​Buying a New House at the Same time as Selling Your Old House

Buying a New House at the Same time as Selling Your Old House

From answering the seemingly never-ending calls from prospective buyers to meeting up with sellers to inspect properties on offer, buying and selling a home at the same time can prove to be an uphill task. Besides, you will less likely be able to finalize the deal on a property you are interested in the same day as you sell yours. There could be a number of market variables at play here, but it is easy to imagine a situation where you end up locating a buyer willing to take the property off your hands but you may not have been able to find a house to relocate to within that time frame. Let us make this process easier.

If you intend to eliminate the risk of ending up with no property to relocate to, you could explore the option of entering in a contingent contract with the buyer. With an arrangement such as this, you are able to make the contract contingent on the purchase of a new house. This means that the exchange only takes place once the purchase of your new house is finalized and you are ready to move out. You could do the opposite when you have found a seller but still seek a party willing to buy your existing property.

If there has been a considerable investment tied in the equity of your house, bridge loans can be a great way to help you accomplish the tasks of buying and selling a home at the same time. With these short-term loans, you can utilize the equity your existing property to pay for the down payment of the property you are interested to buy. Once the down payment has been cleared, you could sell the previous property to pay off the outstanding loan if you so desire. This not only makes the process more convenient but also saves you the costs involved in advertising your property.

You may well have to rent a place at least for a short while if you manage to sell your property. Rent-back arrangement can save you quite the trouble in a scenario like this. Basically, it entails an agreement with the buyer of your property whereby you agree to offer a discounted price on the property in return for them agreeing to rent out the sold house to you till the time you locate a new house to move in. While this makes things a lot easier in regard to managing the transition between selling and buying, rent-back agreement can be a hard sell.

It is unwise to get out there, looking for properties without proper research on the market variables at play. Do not rush into the process; instead, take time to investigate the market and determine for yourself if a certain locality is more favorable for purchasing or selling. This will allow you to maintain a focused approach and also appropriately time your purchase and sale. In addition, you will be in a better position to prioritize the deals and finalize only those that actually suit your requirements in a given situation. The ideal scenario is to purchase property in a seller’s market first and sell in a buyer’s market.

In essence, buying and selling a home at the same time is a challenge but it is far from impossible.

If you intend to buy a new home or sell your house in Massachusetts cities like Boston or Newton or on the South Shore, I would love to help. Feel free to call me or send me an email or get in touch on Facebook. For more great tips and local information about Boston and the South Shore, sign up for my monthly newsletter. I promise I won't spam you.