Selling your Home

Juggling a Purchase and a Sale

It's always a good idea to sell before you buy. It sounds like common sense, but many sellers find it difficult to start looking at open houses before they think about taking care of all the preparations needed to sell their current home.

Why Sell First?

Most experts agree that you should close the sale of your home before committing to another piece of property. It's a good way to pretty much eliminate financial risk, as you know how much money you have available for a down payment and you won't have to make alternate arrangements to cover for surprises.

If necessary, you can negotiate a sale-leaseback, you can rent your home from the buyer for a month or two while you look for your next house. If you can't arrange to rent your current house, you will probably have to rent a home temporarily— but it's usually cheaper to pay rent plus moving costs than to pay two mortgages plus taxes and insurance for several months. It is almost always better to sell your current home first, and your lender may require it if you can't qualify for interim financing. Start managing the two transactions in tandem.