Buying and Selling a Home At The Same Time In Indianapolis
Updated: Aug 17, 2021
So you are considering buying a home within the next year but not really sure where to begin because you have a home that you need to sell first? Below are the steps that I highly recommend you follow in this scenario.
The first step to buying and selling a house at the same time would be getting pre-approved for a loan. Most people think to do this later on down the road, but its actually the first step. Here are some things to consider when getting pre-approved for the loan.
You will want to contact a local lender.
You will want to let that lender know you are planning on selling your house and want to buy a new one.
Your agent should be able to run a net sheet for you to help determine what your net profit should be after you sell you first house. This is a huge step because this gives you an idea of how much money you are able to put down on the next property.
From here, the lender will be able to tell you what loan options are available to you. They can tell you the amount they can lend you, about what you would need to put down, what your interest rates will be, and about what your monthly payments are on a potential loan.
Once you are pre-approved for the loan, now what do you do?
Because this video is shot in 2020 and houses are hard to come by just like TP, here is what the next step is in this process looks like.
You will need to figure out if you "have" to sell your home first before you can buy another one. Most people do which is fine. If you don’t have to, then great. You can go buy that home and then worry about listing your old house for sale later. If you have to sell your home first in order to get approved for the next loan, here is what I would recommend.
I would prep your house to go on the market. This would mean decluttering, light staging, yard clean up, etc. Get the house ready to market.
I would have your realtor schedule photos and get those out of the way.
I would have your agent set you up on a search based on what you are looking for and what you are pre-approved for.
You can start looking at houses now if you would like, just know most sellers aren't going to take your offer serious until you have an accepted offer on your home.
Once you get to a point where you are seeing good houses list and pend and these are houses that fit your criteria, its time to list your house.
But Paul, If I list my house now and it sells in 1 day, What will I do? Guess what? You've got options!
You could list your house now and if you find a house you like now, you could always right a first right offer - some sellers may take this type of offer if the house has been sitting for 30+ days now. Otherwise you can take the risk, list your house and wait until you have an accepted offer on it, then write a normal contingent offer on that house. That offer would be contingent upon you selling your house before you could buy that house. This is common and most sellers will accept this type of offer.
If you don’t have a house lined up, you can still list your house for sale. What you can do here is…. You can put in place a reverse contingency. I call this the "Seller Purchase Contingency". This would basically state that whoever is buying your house, they would need to agree to allow you time to find a place to live. The sale of your house is contingent upon you finding suitable housing. Sounds crazy right? In this market, because of low inventory, buyers may be ok with this as they are just wanting to get their foot in the door. From there, you will be protected because if you don’t find a place to live, you don’t have to sell your house!
Once you go under contract on your personal home and then you go under contract on the home you want to buy, you will want to make your dates coordinate. Because the lender can’t give you a loan until you sell your house, you will need to close both homes on the same day. You will close your personal home first.. .and then for a short period of time you will become homeless. From there, you will close on the new house.
Bonus tip:
If you don't want to show up to the closing in a U-Haul, you will want your agent to negotiate possession dates after the closing. Maybe the buyer of your house will allow you 2-3 days to move after closing. This would save you from moving in 1 day. Trust me, you will want these additional days.
Once you close on both homes, the title company will pay off your old loan, and you will take out a new loan on the new house. Any money held in escrow from your previous lender, you will receive within about 30 days after closing. It's important that you cancel home old homeowners insurance and update them with your forwarding address. Sometimes you will have money coming back from them as well!
There is a lot more that goes into this, I just want you to know that you have plenty of options when buying and selling at the same time. Make sure you are working with a good realtor, one that has knowledge of this type of contingency so that you don’t become homeless!
What questions do you have about this process, feel free to shoot me a message @ Paul@SoldByPaulLinn.com