If you're planning on selling your home in Palm Beach County and moving, either within the county, to another city or state, you might be toying with the idea of buying first or selling first and which makes the most sense. I deal with this type of real estate situation a lot because most people that already own a home are not going back into the rental market but are finding and purchasing another house..png)
There's always that tricky situation of buying and selling simultaneously. While it might sound confusing, it's not uncommon. The key is to have the right real estate agent on both sides of the transaction that is familiar with the situation, proficient in simultaneous closings, and can help schedule these closings promptly.
There are pros and cons to both selling first and buying first. If you're buying within the same area, it's best to use the same real estate agent for both selling your home and buying your home. This limits the number of parties involved and keeps things more organized. I usually recommend that the homeowner listed the property first and casually look at homes that might be available. It also depends on the market. If it's a seller's market, the home may so very quickly. If it's a buyers market, there may be plenty of homes on the market in your house might take longer to sell. Talk to your real estate agent about the market and when the right time is to pull the trigger on the listing, accepting an offer and making an offer on another house.
In our current market, homes are selling fairly quickly. If the home is priced correctly, you should receive an offer within a few days or a few weeks. It's at this time that I recommend making an offer on another house. I would not suggest making a contingent offer on another house until you have a bona fide offer on yours. Most sellers will not accept a contingent offer if there's not already a chance that the house will close.
But what happens if you find a house you love first?
This can be a tricky situation, and it does take skill and expertise to time everything correctly. If you find a house you love in a hot market, you can take the risk by putting in an offer not contingent on selling your home. If the offer is accepted, we will list your home and get it sold as quickly as possible. This will take effort on your part to fix up the house, stage it and have a properly ready to show. We will also need to price it aggressively so that it sells quickly. We can push out the closing date on the new house anywhere from 45 to 60 days if the new seller allows this. This gives you more time to sell the home and close before having to close on the next house.
This is not ideal, but most situations are not when it comes to buying and selling simultaneously.
Also, comes down to having an agent that will accept contingent offers. This is why having an offer already accepted on your home is more attractive and appealing to your seller. They already know you're planning on selling, the wheels are in motion and it's just a matter of closing at this point.
What if something goes wrong?
Not every transaction is smooth sailing. Somewhere along the line bumps and hiccups can happen. Again, having a seasoned and experienced real estate agent that understands time frames and how to save the deal is crucial to getting the deals closed. If your financing doesn't go through, if something with the inspection on either end fails or if the buyer of your house falls through, it can greatly affect your chances of getting the next home.
There are several things you can do to keep the home. You can talk to your lender about a bridge loan, which bridges the gap from one mortgage to another, you can carry two mortgages if your income can support it, you can ask for an extension on the closing date to give you more time to resell your property, or you can cancel the transaction and hopefully get your earnest money back.
There are so many different factors to buying and selling simultaneously that it can be very difficult to explain all possible scenarios in one blog post. Each deal is different because every buyer, seller, listing agent and house is different. But the one key thing that I want to keep a reiterating is to have a real estate agent that is very familiar with simultaneous closings. Because I am proficient in both buying and selling real estate throughout Palm Beach County, I understand time frames, how escrow and title companies work, the real meaning behind closing dates and how long certain documents take to process and I can help coordinate the entire transaction.
If you're apprehensive about buying and selling simultaneously, give me a call today. We will talk through your situation to find out the best route to go and how to get you want to the next house as stress-free as possible.
