Should I Buy or Sell my home first?
One of the most frequent questions I get as a Realtor is “Should I buy first or should I sell first? Unfortunately there is no correct answer as it will really depend on your circumstances. As I cannot simply answer the question for you here I will highlight 3 critical things you may want to consider to help you make your decision.
First is your finances, can you qualify for a mortgage on a second home? Even if you can qualify for a second mortgage is this something you want to carry? A catch 22 here is if you want to use the equity out of your current home to buy the new home then financing becomes a challenge as banks will want to sign you up for a full term mortgage. There are other option and this is where you need to speak to a mortgage professional. Often once clients look at their finances the choice to sell first becomes very clear.
Your second consideration is what is happening in the market?
- In a Sellers market you may lean towards buying first as you may have a challenge securing the perfect property with the limited inventory on the market and if priced correctly your home should sell in a very reasonable amount of time.
- On the other hand if its a strong buyers market then you might lean toward selling first. In a buyers market homes are harder to sell while buying you have plenty of choice.
- In a balanced market many will lean towards selling first as this gives you more control of the timing.
Your third consideration is, how much stress are willing to handle? In my years of experience there is typically a lot less stress on clients when the sell first and then buy. You may ask what sort of things might cause stress. Here are just a few:
Having 2 mortgage payments
- Having to move twice
- Your home does not sell as quickly as you thought
- The market can change in the middle of a transaction
When I have clients asking this question, I first ask them to consider their finances, the market and how much stress they want to manage. If this does not make them 100% clear on their choice here is what we do next.
Knowing the state of the market I will be able to give them a clear picture of what the market is like and how challenging the sale might be. The other variable is how challenging will it be to find their new home. I will then spend some time probing on the buying side. Once I get clarity on the specific must haves and like to have in their new home then I can complete a search to determine if there is 1 home that meets their criteria of if there is 100 homes that meet their criteria. If there are many homes available then I might suggest selling first and if they are looking for something very unique that may be hard to find then for them buying first may be the best strategy.
As there is no answer that is correct for everyone it is important to know whatever choice you make we have several proven strategies to ensure your transaction goes smoothly and stress free. If you would like a free no obligation consultations simply contact us.