one home to the next.
It also means you're not picking your next home under pressure. You can wait for the right one instead of taking whatever is available when your escrow closes.
Selling gets easier too. Once you've moved out, we can prep, stage, and show an empty house, and you're not keeping it spotless for showings while you live in it.
What are the downsides of buying before you sell?
The big one is paying for two homes at the same time. That can mean two mortgage payments, two sets of property taxes and insurance, and utilities and upkeep on a house you don't live in anymore. The longer your current home takes to sell, the more that adds up.
The second is that you can feel pressure to take the first offer on your old home just to stop the double payments. That's the wrong reason to accept an offer.
The third is on the buying side. If your offer depends on selling your current home, it can look weaker to a seller than an offer that doesn't. I'd go in knowing exactly how long you could comfortably carry both homes, so the plan has a cushion and not just a best case.
How do people pay for a new home before selling the old one?
Some people have the savings or income to handle it on their own. Many use financing built around the equity in their current home. Examples of what can exist include bridge loans, a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on the current home, and buy-before-you-sell programs offered by some lenders and companies.
Each one works differently. Costs, requirements, and how much you can borrow vary by lender and by your situation, and some options have to be set up before your current home is listed. That's a conversation for a lender, and I'd have it before you start touring homes, not after you find one you love.
I'm not a lender, and nothing on this page is financial or tax advice. If the sale of your current home affects your taxes, talk to a CPA or tax advisor too. What I can do is give your lender and your CPA an early look at the range your current home could likely sell for in today's market, so the plan isn't built on a guess.
How does a home sale contingency work?
A home sale contingency means your purchase depends on your current home selling. If it doesn't sell within the time you and the seller agree on, the contract generally gives you a way out. The exact terms come from the contract you both sign, so read them closely with your agent.
Sellers often see that as extra risk, so a contingent offer can lose to one without it, even at a similar price. The seller may also ask for terms that protect them, like the right to keep their home on the market while yours sells.
I'd make your contingent offer as strong as it can be. That means having your current home prepped and listed, or already in escrow, before you write. A seller takes a contingency more seriously when they can see your home is already on its way to selling. If you're buying without a home to sell, my buying your next home page covers that side.
How do I time buying and selling at the same time?
You work both calendars together from the start. Depending on the deals, that can mean lining up both closings back to back, asking for a longer escrow on one side, or negotiating a rent-back, where you sell your home and stay in it for a set time after closing while your purchase finishes.
None of those are guaranteed. Every one of them has to be negotiated with the other side, and each has tradeoffs. I'd plan the timeline backward from the day you want to be moved, then build the offers around it.
It helps to start looking early, even before you're ready to write, so you know what the homes you want are selling for.
How do you handle both sides of the move?
I handle both deals myself, your sale and your purchase, so one person is working from one timeline. You're not stuck relaying messages between two agents who each only see half the plan.
On the selling side, that's The Show-Ready-Seller® System: Discovery with the EPIC® Report, Preparation with the S-R-S® Concierge, Marketing to get the home in front of buyers, then Offer Negotiation and Escrow. On the buying side, I show you homes myself, run the comparables, and write offers built on market data. The two sides share one calendar so the dates line up.
If you're thinking about buying first and want to see if it fits your budget, book a call and we'll go through it together.