Selling your Home
Juggling a Purchase and a Sale
It's always a good idea to sell before you buy. It sounds like common sense, but
many sellers find it difficult to start looking at open houses before they think
about taking care of all the preparations needed to sell their current home.
Why Sell First?
Most experts agree that you should close the sale of your home before committing
to another piece of property. It's a good way to pretty much eliminate financial
risk, as you know how much money you have available for a down payment and you
won't have to make alternate arrangements to cover for surprises.
If necessary, you can negotiate a sale-leaseback,
you can rent your home from the buyer for a month or two while you look for your
next house. If you can't arrange to rent your current house, you will probably
have to rent a home temporarily but it's usually cheaper to pay rent plus
moving costs than to pay two mortgages plus taxes and insurance for several months.
It is almost always better to sell your current home first, and your lender may
require it if you can't qualify for interim financing. Start managing the two
transactions in tandem.
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