Buying or selling a home, even in the best of circumstances, is usually a stressful undertaking. And when you do both at the same time, the stress, as well as the attendant anxiety, is only compounded. But there are ways to make the process smoother and reduce the stress – you just have to deploy the right tactics and strategies. To help you out, here are 4 tactics you should know when buying and selling a home at the same time in Delaware.
1. Plan Ahead
While people often speak of buying and selling a home at the same, these two events almost never happen exactly simultaneously. Usually, either the purchase or the sale happens first (although there may be very little time separating the two).
The thing to do then is to plan ahead and determine which you want to happen first and how you will handle the process. So let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each . . .
Buying first ensures that you’ll have a place to live when you sell your current home. “There’s nothing more frustrating than having to find a short-term rental, especially if you have pets, kids or heavy furniture like a piano. Many places don’t allow month-to-month rentals if you’re a new tenant which means you may have to pay for multiple months of rent even if you only need a month. Plus, if you have a home to move into, then you won’t have to pay for moving expenses twice. You also won’t have to worry about living out of boxes.” The downside of buying before selling is that you may wind up paying on two mortgages. And that could be a huge financial blow if it takes longer to sell than you had anticipated.
The chief advantage of selling a home before buying another is that you won’t run the risk of having to pay on two mortgages at once. You also won’t have to make any hasty and perhaps costly decisions about selling. And if “you have somewhere to stay after closing, then you can also take your time and make sure your next home purchase is the right one.” The drawback here is that when you “sell a home before buying one, you’re leaving it up to chance that you’ll find something that fits your lifestyle and your budget.”
You can consult a Delaware to determine the strategy that best meets your needs. To discover more, just call 302-285-9988.
2. Get a Sale Contingency
One tried-and-true way to handle buying and selling a home at the same time in Delaware is to get a sale contingency when you buy.
“For many people, this is the ideal scenario. You put in an offer on a new home, and closing is contingent on finding a buyer for your current home.You only have to move once, and you don’t have to worry about carrying two mortgages.”
Many sellers will be open to accepting an offer with a sale contingency. But depending on market conditions, some sellers won’t be willing to wait till you sell. In addition, “a home sale contingency also weakens your offer.If you’re competing with a buyer who doesn’t have any contingencies, the seller is likely to go with the other buyer.” So be sure to contact a Delaware agent at 302-285-9988 if this is the way you want to proceed.
3. Delay Closing
Another tactic that can work when buying and selling a home at the same time in Delaware is delaying closing.
“Once the home you’re selling is ready to close, you might be able to delay the closing and write an offer to buy your new home without a contingency to sell. When the buyer for the home you are selling is fully approved by their lender, you can be relatively sure that the sale will go through.”
Another possibility is to delay closing on the home you’re selling so that it will happen concurrently with closing on the home you’re buying. But you do need to be sure the buyer will follow through with the deal, and, of course, she has to be willing to wait.
4. Try For a “Rent-Back” Contingency
And then there’s the “rent-back” contingency as a tactic when you’re buying and selling a home at the same time.
Here’s how this works: you “ask the people who are buying your home to let you rent it back for 30 to 60 days after closing.” Doing this ensures that you’ll have a place to live – without going through the hassle of moving – while you find a new home to purchase and move into. You also avoid having to have a home sale contingency written into the purchase contract, which is offputting to many sellers.
Work With a Delaware Agent
These tactics for buying and selling a home at the same time do indeed work. It’s just some of them are a little hard to pull off successfully, and there may be some risk involved. But with an experienced Delaware agent in your corner, you vastly increase your chances of success and mitigate much of the risk. So if you’re planning on buying and selling a home at the same time in Delaware, be sure to contact us today at 302-285-9988.