Learn How to Buy and Sell a Home at the Same Time

For a lot of people, selling their property will come with the additional pressure of also having to keep an eye out for a new home. Unless you are in the happy position of having another property ready to move into as soon as your own home is sold, you will have to also look for another home to buy.

As it is rarely possible to have the sale of your current property and the acquisition of another property coincide, buying and selling at the same time does require a bit of juggling on the home seller – who is also a homebuyer, in this case.

The prospect of selling and buying a home at the same time may be daunting, but it is certainly not impossible. In fact, many, if not most people face the same challenge. It doesn’t have to be a struggle, though – here is how to buy and sell a home at the same time.

Know The Local Real Estate Market

Understanding the property market you are looking to buy and sell property in is always key to buying and selling property at the best possible price. In this regard, a real estate agent who is qualified and experienced is indispensable.

Real estate agents who have been doing business in a particular real estate market for the past few years are well acquainted with how the property market in that specific city or suburb performs at any given time. They know what property sells for in a particular property climate, and can also help you to get the best possible deals on other properties.

Deciding whether you’ll start looking for another property before putting your own home on the market, or vice versa, is up to you, but your real estate agent will be a trusted adviser that will be able to explain whether the property market at a particular time is more in favour of buyers, or provides opportunities for sellers to make significant profits on the sale of their properties.

The property market is constantly in flux, and if you do not have sufficient knowledge of the local property market you are buying or selling in, you might not be aware of current market conditions. It won’t hurt to do some reading up online to scope out properties that are comparable to your own (“comps”) and might give you an idea of what selling price your current property might be able to fetch, although your real estate agent will still probably do a property inspection, in order to attain a selling price that is fair, but still leaves room for profit. This, in turn, will help you to get an idea of what kind of budget you’ll have for your new home. Regardless of what you think your home or other properties are worth, a real estate agent who knows the local property market will be able to give realistic estimates, based on extensive knowledge, training and experience.

Plan Your Schedule Accordingly

As previously mentioned, you’ll have to determine whether you will be focusing on the sale of your current property or the acquisition of a new property first. This is important, because it will also affect other decisions.

If you decide to sell your home before buying a new property first, you’ll have to keep in mind that you might have to find a temporary place to stay before moving into a new property. Even if selling first frees you from the responsibility of carrying the burden of having to pay two mortgages at once, finding temporary accommodation and storage for your belongings will come at an additional cost.

Alternatively, you can negotiate with the buyers of your current property to stay in it for an additional month or two, while you look for a new property. It may be possible to negotiate a rental fee, which is directly payable to the new owners of your property, but you should also have to keep this in mind when setting a selling price for your home, as staying on at your property for longer might affect the price that you are able to sell for.

If you decide to buy a new property first, you might have to consider including a sale contingency in the contract. In essence, this means that the offer you make on a property you are looking to buy is dependent upon your own property selling first. Let your real estate agent negotiate this on your behalf, or consider the option of getting a bridging loan to help you cover the cost of a new home, while still paying your current mortgage. Bridging loans help to prevent you having to spend all your savings before your current property is sold. You may also consider renting your current property while it is on the market.

Whichever way around you decide to do it, having a schedule set up for the sale of your current home and the acquisition of a new property is of the essence if you want to prevent the instance of losing some of the profits you may be able to make on your current home by spending unexpected amounts on temporary accommodation or on a home that costs more than you anticipated you would make from the sale of your current property.

Hire A Great Real Estate Agent

A good real estate agent is vital to any home seller, but perhaps especially so if you are selling and buying at the same time. While online property listings can give you some inkling of what comparable properties in your city or suburb are selling for, these are by no means a final indicator of what you might be able to fetch on your current property, or what you can expect to pay for another property. This is why a licensed real estate agent needs to be your right hand, whether you are selling or buying, and to an even larger degree if you are doing both at the same time.

In terms of the sale of your property, your real estate agent will advise you on a selling price once they have completed a home inspection and assessed your home within the greater spectrum of the local property market at large. A real estate agent will determine their estimated selling price after conducting a thorough comparative market analysis of your property, based on its size and features, the city or suburb it is located in and the homes surrounding it, among a host of other factors. The interior and exterior features of your property will be taken into account, together with yard features, style, and mechanics. Your real estate agent will also conduct an in-depth evaluation of comparable properties that have been sold in your suburb or city over the past six to 12 months.

A great real estate agent is also invaluable in helping you find another property to buy. Aside from the properties that are listed online, a real estate agent helps to broaden the scope of properties you have access to by also letting you know about unadvertised homes.

All in all, real estate agents help you to navigate the mountains of paperwork that are part and parcel of buying or selling a home, while also advising you about flaws in properties (including your own) and lending their extensive knowledge of your local property market, all at no additional cost aside from their commission. Having someone in the know on your side can also significantly lower the stress that may arise from this endeavour, and if that’s all they do – even though they do so much more – it seems like a good enough reason to find a real estate agent you can trust.

Assess Your Financial Solutions

You’ll need to have a good idea of what amount of money you are likely to get on your current property before starting to look for a new one, or you might not be able to buy a new property at all. Assessing the state of your finances before putting your house on the market or putting down an offer on a new property is vitally important if you are buying and selling simultaneously. Let your real estate agent assist you here – their large database of buyers and sellers is a treasure trove of useful information.

Don’t Let Fear Rush You Into a Bad Decision

Perhaps most importantly of all, you should not panic at the prospect of buying a new property, whilst also selling your own at the same time. Sometimes it isn’t possible to find a new home before selling your current property, but this certainly isn’t the end of the world. There are options: a sale contingency on the property you want to buy is a good way to buy some time, but a short-term rental, especially if you are moving to a new suburb or city, gives you some time to properly get to know what is available, and won’t necessarily break the bank.

Conclusion

Buying and selling at the same time has the potential of sending many people into a panicked frenzy. However, with the help of a good real estate agent who understands and knows the property market, your fears will quickly disappear. Not only do real estate agents assist you in determining a price to sell your property for and help you to look for a new home, but they also take a lot of the stress out of buying or selling by giving you access to a large database of buyers and sellers and handling all the paperwork on your behalf. Considering you’ll be facing twice the amount of administration, are you really up for the challenge? Let Perfect Agent help you to find a real estate agent you can trust to get you from your current home into the next, without having to worry about how you are going to manage it all.