Sell first or buy first?
Selling first gives you a clear budget, since you know what your home sold for, and it avoids paying for two homes. The risk is needing somewhere to live if your next home isn't ready.
Buying first lets you move once, on your own schedule. The risk is carrying two housing payments if your current home takes longer to sell than you expect.
Your options
- Sell first and rent back: you stay in your sold home for a short time after closing while you finish buying
- Make your purchase contingent on your sale, so you can exit if your home doesn't sell
- Buy first using savings or equity you already have, such as a home equity loan set up before you list
- Close both on the same day, with the sale funding the purchase
A coordinated timeline
- Get pre-approved for the new home and learn what you can afford with and without your sale
- Prepare and price your current home and talk through timing with your agent
- List your home and start touring
- Accept an offer that includes a rent-back or a flexible closing date
- Schedule the sale and purchase closings a few days apart or on the same day
Tools that help bridge the gap
A rent-back, sometimes called a post-closing occupancy agreement, can give you days or weeks after your sale closes. Terms, rent and deposits are set in the contract.
A sale contingency protects you if your current home doesn't sell, though it can make your offer less competitive. Your agent can write one and help you decide whether it makes sense in your market.
If you want to tap equity before you sell, plan ahead. CapCenter's fixed-rate home equity loans require that the home hasn't been listed for sale in the prior six months, so this route has to be set up well before you list. A loan consultant can tell you what's possible for your situation.
How CapCenter can help
When you sell with CapCenter Realty and buy, or finance, your next home with CapCenter within a year, the listing fee is 1% instead of the standard 1.5% (with a $3,000 minimum). If you sell first, we refund the 0.5% difference when you buy. The buyer's agent's commission isn't included.
Where we offer realty services, buying with CapCenter's realty team can also earn a Realty Purchase Credit of up to 0.5% of the purchase price, and your new loan can come with ZERO Closing Costs (see Offer details for all three).
Keep the two deals in sync
Having your agent, loan consultant and settlement agent talk to each other cuts down on surprises. Keep moving dates flexible, and book movers only once both closing dates are firm.
