Thinking about buying a new home but you’re stuck and have to sell your present home first? Letting go of one before finding the other is doable, but it takes planning. The smallest slip can force you into pulling your hair out. Timing and planning in real estate are key to smooth transactions. There have been many people who thought they could do it on their own, just to end up wishing they never tried. Aveling Homes has a network of contacts who can show you home buying made easy.
Qualify
First, talk to a mortgage lender to verify you need to sell your current home to acquire financing for your new home. Often, people are shocked to learn they don’t need to sell one before buying another. If you can qualify for this, you have more flexibility. This is important and speaks to the timing of what needs to be done between closings.
Net Sheet
Put together a net sheet for your current home. This document will open the path to determining the walk-away net figure once your closing costs have been deducted. You can get a rough idea of what your home eventually will sell for, so tell your agent the figures and be honest about what your home is worth. The market will do what it does and no real estate agent, investor or seller can dictate those values.
Listing
Use an accurate and truthful marketing plan when it’s time to list your home. Don’t start looking now for homes to buy, but start doing online research to form an idea of what is on the market. The last thing which needs to happen is falling in love with a house you can’t buy yet, only to see it sold to someone else.
Why don’t you want to look at available properties yet? If your current home is not under contract, you enter the world known as “contingency selling.” This means your contract to buy a new home is contingent upon finding a buyer for your present home. Sellers lean away from these terms as they don’t have a clue how long it will take for you to find a buyer.
Expect the Unexpected
No one enjoys putting money out for the unexpected, but it can be a rite of passage when buying and selling a home. Often, the unpleasant surprises are due to people not being aware of what can crop up. First-time buyers may not know what to expect once the closing is done. There’s nothing worse than getting buyer’s remorse about the largest investment a person may ever make.
The Takeaway
Often it feels the problems in homebuying have a snowball effect. No one has to go broke tackling them all at once. Use a list to prioritize steps to take and create a budget. Address a problem then move on to the next one.
