When you walked into your current home for the first time, your heart may have swelled with pride because the home was perfect – at that time. However as time goes on and life changes, you may have to put your home up for sale and shop for a new one. Understandably, the thought of buying and selling at the same time can be overwhelming, but we have 9 options that’ll help alleviate that stress.
1. Keep your fingers crossed and buy now
According to surveyed real estate agents, bidding wars (which were common earlier in the year) are down to 37% of offers. As a buyer, you could find yourself in the situation where your offer is accepted but your house still hasn’t sold. That means you’d be saddled with two sets of bills, which could put a huge financial strain on you.
Provided by homelight.com
2. Include a sales contingency when submitting an offer
When you’re submitting an offer on a house, you could include a contingency that states the contract may be cancelled if you’re unable to sell your current home. Just keep in mind that seller’s may not consider your offer if they have other offers on the table.
3. Consider applying for a bridge loan
If you really want to buy a house while your current house sits on the market, you could apply for a bridge loan, which is a high interest loan that you can use as a down payment. Once your house sells, you’ll then pay that loan back with the proceeds from the sale.
4. Use equity to purchase a new home
If you’ve lived in your home for a while, you probably have a decent amount of equity. You can use the equity in your home to use as collateral for the down payment on your new home. Taking the equity out on your home does create a lien on the property and will reduce the value of your home.
5. Consider renting your property
Renting your home is another option that you may want to look into if you want to wait until the market is in your favor. You could hire a property management company to take care of your property and find reputable tenants or you could put your home on vacation rental sites like VRBO.
6. Sell your house first and then buy
In areas where properties are being bought as soon as they hit the market, you may want to put your house for sale and consider finding a rental or asking friends or family if you could stay with them for a little while.
7. Inquire about a rent-back agreement
Another option if you decide to sell first is to ask the buyers if they’d be interested in renting the home back to you while you continue looking for a house. This may not be an ideal option, but some buyers may consider it.
8. Prolong the closing timeline
Typically when we’re selling, we want the process to go as quickly as possible. However, you don’t have to have a fast closing. You could stretch the closing timeline so that you have enough time to look, buy, and close on a new home.
9. Trade-in your home
When you want a new car, you have the option of trading it in and using that toward a down payment on the new car. You can also do this with real estate, too. You can look into companies who offer a trade-in program or a cash closing, both of which are offered by Homelight.
You can stay sane while buying and selling at the same time
Buying and selling can be stressful, but you don’t have to worry yourself sick. There are plenty of options for buying and selling at the same time, but you can always get a professional’s insight regarding which option is best for you.