Buying/selling

How typical is it to put an offer in on a house without your current home being up for sale yet? We are very close to listing, hallway bath needs to be finished but I also dont want to sell and have no where to go. I feel like if I had an accepted offer in on a house it would move us a lot quicker knowing we have somewhere to go. My agent wants us to list first but I don't feel like what we want to do is so out of the norm. Thoughts?

Buying/selling

Would you be approved for a mortgage if your current house did not have a pending offer? I think that’s why most don’t go that route because they can’t carry two mortgages.

Re: Buying/selling

Unless you have the resources to own 2 houses at once, the typical way to do it is list your house, get an offer, go to contract. Ideally you can find a buyer with a more flexible timeline (like they live at home with parents or are renting now) so you can buy yourself enough time to find your new house.

Once your current house is in contract, you look for a new house and then TRY to line the closings up. Most sellers won't take you seriously if they know you have to sell your own house, but if you can say your house is in contract, then it's better. It's tricky, but you can do it. Use a real estate agent who can help guide you through this.

Good luck!

Re: Buying/selling

We carried two homes for nearly a year and it was terrible. I would not recommend it at all. Sell, get everything packed and then buy, even if you need to put stuff in storage and go into a short term rental or stay with family for a few weeks I thinK that would be preferable because then you can get a house you like and can afford.

Re: Buying/selling

It would be very difficult to find a seller in this market especially who would consider an offer contingent on your home sale when your property isn't even listed.

This as the seller, why would you? Why wouldn't you go with an offer that was ready to move forward?

Re: Buying/selling

I would not entertain any offer from a buyer who needs to sell their house, period.

If you can't carry both properties you may be better off selling, then renting for a little while. This way your offer as a buyer would be a lot stronger knowing you don't have a house hanging over your head you have to sell in order to buy.

Buying/selling

No seller will take your offer into consideration if your offer is contingent on the sale of your house. Your realtor will likely advise you list your house and begin looking, unless your offer is not contingent on the sale of your current home then it’s no issue, you just have to be able to carry 2 mortgages

Buying/selling

We're in the midst of this right now and I would never do it again. You need a really good agent and particularly a really good lawyer.

We had no issue getting our offer accepted contingent on our sale and this was in a high demand area. It's what comes after and the coordination and dealing with 3 lawyers, 3 lenders, 3 agents, etc simultaneously that's a nightmare.