Yesterday, one of my clients (who is both selling his current home and buying another home) asked me if he should sell first or buy. I told him there are always two ways to skin a cat and with the market changing, we need to do things differently and also start thinking outside the box.
While the temptation may be great to buy a replacement home first, being it’s a buyer’s market; I think it puts the seller/buyer at great risk.
If you purchase first, you will know where you are going and how much you will be paying. You also won’t have to worry about finding a place, or lowering your wish list with nowhere to go if your home sells quickly.
However, the financial risks of buying first are far too great. I believe it’s much better to sell your current home first, and then buy. This way you can “NEGOTIATE FROM A POSTITION OF STRENGTH.” Which is much better than owning and paying for two homes if you purchase first. Or worse, you might have to lower your list price for far below what you were expecting because now you ” HAVE TO SELL”.
Yes, you may have the inconvenience of moving to an interim rental (if that were to even happen), but you can also negotiate more than just price. You can negotiate a longer close of escrow, and/or do a rent back from the buyer of your home once it closes escrow for another 30-60 days.
