Buying and selling a home at the same time can be one of the most stressful and challenging processes that a family can go through. Between all of the financials, logistics, and communication between multiple parties that goes on throughout the process, there is no telling what unexpected obstacles might get in the way of your move. Every family will want to create a structured plan as they enter into the journey of finding a new home. To ensure that the process is as smooth as possible, here are four tips to follow that will make your buying and selling process pain-free.
Organize your financials
Perhaps the most stress-inducing part of a major move is the financial aspect. Between navigating agents’ and brokers’ fees and commissions, buyers, sellers, escrows, and inspections, you might end up spending significantly more money than you had initially planned. A good rule of thumb to follow with any big financial decision is to always overestimate the amount of money you’ll spend. It’s a much nicer surprise to go through the process and find out you’re under budget and will have extra money left over than to find out you’re over budget and have to scramble to cover costs.
Your financials will be particularly important to organize if you will need the money from selling your first house to complete the purchase of your new home. If this is the case, then you’ll want to be prompt about preparing your home for sale as soon as possible. Ideally, you would like to sell your old home and purchase a new one as close together as possible. As a buyer, it may be useful to request an extended closing date in order to allow yourself ample time to find a buyer for your home and complete the transaction.
Make a contingent offer
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When organizing the purchase of your new home, consider making an offer contingent upon the sale of your previous home. This will protect you in case you rely upon the sale of your previous home to purchase your new property, and it allows you, as the buyer, to legally back out of the purchase if you are unable to sell your own property in a timely manner. Sellers that accept a contingent offer may maintain the right to sell their property to another buyer with a “kick-out clause,” which allows them to keep their home on the market and continue fielding offers from other buyers. Sellers also maintain the right to terminate the contingent offer and accept offers from other buyers as well. If you are buying and selling a property at the same time, the risks involved with making a contingent offer might be worth it to ensure a certain level of security in your transaction.
This does, however, mean that your purchase deal might be pulled out from under you at any time, so if you have your heart set on a certain property—and you have the financial stability to make the purchase before completing the transaction of selling your previous home—a contingent offer might not be the best course of action for you.
Arrange a living and moving plan ahead of time
Logistics are often the most stressful aspect of buying and selling properties—especially if you and your family are uprooting your lives and moving everything you own too. This advice pertains particularly to those who are planning on selling first (or for the vast majority of buyers whose transactions don’t go exactly to plan). If you are preparing to move directly from a house you are selling to a newly purchased home, it is likely that you might have to spend some time in transition. This might just be a few days in a family member’s home or, for those whose purchases drag on, a few weeks or months in a hotel or apartment. The average escrow typically takes between 30 to 60 days, but the process can drag on even longer in some cases.
The same advice from before applies here as well: always overestimate the time you’ll need in transition. Between inspections, escrow, communication errors, and any work you might want to do on your new property before moving in, there is a myriad of things that can extend the time before you can finally move in; always be prepared for at least one or two things to go wrong.
Work with an experienced realtor
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Perhaps the best way to manage the stress of buying and selling a home at the same time is to employ the help of an experienced professional. Especially if you are moving within the same city, working with a single realtor to both sell your old home and purchase a new property will be a boon for managing the details of your move and minimizing stress for you and your family. Especially for busy individuals, working with a professional in the real estate field will help you understand the financial logistics of both your sale and purchase of property, develop a plan for your move, and ensure the completion of the transactions in a smooth and timely manner.
Reach out to the realtors in your area to find which one can serve your needs best and reduce the stress on you and your family as much as possible.
Buying or selling a home in Fairhope?
As of 2020, the average property value in Fairhope sat at around $320,000 and had a one-year growth rate of almost eight percent. Whether you’re buying or selling—or both—it will be beneficial to enlist the help of a trusted professional in your journey to enter the growing market of this community. Reach out to Bo Nichols to learn more about Fairhope real estate and begin the process of selling your property or finding your new home.
*Header photo courtesy of Shutterstock
