How to sell your house while buying another one at the same time

When you’re trying to sell a house while buying your next place, things can get complicated if your closings don’t align or it takes longer to sell or buy a house than you anticipated.

Buying and selling homes simultaneously can be stressful especially if you need the money from your current home’s sale to put toward your new home. Take heart, though, because a little planning and working with a savvy real estate agent can help make both transactions run more smoothly. Here are some tips to help you manage the process — and keep your sanity intact.

When you’re trying to sell a house while buying your next place, things can get complicated if your closings don’t align or it takes longer to sell or buy a house than you anticipated.

Buying and selling homes simultaneously can be stressful especially if you need the money from your current home’s sale to put toward your new home. Take heart, though, because a little planning and working with a savvy real estate agent can help make both transactions run more smoothly.

Here are some tips to help you manage the process — and keep your sanity intact.

1. Assemble your team

Given all the steps and paperwork involved in buying and selling at the same time, you’ll want experienced professionals guiding you through the process. Hiring a skilled real estate agent can give you a realistic estimate of home prices in your area and how to price your current home. Using that figure, you can calculate how much equity you have and what your net proceeds will look like so you can apply that money toward the down payment and closing costs of your new home.

“Working with a really experienced Realtor makes a huge difference,” says William Fastow, an associate broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in Washington, D.C. “There are a lot of moving pieces, so you want to work with someone who has a proven track record in your market and experience across both buying and selling.”

Using the same real estate agent and real estate attorney (if required in your state) for both the sale and the new purchase can make the entire process go more smoothly.

2. Consider your financial position

Ideally, you’d be able to have concurrent closings, where you sell your home in the morning and close on your next place by that afternoon or within a few days. But what if things don’t go according to plan? You could suddenly find yourself without the necessary funds to close on your next home, wind up paying two mortgages for an extended period of time or, worst-case scenario, be unable to get final approval for a mortgage and potentially lose your next home.

If you don’t have the means to handle two mortgages, definitely include a contingency in offers that gives you an escape route should the sale of your current home fall through. You might also consider adding a financing contingency, too, in case your new loan approval hinges on selling your current home.

3. Factor in the market

Timing both transactions right is one of the most important factors in buying and selling a home at the same time. Getting the timing right also depends on the conditions of your local housing market.

Read more: bankrate.com