Buying a home when you need to sell a home--any tips?

[Juliet25]

My family has outgrown our home and we really need to move. We won't benefit from the $8000 credit, but we hope it would help our "starter" home sell.

Here's the problem: all, and I mean all, of our money is tied up in our home. We cannot carry two mortgages. We are toying with the idea of selling our home and renting an apartment while looking for a new house (we would save about $300/month using this option).

I've also heard of buyers making an offer on a house based on the condition that their house sells. I don't imagine this sort of thing was in vogue a few years ago, but I wonder if that's an option now?

I know we can't be alone in needing to sell a house while wanting to buy another. How do others handle this?

 

[Kies99]

I've also heard of buyers making an offer on a house based on the condition that their house sells. I don't imagine this sort of thing was in vogue a few years ago, but I wonder if that's an option now?

I know we can't be alone in needing to sell a house while wanting to buy another. How do others handle this?

That's called a "contingent sale" or "contingency sale". It's been around for quite some time.

http://homebuying.about.com/od/offersnegotiations/qt/ContingentSale.htm

 

[Bren's Mom]

And I have to say that any seller who accept a contingency offer in this market might very well be insane.

First I would get at least 3 realtors to come in and give you a home analysis. Decide whether you want to sell at this time. Choose a realtor and list. When you get an offer, negotiate the longest closing you can. Then start looking. If you don't find anything you want right away, find a short term rental.

If you do, then you will make your offer to coincide with the closing date on your current home so that you close on the one you own first, and then later in the day or the next day you close on your NEW home. This gets a little bit stressful but it can be done. (We just did it.) Make sure you use the same attorney for both closings, they will coordinate all of this for you.

We spent the night in between in a hotel nearby. Our things were in a POD parked in front of our new home with the sellers permission (we didn't own it yet) and the rest in a locked UHaul at the hotel with us. And we had our little one (2 at the time) with us.

Our buyer offered us a 90 day closing, which was great. We were very concerned that we were NOT going to be able to find what we wanted in that time, and we almost didn't. Our backup plan was to rent a house at the beach for the summer (closing on our old house was set for May 30th), enjoy the season and house hunt. But we didn't need to do that.

Good luck!

 

[HM]

From what I heard from our lawyer earlier this year....you can't really sell and then buy on the same day anymore. Something to do with the banking end...and not actually having funds disbursed on the day of the sale. There might be as much as a four day wait before your sale funds become available. So, be sure to check into that if you go the route given by the previous poster. (We've done it before....but that was nearly 20 years ago).

In this climate....I'd sell, store most of my belongs and rent until I found a home to buy.

 

[pixiemagic30]

Our house is currently on the market, but we are looking to move to Florida. We are first selling our house. After it is sold, then and only then, will my DH seriously look and apply for a job. During that in between time, we will rent. There is no way that we will try to purchase a house while still owning another one.

As for a contingency offer, my DH said that he will consider one provided that there is a "first right" clause in it. The "first right" clause is that you can still show your house to other potential buyers. If you receive another offer that has acceptable terms, and has no contingencies, you as seller, goes back to the original offer and they have 24 hours to move forward with their offer. If they cannot move forward, they lose out and then you are free to move forward with the new offer.

Hope that helps,