Home Buying 101: Buying and Selling Your Homes at the Same Time

If you already own a home and are getting ready to purchase a new home in Florida, chances are you are trying to juggle buying a new home and selling your current one at the same time. In fact, according to Zillow Group’s 2017 Consumer Housing Trends Report, 71% of people selling their homes are also buying one at the same time! This means that in addition to searching for the new home of your dreams, you’ll be juggling showings, offers, and counter-offers on your current home.

A key factor that can affect your buying and selling process is coordinating the timing of two closings. If you have motivated buyers ready to move now, but you’re buying a new construction home, there can be a gap between closings. This can also happen if you have buyers that aren’t quite ready to move yet, but your new home is available now, which may even affect your ability to have cash on hand at closing.

While this may sound like a difficult situation to navigate, we promise that it’s not! It’s a normal occurrence when buying and selling at the same time. Having a team of professionals surrounding you throughout this process, including a knowledgeable Realtor to assist with selling your current home and the team at Highland Homes building your new home, can help everything progress with ease.

According to Trulia, there are four different scenarios that are most likely to happen when you’re buying and selling your homes in Florida at the same time:

1. You’re in a hot market where it could take up to a year to buy a house.
2. You have enough funds available to make an offer and move now.
3. You’ve found a job in a new city and need to move to start work in three months.
4. You’re selling in a hot market and moving to where the market is slow.

Now, we’ll take a deep dive into each scenario and discuss strategies, according to the Real Estate experts at Trulia, which can help ease the process of buying and selling at the same time!

1. You’re in a hot market where it could take up to a year to buy a house.

Your best strategy: Sell first.

If you are searching for a new home in a city where inventory is low and competition is high, it can take a while to find the right home without making major concessions to your must-have list. Instead of rushing and making a decision you may later regret, commit to waiting it out. This could mean you have to move twice — out of your current home into a month-to-month or short-term rental and then from your rental into your dream home — but finding your perfect home will be worth the wait.

If you’re looking for a home in hot Florida Real Estate markets, such as Orlando or Tampa, and just can’t wait to buy, a great way to find what you are looking for is to build a new construction home! When you buy new, you don’t have to worry about competing with other buyers for the same home. When you build with Highland Homes, you get to choose your preferred home plan as well as the features and colors to personalize every room in your dream home and truly make it your own. This means no settling for what’s available — you can make sure your new home checks all of the boxes on your list!

2. You have enough funds available to make an offer and move now.

Your best strategy: Buy first.

For some home buyers, buying a new home before selling their current home isn’t a possibility because of funds for a down payment. Without selling the current home, they wouldn’t have cash on hand for the down payment on a new home. But, if you are able to buy before you sell, there are plenty of advantages to doing so!

First, you will only have to move once, which is reason enough for many buyers. When you move prior to selling, you also have the chance to declutter your for-sale home, allowing potential buyers to better visualize themselves living in your home. Depending on your timeline, you may not have to deal with the hassle of rearranging your life to be out of the house for showings, as these can happen after you've moved out.  And, perhaps most importantly, you have the peace of mind knowing you’ve already found your new dream home in Florida and won’t be rushed into buying something because you’re running out of time.

Buying first also works great when you find the perfect Highland Homes community to build your new dream home in! It will give you plenty of time to select the home plan and home site of your choice, without worrying about the timing of construction and closing. Once you’ve designed the home of your dreams and your closing day draws near, you can plan to list your current home for sale.

3. You’ve found a job in a new city and need to move to start work soon.

The strategy: Sell first.

This scenario is fairly common, as most people don’t plan to relocate to a new city without having a job lined up ahead of time. If you’ve found your dream job in Florida and they’re expecting you to start sooner rather than later, it’s important to go ahead and get your current home on the market. Selling first will allow you to get the equity out of that home for the purchase of your next home. This will also allow you to move before you’ve found a home in your new city without having to pay living costs in two locations, if necessary.

Just like in the first scenario above, selling first is a great option enabling you to purchase the new home of your dreams in your exciting, new city. You’ll immediately get to enjoy all the benefits of living in a new home, from increased energy efficiency and a home warranty to having the design scheme and layout that perfectly suits your needs.

4. You’re selling in a hot market and moving where the market is slow.

Your best strategy: Buy first.

Buying first makes sense if you’re selling a house in a hot market. Often the thought of paying two mortgages is what deters people from this strategy, but if your selling market is hot, you should be able to quickly sell the home you are moving out of.

To make this strategy work, it’s important to have everything organized and ready to go when you put a new home under contract, and then list your home. Make sure your mortgage pre-approval is complete so the financing process happens quickly, and ensure your current home is in tip-top showing shape and any necessary repairs are complete. This way, as soon as your closing is scheduled on your new Highland home, you can list your current home and start showing it immediately. Having any repairs completed ahead of time can cut down on any delays when closing on the sale of your home.

No matter which scenario applies to you when selling your current home and buying a new home in Florida, the Highland Homes team can help walk you through the process! For more information on our new home communities throughout central Florida, browse communities online or contact our Florida New Home Specialists at 863-797-4999.