If you are thinking about selling your home or buying a new home, trying to sync up timelines between both your current and future home can be daunting. Plus, stumbling blocks can arise that disrupt the timelines of either property. With a little planning, you can be prepared to deal with any possible scenarios and ideally close and purchase on the same day.
Before Market
As you start to plan to put your home on the market, make sure it is ready! Having your home cleaned and ready for staging photos will help draw in potential buyers in. Make sure to have any home projects done and finished before putting on the market. In addition, it may be a good idea to do a pre-inspection to catch any issues that might need to be resolved. This will save you time in negotiations after inspections and/or potential repairs that will delay your timeline.
Placing An Offer
While your home is on the market, you should begin to also do your own house shopping if you are planning to move within the same state. Once you have an offer on your home, if there is a house that you like now is the time to put an offer on it! If you are worried that your preferred property might go under contract before your home does, there are contingencies that can be put in place that allows the seller to accept your offer on the condition that your home goes under contract as well. These ways will help you sync up your timelines so that both properties can close around or on the same day.
While Under Contract
One of the most stressful times for a home buyer/seller is the under-contract process. One or more parties can drop out of the deal and throw your timeline off. As a seller, doing pre-inspections as we mentioned before can save you headaches down the line in re-negotiations or buyers backing out. If a buyer runs into an issue after the inspection, instead of negotiating the seller to do the repairs first (which can take time), it might make sense to negotiate a credit back to have the repairs done after the sale. Once you know of an issue, try to get a number of estimates for the repairs as soon as possible to keep your timeline on track.
Title companies within the same state should be able to work together to avoid delays in funds clearing. However this can add stress if something comes up at the last minute for one or more of the parties involved in each transaction. Some buyers are able to qualify for buying a new home as a second home, which can be a huge relief in needing to sell/buy in the correct order. However, this also means that you can not us the equity of your current home as a down payment.
Closing Day(s)
Ideally, if the closing day for the properties that you are buying and selling are on the same day, you can sell your current home in the morning and close on your future home in the afternoon. This is a common occurrence, and most homeowners are able to do same day selling and buying without running into any issues. However, something could come up at the last minute that could potentially delay your timeline so you should make some contingencies. Part of your back-up plan should include a place to temporarily sleep such as with family and friends, or local hotels. You should research also places where you could store your boxes & furniture temporarily, although if you are using professional movers they may already offer some storage solutions.
You can always each out to the experts at the Real Estate Store to find out more!
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