Buying or selling a home, even in the best of circumstances can be a stressful endeavor. And when you do both at the same time, the stress and anxiety can be magnified. You can reduce the stress by utilizing the right strategies. These are 4 strategies you should know when buying and selling a home at the same time in Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas.
1. Plan Ahead
While people often speak of buying and selling a home at the same time, these two transactions almost never happen exactly at the same time. Usually, either the purchase or the sale happens first (although there may be very little time separating the two).
The thing to do then is to plan ahead and decide which transaction you want to happen first. Let’s consider some of the pros and cons of each option.
Buying first ensures that you’ll have a place to live when you sell your current home. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to find a short-term rental, especially if you have pets, kids, or heavy furniture like a piano. Plus, Many places don’t allow month-to-month rentals. As a new tenant you may have to pay for multiple months of rent, a security deposit, possibly a broker fee, and you will have to pay moving expenses twice. The downside of buying before selling is that you may wind up paying two mortgages at one time. This can be a huge financial stress if it takes longer to sell than you had anticipated.
The chief advantage of selling a home before buying another is that you won’t run the risk of having to pay on two mortgages at once. You also won’t have to make any quick decisions about selling and possibly accept worse terms because you need to sell to buy.
In our current market sellers can sometimes find themselves in the position of not having a new home to move to because they haven’t found a new home yet. If you have somewhere to stay after closing, then you can also take your time and make sure your next home purchase is the right one. The drawback here is the additional expense and inconvenience of potentially moving twice.
You can consult a Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas to determine the strategy that best meets your needs. To discover more, just call 917-608-7277.
2. Get a Sale Contingency
The easiset way to handle buying and selling a home at the same time in Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas is to get a sale contingency when you buy.
For many people, this is the ideal scenario. You put in an offer on a new home, and closing is contingent on finding a buyer for your current home. You only have to move once, and you don’t have to worry about carrying two mortgages.
Many sellers will be open to accepting an offer with a sale contingency. But in our market, some sellers won’t be willing to wait for a long period until you sell. When asking for a sale contingency it is best to either have your home on the market or be prepared to demonstrate that you are ready to sell. Ideally, you will have your home prepared for sale, pictures taken, home staged, etc.
Unfortunately, a home sale contingency does weaken your offer. If you’re competing with a buyer who doesn’t have any contingencies, the seller is more likely to go with the other buyer. But, home sale contingencies are far from the only factor when sellers consider an offer. So be sure to contact us at 917-608-7277 to discuss ways to enhance your offer in Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas.
.
3. Delay Closing
Another strategy that can work when buying and selling a home at the same time in Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas is to delay the closing.
Once the home you’re selling is ready to close, you might be able to delay the closing and write an offer to buy your new home with a limited contingency to sell. When your agent presents the offer they can demonstrate that the buyer of your current home has been funded. When the buyer for the home you are selling is fully approved by their lender, you can be relatively sure that the sale will go through.
4. Try For a “Rent-Back” Contingency
And then there’s the “rent-back” contingency when you’re buying and selling a home at the same time.
Here’s how this works: you ask the people who are buying your home to let you rent it back for 30 to 60 days after closing. Doing this ensures that you’ll have a place to live without going through the hassle of moving, while you find a new home to purchase and move into. This will also allow you some flexibility with closing on your new home if you need to sell your current home to buy a new one.
Rent Back can be a good option but it comes with 2 warnings. The buyer may ask you to hold some money in escrow until you vacate. Generally, You can’t exceed 60 days on a rent back. Buyers with conventional loans get better rates than investors and they must occupy or stop renting beyond 60 days or be in violation of the terms of their loan.
Work With a Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas Agent
These strategies for buying and selling a home at the same time do indeed work. It just requires careful planning and coordination. An experienced Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas agent on your team can vastly increase your chances of success and mitigate much of the risk. So if you’re planning on buying and selling a home at the same time in Westfield, Cranford, Clark, Scotch Plains, Fanwood and Mountainside Areas, be sure to contact us today at 917-608-7277.