How to Buy & Sell a Home at the Same Time - Part I

Real Estate

How to Buy & Sell a Home at the Same Time - Part I

Unless you're a first time buyer, chances are good that you also have a home to sell in order to buy a new one. Coordinating that sell and then the buy scenario can be challenging and tricky.

Dave Ramsey recommends that if you don't own your current home free and clear that you should definitely not buy a home before you sell your current home. It certainly would be nice to coordinate the buy and sell on the same day and not have to move twice, but he thinks it is not worth the risk of having 2 mortgages overlapping.

One solution to buy and sell a home at the same time is to make the purchase of your new home contingent on selling your current home. If your current home does not sell in time, with a contingency clause you do not have to buy the new home - thus avoiding having to make 2 mortgage payments.

Dave warns against using a Bridge Loan or HELOC loan to help you cover the challenge of buying and selling at the same time.

The ideal situation is to Buy and Sell on the same day without the risk of having two mortgages. It's possible but difficult - so many things are out of your control. You have to consider three separate timelines - your timeline, your buyer's timeline and your seller's timeline. Closing delays are not uncommon.

So make sure you have a Plan B to reduce the gap between selling and buying. One option that I find successful and that Dave Ramsey recommends is the Post Closing Occupancy Agreement. Since you're in the driver's seat when you sell your home, a buyer might be willing to allow you to stay in your home and rent it back for up to 60 days.

If your current home is paid off, there is only one exception where Dave recommends buying before selling. To find out what that one exception is, click on the "Read More" button at the bottom of the page.

Whenever you are ready, here’s some ways that I can help with your real estate goals:

1) Free Access to search the Denver MLS for all homes currently on the market: Denver Home Finder Service Property Search

2) Join me for a home tour - Home tours are Monday thru Saturday at 2:00 pm or 6:00 pm - choose your tour here

3) Request a specific search that sends all the homes that meet your parameters as soon as they come on the market - that way you can beat others to the best homes. Send me an email with "specific search" in the subject line and your wish list - Price range, school district, style, minimum number of bedrooms, etc. - Vickie@DreamsCanHappen.com

4) Receive a Home Loan Report –There are so many different loan programs. Do you need 20% down payment to purchase a home? Are there special programs for first time home buyers? What does CHFA mean? What's the difference between a FHA loan and a Conventional loan? Send me an email - - Vickie@DreamsCanHappen.com with "Home Loan Report" in subject field and I'll send it right over.

Also….check these out??

Denver Home Finder Service

Denver Home Seller Service