Simultaneously selling and buying a house is no easy feat. After all, most homeowners cannot afford to pay two mortgages at a time, so they are under intense pressure to juggle the demands of both selling and buying a property at the perfect timing. Thus, making this process time-consuming, confusing, and frustrating.
If you are in this situation, you might be pressed on how and where to start. This article would give you some guidelines on keeping your sanity as you sell your house while buying your new home.
Research the Housing Market
As a buyer and seller, you need to assess the current market for both the buyers’ and sellers’ perspectives. Ideally, you would want to sell during a seller’s market so you can get top dollar for your home and purchase your new property during a buyer’s market.
In completing this task, you must consider many factors that directly affect the housing market. These factors may include school ranking, proximity to commuter hubs, latest crime rates as reported by the local precinct, demographics, population density, and current interest rates. However, it is vital to keep in mind that different cities or towns may have hyperlocal housing markets that may not follow the aforementioned factors. Therefore, the key to successful research of the market may involve talking to a licensed real estate agent who understands the housing market in the area where you are selling or buying.
Assessing the seller and buyer’s market is a critical step to this journey. By researching both markets, you would be able to make an informed expectation of what and how much you can prepare to sell your home and buy your next property.
Evaluate Your Finances
Understanding your finances is one of the most crucial tasks you have to do whether you are selling or buying a property. After all, your finances could dictate how much you will price your home and how much you are willing to sell your property.
However, finances are more than the amount of cash you have in your bank. Instead, finances refer to the following: how much savings you have on your bank, your credit score, home equity, and the resale value of your home. All of these factors are somewhat interrelated and directly impact how much you can afford to buy and sell your home.
- Savings
- Credit Score
- Home Equity
- Resale Value of Your Home
By figuring out this information, you would have a realistic approach to what you need to work on before you list your home or look at properties to buy.
Prepare To List Your Home in the Market
At this stage, it is time to focus on your property. Take this time to work on decluttering, fixing minor repairs, putting on a new coat of paint to your walls, and, if applicable, updating your curb appeal.
Armed with the valuable information from the previous stages, this is also a great time to work on the other areas of your finances that you may have found out that you need to improve. Some of the areas you may need to work on include:
- Raise your credit score.
- Check your credit report for accuracy.
- Increase your savings so you can put a more significant downpayment.
List Your Home with a Licensed Real Estate Agent
Now that your home is in its best shape, it is ready to be shown off to prospective buyers.
Working with a licensed real estate agent in selling your property offers a significant advantage. Aside from having a professional available to answer any questions you may have regarding the selling process, they can also help you determine the right price for your property so it can be sold at the best price in the least amount of time.
Most importantly, licensed real estate agents have the ability and resources to provide the most exposure of your property to the right buyers. Part of their core responsibilities includes: advertising your property, listing it on their industry database so that it can be accessed by other agents who may have clients looking for properties, host open houses, and show your home to prospective buyers. Since real estate agents are paid on commission based on your home’s selling price, you can be assured that they are determined to bring the best buyers.
Search For Your New Home
Similar to selling your home, it is best to work with a licensed real estate agent when searching for your new home. By working with a professional, they can navigate you through the available listings best suited to your needs.
Once you find the right home, you can make an offer to the seller and start the negotiation process. If the seller accepts your request, it is now time to prepare for closing.
Another thing to keep in mind when negotiating with your seller is the closing date for the property. Typically, an expected closing date ranges from 45 to 60 days. However, since you are also selling your home, you may want to request an extended closing date. Ideally, you would like to close on your property after your closing date for the house you are selling. By doing this, you would be able to use your sold property’s equity to pay for the new property you are purchasing.
Apply for a Mortgage Loan
Now that you found your next home, it is time to apply for a mortgage loan to finance your purchase. Generally, this is the most tedious stage because banks require a lot of paperwork to determine if they will grant you the loan. Although this is not the most exciting stage, this might be the most important because it can decide if you can close on your new property. Therefore, you must present all the necessary documents to your loan officer in a timely manner.
Closing on Your Properties
Finally, you made it to the closing dates.
At this stage, all the requirements have been completed. The buyer will hand over a certified check to the seller in exchange for the keys to the property, and both parties will sign the sales contract.
Congratulations, you made it to the end of this process. It is now time to start moving into your new home to make new memories.
Ready to Sell Your House?
If you’re interested in selling your home in Massachusetts quickly and want to save yourself the time, headache, and money, consider working with us.
At Pavel Buys Houses, we are licensed real estate agents in Massachusetts that can help you sell the house competitively in this current market to help you close in time to move on to your new home. Remember, taking on this journey of selling and buying a property can be a stressful task, but it is not impossible with the right real estate agents guiding you through this process.
If you don’t want the time commitment and frustrations of selling the property the traditional way, we also buy homes fast in Massachusetts (and pay cash while offering fast closings!).
Get in touch with us today for a consultation or to receive this free, no-obligation cash offer at 781-309-7085.