How to Buy and Sell A Home At The Same Time
Buying a house is a big deal. Selling a house is a big deal. But buying and selling at the same time?! WOWZA. 🤯
It’s a two birds with one stone situation that is super exciting, but is often incredibly intimidating for people.
And I totally understand this.
Not only do you have to go through the process of buying a home, which involves getting pre-approved, house hunting, and submitting an irresistible offer that people can’t resist, you ALSO…
Have to figure out the logistics of staging your current home, pack up your belongings, adjust your schedule for tours and open houses, and THEN…
When it sells, you have to figure out where you, your family, and all of your stuff is going to go until you move into your new place.
PHEW. That’s a little exhausting just typing that.
But guess what? Like anything real estate related, I’m here to make sure that you don’t go into a stress spiral – whether you’re buying, selling, or doing both at the same time, there IS a way you can do it all with ease.
Sure, it might require a little prep and planning, but with the right tools and guidance, I believe that you can reach the outcome that you ultimately desire.
So, if buying and selling at the same time is something that’s on your mind and you’re wondering HOW to go about it, I’ve got you covered.
Let’s dive into the Real Estate Collective process for doing just that. ⬇️
The Strategic Process for Buying and Selling At The Same Time
Through trial and error, I’ve learned how to guide clients through buying and selling a house at the same time and if I must say so myself, I think we have this thing figured out.
Now, it’s important to note that every agent will navigate this differently and I’m not saying this is the *only* way to make this happen, but from personal experience, it’s pretty effective.
When a client comes to me wanting to buy a new house and sell their current house at the same time, we always start in the same place: PREP!
The first thing I want my clients to do is to prepare their house for listing… but here’s the kicker: we’re not actually going to list it quiteeee yet.
And there's a good reason for this – I’ll get to that in a minute.
During this preparation stage, I’ll connect you with my stager and she will give you a checklist of things to do to ensure that the house is properly prepped and ready for listing when it’s time.
The biggest advantage to this is that when it is time to list, we can easily do so within 2-3 days. You’ve already done the hard work up front.
Once your current home is prepped for listing, then we move into the house hunting phase.
So that I can help you find your dream home quickly, we’ll first meet for a buyer’s consultation where we’ll cover:
Buyer’s needs and preferences
When buying a home, you of course have an ideal picture in your head of what you want. THIS is where we get to talk about all of those fun things!
How many bedrooms and bathrooms are a MUST?
Is a backyard a deal breaker?
Single-family home, condo, or townhouse?
Preferred location?
Features and amenities?
Allll of the things that are must-haves, nice-to-haves, and total deal breakers will be talked about here!
Buyer education and expectations
After we discuss all of your wants and needs, I’ll provide an overview of the home buying process from start to finish, so you know exactly what to expect along the way!
Here you’ll typically learn about your financing options, the role of inspections, and potential challenges that may arise during the process.
This consultation also helps set realistic expectations for you as the buyer.
Market review
During our consultation, we’ll also discuss an overview of the current local real estate market conditions, so that you have all of the updated information on property values, recent sales, and trends in the local housing market.
When buying a home, all of these things are good to have in mind, so you can know what’s realistic during your buying process!
Establish a working relationship
Lastly, the buyer’s consultation really serves as a way for the two of us to establish a positive working relationship and gives you clear direction on how to effectively work together to get to the outcome that you ultimately desire – which in this case is of course buying a new home AND selling your current one! 🏠
After I have a clear understanding of what you’re looking for, I’ll strategically set up tours for homes that match your wishes and when you find the home you want to buy, we’ll structure an offer that essentially gives all of us breathing room for the selling process.
Here’s the secret sauce (in my humble opinion): we DON’T list your current home until you find the new home you want to buy.
This gives us the ability to buy and sell contingently – meaning there’s a set of conditions that must be met for the transaction to proceed. Contingencies provide a way for either party to back out of the deal without facing legal consequences if the specified conditions are not satisfied.
In this case, the contingency for buying your new home will be based on your current home selling and the contingency for selling your current home will typically include your offer on the new home being accepted AND a game plan for occupancy.
Essentially what we’re doing here is viewing the two transactions as ONE, because you aren’t willing to do one without the other.
The reason I choose to navigate the process like this is because as a buyer and seller at the same time, your most common concern is often going to be about the “in between.”
If your current house sells before you buy a new one, where will you live and where will you put your stuff in the meantime?
On the flipside, if you buy a new home before your current home sells, how will you cover all the costs associated?
It causes a lot of unnecessary stress when the process is treated as two separate transactions, and even though technically they are separate, I believe that we can navigate them differently in order to avoid some of the “in between” questions like above.
Even with this strategy, the question still remains – where do I put my stuff when my current home sells?
And in my experience, there’s two main ways we can navigate this:
Occupy your current home for a certain amount of time post closing OR
Occupy the new home prior to closing.
Both of these are options that, as a realtor, I can help you navigate and oftentimes it’s not a problem.
Ready To Buy and Sell At The Same Time?
I truly believe that my team and I have this process down to a science and it CAN happen when you go into it knowing that there’s just a bit of extra work required on your end, with the biggest being prepping your home for listing ahead of time.
When you do that from the get go, we’re ready to hit the ground running when you find the new home you want to buy and it really can be a seamless transition.
So, if you’ve ever wondered if it’s possible to buy and sell at the same time WITHOUT having to rent or get a storage unit during the “in between,” the answer is YES and I’d love to help you navigate that.
A core belief of mine is that you can go from start to sold without putting your life on hold. It doesn’t have to be complicated!
So, what do you say? Are you ready to start this process of buying and selling?
If you’re local to Billings, CLICK HERE to get started and I’ll help you get started on the right foot.
And if you aren’t local to Billings, good news for you – I know people. 😏
Connect here and I’ll get you in touch with a trusted agent in your area to start the home buying process with ease!