How to Buy and Sell a House Simultaneously

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched”. It applies perfectly when it comes to real estate, especially if you are selling your home to purchase another. That’s because selling a home and buying a new one simultaneously is a difficult dance that many homeowners wish to avoid, hoping for a simpler solution.

Timing your sale so it lines up with closing on a new purchase isn’t for the faint of heart. And even attempting concurrent closings so you can jump directly out of one property and into another isn’t always possible. But if you do want to tackle how to buy and sell a house simultaneously, you can, although it will take a lot of work. One potential solution for managing finances during this process is a bridge loan, which allows homeowners to use the equity from their current home as a down payment on a new home.

One potential solution is using a cash home buyer to facilitate an easy sale on the old property.

Fortunately, we have lots of experience buying homes for cash, which is one way to help buyers and sellers complete simultaneous home purchases and sales. Once a buyer finds their new home, we can time the closing on their old home at the same time.

So, we decided to create a detailed roadmap showing how to prepare for it, cover financing solutions that can make it a little easier and even share some things most people would never consider. And to help things along, we’ll share insights we’ve gained from our own experiences to help you wrap your head around what it takes to accomplish how to buy and sell a house simultaneously.

What is Buying and Selling Simultaneously?

Buying and selling a house simultaneously refers to coordinating both transactions to occur on the same day. Although challenging, there are plenty of reasons someone would wish to close both their home purchase and sale at the same time. Imagine selling a house you’ve loved for years, but you absolutely must move into your new place before the next school year. Maybe you are just sick and tired of having to move your things twice. But whatever the reasons are for pursuing it, make no mistake, the process isn’t easy. Understanding how to sell your house and buy a new one at the same time is crucial, as it involves complexities and stresses that require careful planning and the expertise of an experienced real estate agent.

Selling and buying simultaneously requires that both transactions be in motion, with signed contracts and approvals on hand for both. To help make the process as seamless as possible, most people rely heavily on professionals like skilled real estate agents, estate agents, mortgage companies, closing agents and lawyers or real estate attorneys.

Conceptual key handover for exchanging one house for another

Considerations Before Attempting Simultaneous Closing

The process of buying and selling simultaneously involves a number of crucial considerations. We recommend taking the time to think through your financial picture, evaluate what you’re trying to achieve, review the conditions of your local market and plan for the unexpected. Understanding the local housing market is essential as it can significantly influence your strategy for timing sales and purchases, whether you are in a buyer’s or seller’s market. Before going into detail about all the work involved in buying and selling concurrently, this list of factors to think about might just save you tons of time and headaches:

Finances
Market Conditions
Timing
Contingencies
Temporary Housing

Understanding your financial capabilities for concurrent closings

Before you jump into the deep end, figure out what it will take to manage both the purchase of your next home and the sale of your old one from a cash flow perspective. This involves confirming that your budget is big enough for costs related to both properties while ensuring you have ample time for the process. One of our clients was determined to line up the closings for both homes. The thing was, the closing costs on both houses amounted to about $50,000 which he had tied up in his current home’s sale. We made sure they understood what to expect financially before we started and pointed out it might take more time to gather up the cash than he realized. We always suggest figuring this out early, you know, like, really early on so there are no financial surprises in store later down the road. The mortgage payment, moving truck rental, debt consolidation, even those old credit cards that creep up on you – factor them all into your equation. Additionally, understanding your debt-to-income ratio is crucial for securing a mortgage, as a higher ratio can complicate the application process and affect your financial planning.

Navigating market conditions

Timing your sales and closing dates is tricky, and you can end up winning or losing based on what is going on in your local market. Before you dive in head-first, pay close attention to things like interest rates, the available home inventory in your area and what home buyers have recently paid for houses comparable to your property. In a buyer’s market, where inventory is high and demand is low, buyers have an advantage and can often negotiate lower sale prices. Understanding if it is a buyer’s market or a seller’s market can also make a huge difference in negotiating when you can sell or close. In a seller’s market, where demand is high and inventory is low, sellers have the advantage and can often command higher prices.

According to Fannie Mae’s December 2023 Home Purchase Sentiment Index, 57% of consumers thought it was a great time to sell, while many analysts feared there might be another dip in prices like 2008’s crash.

Factoring in timeline requirements for closings

Another huge factor in achieving how to buy and sell a house simultaneously is figuring out the timing involved in both deals. Each transaction is filled with contingencies, inspections, appraisals and the needs of many different people. Be realistic about the process by understanding things don’t always move along as quickly as you want them to. Aligning the closing dates of both transactions is crucial for a smooth transition between selling and buying homes. And make sure your expectations are on the more cautious side – having a pre-approval letter from your mortgage lender before making offers, coordinating closing dates or getting temporary housing lined up (more about all that stuff below) – these can all really help you. But remember to add about 6 weeks just for a mortgage approval to avoid becoming frustrated if the closing for either home falls outside your planned timeline. To get a handle on the home selling and closing processes you might have to create a detailed spreadsheet.

For example, here’s the typical sales timeline according to current data as of 2024:

Accept an offer (6 weeks): The average number of days it takes for a listing to go under contract is 42 days.

Considering the importance of contingency clauses

You might be really enthusiastic about accomplishing how to buy and sell a house simultaneously. But what if something doesn’t go according to plan? Before jumping in and going through the work, effort and risk involved in this scenario, I’d suggest working in contingencies for both your purchase agreement and the sales agreement on your existing home. A financing contingency will allow you to step out of the purchase of your new home without consequences if you’re suddenly denied the final mortgage approval. A sales contingency, meanwhile, may help you manage an unanticipated change in circumstance for the deal. This means if something big comes up and forces you to stay put, the buyer will be more inclined to agree to your walking away from the deal.

The necessity for a solid temporary housing plan

Think through all the steps you are going to need to take, just in case the timing on either your house sale or your new home’s purchase falls outside your ideal timeline. For instance, maybe your house sells right away and you close quickly, but it will be a few weeks before your new house is ready to close and move in. Then again, what if the closings line up, but it’s not possible for you to physically move out and then in the same day? When thinking about it from this angle, don’t forget you need a spot to put your stuff. You might just need to make several moves instead of one if both houses don’t end up on the same street. Managing two properties, especially an old house, can be financially and logistically challenging during the transition.

Having a Plan B or even Plan C for managing unexpected scenarios before things get really crazy could end up saving you money in the long run and give you peace of mind that no matter what happens, you can handle it. For example, we suggest researching rental rates for homes and temporary storage options early on. You might need that information for a rental application or mortgage pre-approval down the line, although using a mortgage calculator won’t show those things to a lender.

Planning for housing - child holding drawing of a house

The 10 Steps of Buying and Selling a House Simultaneously

Navigating how to buy and sell a house simultaneously can be one of the biggest financial steps a homeowner will make. It requires meticulous attention to detail and the support of several experts. The home buying process, especially when combined with selling a current home, is filled with numerous steps and potential logistical challenges.

To make the experience go more smoothly we have developed 10 important steps:

Reviewing Finances and Debt Consolidation
Getting Organized with Your Backup Plan
Preparing your current home
Determining your Home Buying Needs
Contacting Your Team of Experts
Securing Mortgage Pre-Approval
Making An Offer (Financing Contingencies, too)
Contingencies, Closing Costs and Coordination
Packing and Move Planning (Plus Short-Term Storage)
Preparing For Both Closings – and After

Reviewing your Finances – and debt consolidation

We strongly suggest starting this first step by calculating all expenses you’ll need for both properties including their associated closing costs and moving truck costs.

In general, here’s a typical budget:

3% down payment on new home
6% real estate agent commission on sale
$3,000 – $10,000 in closing costs (buyer)
$3,000 – $10,000 in closing costs (seller)

In general, for those purchasing a property without military experience, most mortgage companies will require at least a 3% down payment. Additionally, remember most standard home purchase agreements require that the home seller pay for realtor fees – 6% is pretty common for this.

You might need to get creative with your financing in order to avoid paying both mortgage payments over a long time, so let’s review several options. Managing two mortgage payments can cause significant financial stress and impact your overall experience during the transition.

Finding temporary cash solutions

Unless you’re loaded, there’s a good chance that how to buy and sell a house simultaneously will depend entirely on you securing the proper amount of cash up front. For some, it’s easier than others. We know a client who just used their 401k. We also recommend looking into a 401(k) loan or a HELOC (home equity line of credit), but before making any final choices regarding using retirement money you should check with an expert financial advisor to make sure those options fit your needs.

You can use your 401(k) and other retirement funds to fund your purchase, either through a 401(k) loan or a withdrawal. Although be careful because some withdrawals may have significant tax implications or require penalty fees if withdrawn before retirement age, whereas borrowing money from your own retirement through a 401(k) loan will likely not. But to get a better understanding of how home equity lines of credit (also referred to as HELOCs) or even 401ks work, take a look at this detailed article explaining how a home equity line of credit can work.

Managing two mortgages while buying a home

If you do end up with two homes and both of their associated mortgages to handle over an extended time, it might be in your best interest to pay off high-interest debts now. Using proceeds from your current house to wipe the slates clean before things get busy will likely increase your credit score as well. When purchasing your new property this will put you in a better position to receive an excellent interest rate for the loan, as well as for temporary financing options, such as personal loans.

Get organized with your “Plan B” (and “C”)

Creating your backup plan before taking any further steps is essential in case your house sale takes longer than expected or something forces the sale to be pushed back or delayed. Additionally, you should understand what steps you need to take just in case your current house closes quickly but the closing on the new purchase isn’t possible for a few weeks.

If the buyer for your home suddenly gets cold feet or runs into credit issues that cause their financing approval to fall through this step can save you. Also, remember there will be lots of deadlines and steps you need to track when navigating the mortgage payments and closings for both transactions simultaneously. You should map out the entire process from start to finish, from getting pre-approved for a mortgage, scheduling a home inspection, managing home sellers for both properties and packing – just thinking through everything might require a few weeks of careful planning.

Organizing for unexpected events – create a backup plan (and “C”, too)

A lot can go wrong, fast. An experienced real estate agent should already have a basic backup plan mapped out for you but consider brainstorming various “what-if” situations just in case you end up stuck in an awkward situation during the home buying or selling process. There’s a good chance you may require temporary housing if your closing dates aren’t sequential. Don’t forget things like pet care or school requirements for your kids if you end up needing short-term rentals.

Mortgage approvals can be complex – allow plenty of time

Although realtors, estate agents and lawyers are experts on contract negotiations, many don’t truly understand the level of paperwork, detail, approvals, debt consolidation efforts and potential setbacks that mortgage lenders like to spring up, even last minute. We once worked on a deal where the bank notified the buyer, just two days before closing, that the buyer needed additional documentation in order to approve their new mortgage. That deal almost blew up right at the goal line, which happens frequently enough because of last minute roadblocks and complications.

Coordination and Communication: The Cornerstone of Selling and Buying

Make sure to discuss how you want to buy and sell a home at the same time in great depth with your family and realtor before moving onto the next step. Ask them tough questions to make sure they can handle the challenges ahead, especially for moving large, fragile things and managing the emotional and financial burdens involved. There’s nothing more important in pulling off the sale of your home and buying the purchase of another than strong communication – especially open, accurate, respectful and realistic expectations on all sides. For those who feel the process will end up taking a toll on their ability to cope, it might make sense to see a mental health therapist or counsellor.

Get your current home ready for a sale (prepping for sale)

Just because you want to accomplish how to buy and sell a house simultaneously doesn’t mean your house is ready for it. Take the necessary steps to get it up to par. In 2022 alone, over 6 million houses were sold. That’s a huge number and we imagine your real estate agent is just dying to sell your property. So, to attract the right kind of buyer and get the perfect cash offer make your property appealing to as many potential buyers as possible. This step is all about presentation.

The Home Selling process: First Impressions and Market Value

Focus on things that buyers tend to value, including excellent curb appeal, deep cleaning, updating paint colors, refreshing your exterior, and fixing damaged, dated components. In order to really get your home to shine, hire a staging expert. Although be realistic when making significant updates as those projects typically require permitting processes and contractor quotes which can take many weeks. Don’t even think about replacing those kitchen cabinets at this point. Focus on smaller jobs like staging or cleaning that can be completed quickly, to prepare for showings. And to make this part a little easier consider using proceeds from a home equity loan or 401k loan for quick wins.

And as long as you do a proper market analysis with your experienced real estate agent, make sure that all cosmetic improvements align with current design trends in your local real estate market and provide enough return on investment for you when determining the price of your listing.

Photography: Your home should sell itself online

When showing a home the first step for most home buyers these days is visiting your property through listing photos posted online. An incredible photography strategy with detailed shots of each room and excellent lighting should showcase every square foot and show why your property deserves a generous cash offer. Be prepared to spend money for the best possible photos. To get a feeling for this ask for comparable homes your realtor has listed previously and see which ones sold for higher premiums.

Getting to know the North Carolina local markets

If you’re relocating from Raleigh to Charlotte and intend to navigate how to buy and sell a house simultaneously this is critical to understand. Research real estate values and comparable listings so you don’t lose on the sales price of your current house and pay too much for the next purchase. If one real estate market is favored as a buyer’s market and the other is heavily slanted toward a seller’s market the risks involved in this can significantly impact your cash flow. To prepare I’d suggest speaking to several estate agents or brokers to get more insights. Don’t hesitate to pay an appraiser for a full comparative market analysis, to understand this thoroughly.

Assemble a Team of Pros and Get in Contact

Don’t just grab anyone off the street. Getting the right team together might require reaching out to previous contacts or conducting research on various online websites. This process alone can take weeks because finding reliable people with the right kind of personality, level of expertise and experience can take quite a bit of planning and communication, but to buy a home and sell a home, without it, well, that’s crazy talk.

Picking a Real Estate Agent: A Trusted Guide

As Carolina Home Cash Offer is based in Charlotte, this is most relevant to your situation. Consider selecting the real estate agent you are going to use to list your Raleigh home to help manage the timeline needs for both the house you want to sell and the property you are purchasing in Charlotte. Working with a local real estate agent who understands the market dynamics can provide valuable support throughout the transaction. If possible, use this opportunity to learn from them how to use the current market conditions and buyer/seller preferences in Raleigh to attract buyers, and in Charlotte for identifying purchase agreements that may not align with what you’re looking for. A skilled real estate agent or broker will act as your guide to both sales. Additionally, for your situation where your existing house and the new one are in separate markets you will need two different real estate agents, each with different expertise and experience levels for this to succeed.

Real Estate Attorneys are critical for contract contingencies

Lawyers play an especially important role because in real estate transactions, they work with mortgage companies, home buyers, the home selling team, and even contractors or storage units – essentially any business. An attorney also can act as a legal expert to identify inconsistencies and contingencies written into contracts. And because buying a house can be filled with confusing contract terms, hidden legal language or even mistakes that could end up costing you a ton of cash later down the road, if you’re truly serious about figuring out how to buy and sell a house simultaneously don’t even think about going into contract with an expert real estate attorney on your side, regardless of your state’s legal requirements or if the market conditions favor the seller or buyer. They really earn their fees in these deals. If they work closely with an estate agent too that’s even better.

Mortgage Pre-approval and Choosing A Mortgage Company

With this crucial step you want a local expert – Carolina Home Cash Offer, being a leading real estate investor in the Charlotte real estate market will know reputable companies in North Carolina that can guide you through the home purchase process for how to buy and sell a house simultaneously. As Carolina Home Cash Offer frequently deals with the ups, downs, complexities, frustrations and confusing timelines associated with purchasing a property from someone who is selling one, we imagine you’ll be receiving plenty of insights on how to effectively find mortgage lenders. Getting a mortgage lender lined up now is very important. When you reach the negotiation and offer stages, most home sellers, as well as estate agents or brokers are going to give your offers a lot more weight if they see a solid mortgage pre-approval letter from a reputable local bank with you listed as the approved buyer.

Securing Mortgage Pre-Approval: A Competitive Advantage (pre-approval letter)

Getting a solid pre-approval letter for the right mortgage payment that is based on your desired budget will allow you to move fast when you find your perfect place, to make your home buying offers appealing to real estate agents and home sellers. During the pre-approval application process with your mortgage company be open, transparent, and prepared with detailed bank statements, pay stubs, employment information, and more. Additionally, make sure to be upfront with your lender and realtor about what your current debt-to-income (or DTI) ratio looks like in case they suggest any potential debt consolidation solutions you haven’t already planned on for increasing your chances of approval. When homeowners embark on the process to buy a house, particularly in relation to selling their current home, they face challenges such as managing both transactions simultaneously and ensuring careful financial planning for a smooth transition.

Debt Consolidation Strategies

Don’t get denied, use pre-approvals to see your lender’s financial guidelines before your offer. Remember Frank again? After figuring out the potential closing costs, his budget ended up being really low. With credit card debt for the moving truck and an auto loan he had forgotten to consider, his income for approval was marginal at best. This happens to most buyers because debt consolidation can significantly change the debt-to-income (DTI) that banks consider critical when evaluating pre-approval requests. Don’t try to hide them. Instead, be upfront with your mortgage company and they might just be able to work with you. They might say, “Hey, that debt on the car has a 7% interest rate and is increasing each month. Here at Rocket Mortgage, we happen to have a 3% fixed rate and an incredible team to refinance those for you right now.” Frank felt good when this worked out and we had an easy road getting his mortgage approval on the second house. You should do that too.

Submitting Offers with Timing and Financing Contingencies in mind

When we work with buyers who are attempting to sell their property and buy another concurrently our focus is making sure they get the best offer for their home. While getting an excellent home inspector and a skilled real estate lawyer are good choices before writing any offers be aware it may depend a great deal on making your financing contingencies crystal clear. Don’t hesitate to tell estate agents this, especially since many won’t see the financing contingency clause during the contract process unless they look really carefully for it. Don’t leave it up to a chance. Planning and working with a knowledgeable real estate agent is crucial to navigate the complexities of how to sell your house and buy a new one successfully.

So before sending over that cash offer on a house remember our advice about timing those closing dates.

Timeliness is Crucial For Avoiding Losing Out

Be as accommodating and easy-going as possible, so long as your offers align with the closing dates, terms, and contingencies needed to protect your budget. To get the timing aligned we’d suggest checking with both your Raleigh realtor, estate agent or even lawyer and asking them tough questions. Most skilled home sellers with ample experience know the tricks for aligning the steps so the contracts, home inspections, pre-approvals, debt consolidation processes, etc – all come together when you want them to. This however can be challenging so prepare for an unpredictable road as delays can derail all your plans at a moment’s notice – an estate agent isn’t able to wave a magic wand to get things on track although many will say otherwise because they want to win a contract or two (real estate attorneys and lawyers meanwhile see how things play out far too often and won’t do that.)

Include Sales Contingencies (especially in a hot market)

Don’t get burned by a home seller who says “Yes” and wants you out fast, because many of these contingencies will only show up as a small clause deep in your offer document’s legal text. We have seen many real estate agents who only vaguely skimmed that section, gloss over this stuff completely, and missed those essential conditions – costing home buyers a ton in expenses and unnecessary stress that may have been completely avoidable. In markets like

Also keep in mind, when selling simultaneously you need to get a feel for when the best offers to accept will occur for you. While we often tell sellers to simply hold out for a great offer that occurs after at least 1 or 2 weeks on the market sometimes waiting can cause your financing and closing timelines to be pushed back which will require a skilled real estate attorney and more legal wrangling that could be avoided. However, at Carolina Home Cash Offer, we are always ready to make a cash offer for your home.

Managing Contingencies: Inspections, Appraisals, Debt Consolidation and Title work

These steps in the process may be easy when buying your dream place but when doing this while selling, well, this is another part of this delicate balancing act that trips up most homebuyers. You may want to even set your budget for each of these on the higher side so long as your financing contingency doesn’t come with too much of a financial burden or commitment in order to manage a deal quickly that might otherwise be missed. If either party changes their debt consolidation or financial commitment after receiving pre-approvals or even submitting an offer there’s a good chance, you’ll run into surprises.

The Appraisal and Home Inspections Should Always Be on Track

Avoid selecting a cut-rate home inspector or appraisal service. Just because some services have high-profile articles online showcasing their “expertise” that is backed up with 5-star reviews from unknown reviewers, don’t believe every claim or statistic unless you can see how much experience a firm has. It’s way better to use reputable referrals from experienced real estate professionals who you trust. A poorly written appraisal, inaccurate documentation, incomplete reporting, a shady firm that isn’t licensed to practice in the city, county or state they claim to be expert at or even an inspector that misses a significant home repair in their report can derail deals completely, even on the exact closing day. During a purchase, if any problems show up or if costs and budgets aren’t on target your real estate lawyer and your lender can quickly make revisions and submit the new paperwork for the deal as long as things haven’t progressed too far through the timeline.

Title Work can end up being a burden

While lawyers are a part of every deal make sure you aren’t ignoring their fees, scheduling conflicts, time management abilities and legal work. Many attorneys offer title work for helping their clients navigate how to buy and sell a house at the same time so remember to use them because any significant delays from the lender side (as with the example we gave about the missing paperwork that the bank requested last minute) could potentially cause either the home seller, homebuyer, real estate agent, etc. to reconsider if this is even worth their efforts at this point, and might require extra negotiating time, or money from both sides.

Financing Contingencies

Use any leverage with your attorney and estate agent, so that home buying negotiations aren’t completely out of line with your personal timelines or budget in order to avoid any legal setbacks or miscommunication with mortgage lenders and closing companies or for selling simultaneously without the ability to manage both deals. For most home buyers navigating the mortgage and debt consolidation steps within a sale requires a lawyer that sees things from the buyer’s side rather than just as an unbiased “legal” observer, or even just someone the seller knows or has a good reputation with but isn’t interested in advocating on the other side. In our experience this often happens with cut-rate companies that advertise “competitive rates” and offer all kinds of assurances (usually with impressive marketing materials), and even some high-quality home buying firms like Orchard don’t realize this – that’s why they make such “generous” cash offers and often push “speed” of completion with streamlined contract language that hides fees and increases profit on the seller’s side at the expense of your pocketbook. To avoid getting “razzle dazzled” when seeing an incredible mortgage offer, have an attorney conduct an extensive review of the loan terms first.

Packing Up and Planning Your Move with Storage (rental rates)

Be prepared. That’s the simplest way to put this because buying and selling concurrently doesn’t make it easier to organize your stuff or the rental truck before move day, but if you approach it a certain way and make the tough choices early you can at least make the physical moving parts more palatable – although make no mistake packing boxes and cleaning is never going to be fun. So remember the earlier discussion about backup plans because getting short-term storage units lined up for worst-case situations should be in place well ahead of schedule, especially since rental rates and size limitations will vary from firm to firm – you should also evaluate accessibility and how easily a rental truck can enter their property to move those heavy items, because when navigating simultaneous deals anything you do to alleviate pressure later on will likely help a ton. For most local businesses their busiest moving days and storage units tend to fill up quickly so waiting is never a good option. You can learn more from various home buying services about their process for organizing storage solutions when going through how to buy and sell a house simultaneously, because most, like Knock see moving from the buyer’s and seller’s perspective. Knock’s program provides a $35,000 prepayment option to offset those costs that comes without an additional interest charge for qualifying homebuyers.

Begin Packing Your Personal Items

Don’t wait – begin packing up smaller things right now. Although you probably shouldn’t remove anything that may cause your house to appear as barren in listing photos or showings take time during nights or weekends and slowly make your way through each room by packing, cleaning, staging and storing your items so the weeks or months ahead don’t become unbearably frustrating. If you feel overwhelmed start with areas of your home that will not impact photographs, like bedrooms, the kitchen (only start by clearing the pantry and drawers – the main counters, sink, etc. need to appear usable.) Also begin tossing (or even selling in a yard sale to help recoup money spent for home repairs and cleaning) anything you don’t absolutely must keep. Decluttering now for each square foot can have a very powerful benefit on your mood because by the time it comes for that final packing push, moving truck loading and new house cleaning, the overall mental pressure can push even the strongest among us over the edge.

Rental Truck Bookings Require Some Advance Planning

Don’t get surprised by availability issues, especially if you plan on using a national firm like Budget, Hertz or U-Haul, rather than a smaller local business in the city. Make reservations a few weeks ahead. As with temporary housing options consider adding in at least 2 weeks as a buffer in order to keep your timelines flexible so that when the house you want to sell closes or the new home is finally done its approval and move-in steps don’t depend on everything aligning exactly right – and if possible include both the estate agent, attorney, any storage companies you’re considering for a back-up and anyone helping you in those discussions to ensure things run efficiently because as we already talked about that communication can be essential to completing how to buy and sell a house simultaneously successfully. And in case your sale and closing timelines end up getting crunched down, most smaller movers or rental truck firms may allow same-day reservations or rental truck changes (for instance to move to a larger or smaller vehicle), but we suggest clarifying upfront what their requirements and penalties for late returns, missing paperwork, etc. may be.

Coordinating Both Closings and Payments – Before (and After)

It’s time. Months of hard work, effort, inspections, countless home showings, organizing all your belongings and preparing financially by creating backup plans for those inevitable surprises along the way with the support of lawyers, your mortgage company and both realtors – you made it here and should feel proud. If possible, attempt concurrent closings for simplifying moving truck logistics, rental fees and managing personal schedules. But it may be best for your sanity and budget to have a few days between each closing just in case one is suddenly pushed back or your funds haven’t hit your account, as money transfers can take more time to post (you’ll also be managing expenses that will include a second set of mortgage payments in order to close both.) This step of selling and buying at the same time can be the toughest because it involves all of your work coming together successfully.

Finalize Debt Consolidation Processes Early

If you intend to wrap up those pesky outstanding balances before receiving final approval from your lender remember it can take a while, particularly for credit card bills, outstanding utility bills from your house you are moving out of or old loans or leases for the moving truck. Although realtors are helpful with moving strategies that part of it usually involves the lender, so ensure everything has gone according to plan in that debt consolidation before closing on either home. And as always if anything unforeseen does happen along the way – if suddenly your credit score isn’t what it’s expected to be or even if the pre-approval letter you received was filled with mistakes a month ago – having that open and direct line of communication between both of your lawyers and mortgage company, the two estate agents and most importantly yourself and your family will always help. Our personal recommendation is adding in an extra month, for dealing with these types of “fires”, when organizing your schedule just in case. If it is easier, use a mortgage calculator and estimate debt consolidation expenses over a year and incorporate the totals.

Conclusion

It’s an intense dance, but buying and selling a house simultaneously, well, if you really think about the timing, prepare for inevitable surprises along the way and create solid

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