Are you thinking about selling your home this season and buying another - but you're curious - should I sell or buy first? 

Navigating something like this on your own can seem quite daunting - but you have me! And I’m here to help the transition goes as smooth as possible!

Let’s take a look at the two most common strategies…

Everyone’s situation is unique to them - and perhaps yours will require us to put together a plan that looks a little different. 

STRATEGY 1: Sell Then Buy

In a hot seller’s market like we have today, it can be difficult to get your offer accepted - as there are often multiple buyers vying for one property.  The path that will give you the most buying power will be... putting your home on the market, leveraging your position as the seller by negotiating a long closing timeline and/or 30-60 days of what we call “rent back”, and then - once your home is under contract with a buyer - making what we call a “contingent” offer on the home you’d like to purchase.  

If the seller of the home you’re attempting to purchase sees that you are already under contract on the sale of your home (or have already closed on the sale of your home) and has the choice between that offer and another that perhaps hasn’t put their house on the market yet or isn’t under contract yet - and all other variables are the same - your offer will likely be considered more desirable.  

You’re putting yourself in a stronger buying position than many other buyers on the market by choosing the "Sell then Buy” approach. 

One side note, it occasionally happens that the home you’re selling closes, the rent back period ends, and you’ve still not found the home that you’d like to purchase and you’ve found yourself temporarily homeless.  

Don’t fret!  There are strategies here, too.  

If this is something that you’re concerned about - call me and let’s chat about what your options will be.

STRATEGY 2: Buy Then Sell

The biggest reason clients lean towards this strategy is because, quite simply, they don’t want to sell their house if they don’t have somewhere to move to.

The problem with this approach, however, is - in a seller’s market - there are often multiple offers on the same property and in order to get yours selected, your offer needs to be strong.  

Let me ask you this - hypothetically, you have 2 offers in on a home that you’re selling. 

They are the same price, the same loan type, have the same provisions, and they both need to sell their current home to purchase yours.  One of the offers is under contract and has a closing date already on the calendar.  The other is “waiting to find the home they want to purchase” before listing their home.  Which of those 2 offers are you inclined to select?

Obviously, it’s going to be the one that’s already under contract…We see scenarios like this all the time.   

When you finally find the home that you want to purchase, I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a strong offer ready to go - and almost always, this means that you should either be under contract or at least on the market prior to making offers.

That said - the majority of the time - it’s going to be best to sell THEN buy.

If you’d like some help planning the logistics of your home transition this season, reach out.  No two scenarios are exactly the same and we can put together a strategy that will help you accomplish your goals.

As always I'm just a phone call, text message, or email away.  Reach out and let's connect. 

 

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