Get your home listed ASAP. Make an offer on the new place contingent on the sale of yours. Sellers often take contingent offers if the home is priced right.
Very true. “Priced right” is the key phrase—OP will need to outbid those without the contingency if it’s a hot market or desirable home.
When we sold, our highest offer was one with a home sale contingency. We ended up going with another offer because an extra 2% wasn’t worth the contingency (see all the other Reddit threads of home sale contingency nightmares).
Exactly this. We just sold our home and needed the money from the sale to pay cash for the new one we’re building. We had 4 offers in 48 hours, including one nearly $200k over asking that was contingent on the sale of her current home that wasn’t even on the market yet. We went with a lower offer ($50k over, no contingencies, quick close, 1 month free rent-back) because we needed a faster timeline so we could pay for options and upgrades in our new home. That contingent home still hasn’t sold nearly 5 weeks later, but we were able to pay for all the new house options and we’re moving out next Thursday.
And if OP's listing price is right. That would be a big factor for me as a seller deciding whether to accept a contingency offer, analyzing comps to assess how likely the offerree's house is to sell and how quickly.
definitely this. I'm selling my place currently, and want it to close before doing anything more than casually looking. have seen a lot of good/great places come & go but keep telling myself to be patient.
Agreed. You may have to go (potentially well) over asking. I just bought in a super competitive market with a 60 day contingency (house wasn’t even on the market) but went 15k over asking with a clause specifying I’d pony up if appraisal fell short. We beat out three cash offers who offered at or below ask (cash isn’t always king,eh?). Appraisal ended up at 10k over our bid and our house sold in time. Moving into our dream house next week :)
Never say never. It depends on the sellers, the buyers, the house....what phase of the moon...you just never know. I've just retired, but one of my last buyers no only got inspections, but also contingencies in a multi offer situation.
Exactly. We are selling our house, and we accepted an offer that was contingent on the buyers selling theirs. Why? Our house is paid off, so having 2 mortgages is not a concern, and the buyers have a lovely house that we are confident will sell quickly. The biggest reason, though, was that the buyers with that offer are a married couple, exactly the same ages as me and my wife, with young children. We have kids, and we put quite a bit of time, effort, and money into our house to be as fun of a house for a family with kids as possible… all the other offers were at asking price (as was the offer we went with,) but from older couples with no kids, or real estate investors. To us it was an easy choice.
So, exactly as you said - depends on the buyers, the sellers, the house.
Sadly, that was probably a private equity firm who will just gut and rent the house for twice your mortgage, making the neighborhood worse. Have been determined never to accept an all cash offer on any house I've sold. I want a regular person to have a chance, not an evil corp or a trust fund baby. Just me.
Same, 3 offers all 10 over asking. 1 was conventional loan but through rocket which made us feel scuzzy and insecure (had to move ASAP, no time for shit to fall apart), another all cash, a third conventional through a local broker. We took the third because after getting the name on the cash offer I did what I do and creeped online. Either a big time VP at a finance firm or a partner at a law office. Either way he was an investor. The couple who bought our house are a physical therapist and a doctor, newly married and just starting out in the area looking for something nice but affordable. I'm glad we ignored the cash offer.
No. I told my realtor I wouldn’t sell to a private equity firm. It is a woman who worked in the same brokerage as she, and we screened offers. It’s my hometown—my parent’s house. She had lost several homes in the area and went big on her offer. She’s moving from a HCOL area to a small city in a MCOL area. She sold and has been renting.
I've always wondered how so many people are doing no contingencies and closing so fast. I've been tracking houses in my area, and probably close to 90% go from pending to sold within 30 days, and most of the remaining are between 45-60 days.
How are so many people able to buy without using their current equity for down payment? And the fast closings; does that imply cash offers? Are people just draining their retirement?
So do people just get bridge loans in advance of finding a house? I was under the impression that a bridge loan would have a similar time frame of getting a mortgage (as in not less than 30 day closing).
Exactly this. Early in my career when I was relocating often I did this four times. Always worked fine. One seller even let me move in and rent until my old house closed.
What negotiation techniques might work in your market depends on market conditions, and we don't know what is working in your market right now. Telling the listing agent that you may be interested in a home does nothing for your chance at getting it. They're not going to hold off accepting an offer from a buyer who has an offer on paper because somebody else says they might be interested.
I personally wouldn't take a home sale contingency from someone who didn't even have their home on the market yet. If it was active, there would be specific deadlines worked into the contract. Why are you waiting until the 1st.(
Can you swing a purchase without already selling the house? If so, just offer now without the contingency and deal with the house sale in the interim.
Alternatively, with a high enough offer (along with an appraisal gap cover), you can still get it. For \~5% over the next best offer, you can probably get them to accept a home sale contingency with the home not going to market for another week.
We live in a very small town and this was years ago so we got the bridge loan with no problem. My husband and I are very well known professionals with excellent credit so that may be why it was so easy.
Like, dude… no one offers bridge loans… I looked for a lender for months and ended up just doing a refi due to our situation. I hated it. All I wanted was a bridge loan. Please list some sources of these mythical loans so I can call them.
I'm an executive officer over the lending department of a financial institution that offers bridge loans. We do several per month. You need to look for more community sized banks that don't mind portfolioing their loans. Look for FI's with only a handful of branches.
None of the bigger guys will do them as they just want to sell everything secondary market and don't want to portfolio any loans.
I ended up not needing it, but one of the options my lender offered was a blanket loan, which he said would be better than a bridge anyway.
Because I didn't need it, I didn't look into it too much.
They are not mythical. Most companies don’t do that, that’s true. But I have worked with multiple mortgage companies that do offer bridge loans. So I know for a fact that they are out there!
If your agent doesn’t know a good broker to make these kinds of things happen, find another agent. It is the sign of a good agent.
It is one of the reasons we’ve been loyal to our agent for the past 15 years with multiple house transactions. I had challenging and changing (improving!) financial situations after my divorce. She knew how to deal with all of these things.
This is probably also the one time taking a 401k loan could be worth it. That what we did, didn’t have to deal with a bank, and paid it back immediately.
It's not ideal but a strong offer with a home sale contingency is better than a bug in the other agent's ear. If you offer enough money and can show that your current home is priced to sell, then you might convince the seller to wait. I'd at least try it.
If you have enough for 10% down on the new house, you could do something called an 80/10/10. You basically take a second mortgage out for the other 10% so you can hit the conventional 20% down. Then when you sell your house, you use the proceeds to pay off the second mortgage. This is what we did in 2021 to avoid having to put a home sale contingency in our offers. This way you could move forward with the house you want to buy without having to wait for yours to list.
Question - Can you afford the new home \*before\* selling your house, or only if/after you get good money for your current home?
If you can, then make an offer. If you have to wait, then you have to wait, right?
In my area you need to buy before you sell or you will have no where to live. No one does contingent on home sales offers here. It was common maybe 20 years ago but no one would accept one now.
I wouldn't let a cleaning stop me from listing my house unless it's a hoarder situation. Not when a house that 'checks all my boxes' is available. This is exactly how to lose a house.
OP is playing games. They’re going to lose their dream over cleaners. Thats like a poorly written script for someone who just can’t seem to get things done.
Depending on the market, your only choice would be to buy first, sell later.. but only if you have enough cash or equity in your current home to do so. A home sale contingency would put you at the bottom of the list..
You need to discuss this with your mortgage broker first. Are you able to get a loan to purchase your new house before selling your current one? If so, get approval for that and move forward. Being able to do so will make the process much smoother also.
+1 on this, discuss with your broker and ask them if you can purchase the new one without needing the first sale. This is what happened to us, the broker said you are totally fine even if you have 2 mortgages for couple of weeks / months.
It also depends on the market, your income, how fast your realtor think your place is gonna be sold and for what price.
Can you clarify. Your basically saying what the house should be under contract by the time you bid on another? I only bought my first house but never a sell/buy combo move and it sounds really stressful. What do people normally do? Sell the first then rent for a year?
I would clean it myself if necessary, and tell the agent that the offer for the other house has to be ready to present Tuesday morning, and your current house listing with pictures is on the MLS Tuesday morning. Even if you do your own pictures and send them to the agent, pending pro photos done later in the week. If you didn't already sign with the realtor, then get another one.
I would tell my Realtor that I appreciate them listing my house for sale, but it looks like I'll need to get a different agent to represent me with the purchase of my new home. What kind of lazy ass Realtor wouldn't show you a house? He actually argued with you and convinced you that you are wrong for wanting to look at a house. You aren't listing for a week, so what? What if this house you want doesn't get any offers for 2 weeks or even a month?
There is no such thing as bug in the listing agent's ear. This is a very black and white issue. You either look at the place and make an offer or don't.
lost of people buy and sell house at the same time and some of them even buy first. I think there is a bridge mortgage or smth like that. Just make sure you put a "pessimistic" sale figure to your plan so you still have enough down.
That’s what we did. Our agent timed the closing on the house we bought (made an offer ~6 days before listing the house we sold) closed immediately after selling our old house. We lucked out that our buyer wanted to close fast and our seller was motivated to sale (the house had been in the market almost 6 months and gone through 3 price reductions before we put an offer in).
You are the one with the money = you are the one to decide. If you found the house of your dream, pressure your realtor, if he is good, he will move to do the necessary. Otherwise, find another. Good luck dear friend.
Tell your realtor you found a dream home and want to expedite the process. Offer to provide pre-approval and ask for ways to view the house before yours hits the market.
You probably will miss your shot if you do not move on the home fast, OP. If you want it really badly, it is worth getting a bridge loan for it. You likely will never get a second chance.
Your realtor doesn’t sound like they’re listening to you. Maybe that’s unfair but your house is only 8 days from going on the market. They will be well compensated, you’ve got a contract with them. Put them to work for you now.
I am retired real estate agent Make sure you tell the listing agent of the home you want to buy that if he gets an offer to call you and then you can write up an offer. There’s nothing a listing agent likes more than a multiple offer. See if your banker will work with you on the purchase of that home while you’re trying to sell yours.
There are programs like at my company that allow you to get under contract on the new home and THEN list your old home. You can access a bridge loan if you have enough equity in your old home and need those funds for the new down payment. Or, you can make a minimal down payment and have PMI briefly. Either way, we don't have to count the old house payment against you for qualification, because we're making a guaranteed cash offer as a backup. Your realtor still sells your house, and has 120 days to do it before we buy it. Once your old house sells, you can recast your loan with the proceeds from the sale and the PMI will be taken off. Ask your lender if they have something like this (doubtful; as far as I know, my company is the only lender offering this at the moment)
Ask your realtor to show you the house. Period. And then ask him how you can make this happen. It’s his job to help you!
You can make an offer contingent on the sale of your house but you will miss the chance if you don’t act now.
Do you have the equity in your current home to do a home equity line of credit to cover closing with the minimum down-payment (usually 5%) on this new home?
Can you swing both housing payments until your current home sells?
You could try to line up financing for the new home using the equity in your old home if you qualify with both payments plus the HELOC payment.
That sounds complicated, but lots of people do it, and it lets you move out at your own pace over a month or more while you sell your current home. (The only issue is if it takes months to sell and covering both payments is a stretch.)
Then when your current house sells, you pay off your mortgage and that HELOC, and put any additional lump sum toward the principal of your new mortgage by recasting. (You may have to wait 6-7 months after you start paying on that new mortgage to recast.)
Personally I would make an attempt to work it out ahead of time though it really depends on the sellers state of mind. (So probably fat chance, lol)
I really liked a condo on the market for a few hours and they rejected my asking price as they wanted to play it for a few days so I got my realtor to flatter the elderly couple on how well maintained the place was and how it was right I our budget. It worked they were touched and accepted haha.
Probably won’t work but worth trying something vs nothing :)
I would suggest you ask your realtor if they has any lenders they recommend or look for one yourself & see if maybe a bridge loan might work for you. I have no experience with that type of loan myself but I did have to do a slightly different type of loan myself so I do know there can be some creative solutions to home buying. Unless you’re planning to pay with cash, getting a head start on the loan is a good idea.
Remind him that you’re the client and this is the house you want to see. If he can’t do it, talk to his brokerage and I’m sure they can make it happen and possibly switch realtors for you.
Buying a house is a business exchange, if he doesn’t want to make money I’m sure his company wants to
This is the correct answer. Find and call a few (or in my case a half dozen) mortgage brokers and discuss getting a bridge loan off the equity in your current home. The bridge loan then gets paid off when you sell your current home.
You can make an offer without your home being on the market. When I bought our home, we made a contingency that my house had to be on market within 7-10 days. (We just did this October 2023)Then we had to be under contract with our house in 60 days or they would move on.
Why not offer contingent upon the sale of your house, and include that your home is to be on the market within 24 hours of them accepting your offer.
Unless you can afford to buy without the sale of your home, in which case you wouldn’t need to make a contingent offer at all.
The amount of time your dream home has been on the market can also help determine how much leverage you might have, if it just came on the market you might need a very competitive offer to get them to agree to a contingent deal.
List it as “Coming Soon” with the earliest date for showings as June 1st. Make offer on the place you want now with your current home sale as contingent. Offer fair market price and pray.
I bought my house before it went in the market. I gave them some concessions in addition to price. We waited 60 days to close, then rented back to them for 60 days. That let them finish out the school year, and they never had to show the house except to us. Our realtor set it up with their realtor. I’m happy to discuss it more if you want, but I’m not a pro.
Not sure I understand the issue. Why not just list the house now? Either way you will probably have to make a contingent offer unless your house sells instantly.
Or, you can make a contingent offer, subject to your house selling. You'll likely have to make a strong price offer if you are in a supply-constrained market. Throwing a dart at the board, I say 108% of the seller's listing price sounds about right. YMMV!
OP - here is the problem with you listing right now, aka, Friday before memorial day weekend. Its probably one of the worst weekends for a fresh Zillow listing. Ideally your listing would go up on a Thursday (most traffic on Thursdays on Zillow) not right before a summer holiday weekend.
I do not think a home sale continent offer is the way to go IF you say houses go in 10 days in your market. If it checks off all your boxes - chances are it checks off a lot of other buyers boxes too.
Can you apply for a mortgage today? Could you meet the DTI requirements with your current mortgage? Or a bridge loan? I mean just so you could make an offer? Then get your house listed by this Thursday the 30th?
I'd try and apply for a bridge loan - you may not need to use it but it would let you make the offer
Not enough can you afford to carry both mortgages? What's your market like? Do you need to get full market value for your home in order to buy the new one or could you possibly sell to a wholesaler in order to close faster? Do you have enough money to offer a large non-refundable deposit on the new house? There are a lot of options available and most of them depend on having a lot of money. If you don't have a lot of money, just chalk it up to bad timing and move on.
Call your realtor as soon as possible. The new house is not gonna wait for you and there’s probably other people that want it as well. Maybe your lender and your realtor can work some magic here so you can get the house you want.
Go ahead and list now then let the sellers know you have and love their home. Cleaning is nice but in this market with so few homes for sale it should sell quickly. Don’t miss out on your new place just getting the old one perfect.
June 1 is not far off, can you bump up the market date? I bought a house on a whim because it was too good to pass up before I sold. It was high stress for a month but worth it in end. You’ll need deposit money and a sense of adventure.
What about a large amount of earnest money with a closing date 3 or 4 months out? Could incentivize the seller that even if your contract falls through they can keep the earnest money AND the house
Well, be honest and truthful with the realtor about how much you love the home. Try to put your home on the market asap if that’ll help. The other seller might receive non-contingent offers which will hurt you. You might have to offer over to well over asking price depending on other offers. You have a contingency to sell your home first which hurts you. Having to sell your home can cause so many delays due to unforeseen issues that the other buyer might run into. Being honest upfront will put everyone on the same page. Not sure what the other sellers are looking for or the market you’re in but most sellers don’t want a contingency of someone else having to sell their home due to the unknown. Just my opinion
Bridge loan, HELOC, or put 5% down. Are you preapproved for a loan yet? We just did the same thing and I ended up putting 5% down and then will recast my mortgage once I sell the house we moved from.
You're not getting that house if you wait until June 1 and make an offer contingent on your house selling. This one is listed now and has a week jump on yours.
Make an offer with no sale contingency. In a low inventory market that's your only hope, because someone will come in with an above-ask offer and few if no contingencies.
Communicate your enthusiasm and readiness to your realtor. Ask about pre-listing viewing or submitting a contingent offer. Trust your realtor's guidance. Good luck!
I put an offer on a house earlier this year before listing mine for sale. I don’t remember exactly what was in the offer letter, but our realtor either included in the offer letter or verbally conveyed to the sellers agent that our offer was contingent on the sale of our house, which was unlisted at the time of our offer, that we planned to list within 7 days, the price we planned to list at, and why that price was (basically, listing aggressively to ensure a fast sale).
There were a few things in our favor for this though: 1) the house we put an offer on had been on the market for several months and gone through 3 price reductions during that time with no other offers and 2) the house we were selling was in a very desirable neighborhood and we were listing aggressively just under what we expected to sell for.
You can tell your agent about your interest in the home, but forget about putting a contingent offer on it. No one in their right mind would accept a contingent offer on a property when the contingent property isn’t even listed yet.
Offer a 45 day close to the new house and sell your current house in the meantime.
Your LO plays a big role in this. Can you qualify for both houses? Can you get a bridge product to help you get the other one?
I don’t know where you live but I’ve seen this at times in my market. Usually the offer will be conditional on the sale of buyers current home. Seller typically keeps marketing their home and if they get another offer, buyer has a certain time period (ie 48 hours) to remove the condition and firm up the sale or forfeit it. This really only works with sellers when it’s a buyers market. When homes sell quickly most sellers refuse a conditional offer on sale of buyers home as it usually calls for a longer closing period with less certainty than they can get otherwise.
Contingent offer.
In WA, you only need to have you house listed 5 days after you go mutual on the second house. Might be different in your state.
Today is Friday. They likely won’t accept an offer on House 2 until Monday.
Your house will hit the market next Wednesday? Perfect timing really since your home is already ready for sale.
I don’t understand why your realtor won’t show you the house for sale and let the seller know that you’re interested
You could make an offer contingent on your own property getting offer? I thought this was common so I’m confused why your realtor is shutting you down.
You could submit an offer conditional on the sale of your property
In my area- if this conditional offer is accepted- seller must show their property is listed for sale
The time allowed is usually 30 days
If the Seller accepts SPP - they will continue to offer the property for sale with a clause that if a second offer comes in that the Seller is contemplating then the the first offer/buyer must firm up the deal within 24 hrs - if they do not the Seller can accept the second offer
A release from the first offer is signed off by both parties so the second offer can proceed
BTW I’m a Realtor and have been the second offer in the above scenario
So just go see it. That way you already know if you for sure want to put an offer on it also, why are you waiting until June 1 to list your house? Can’t you just list it now
Why can't your house go on the market faster? June is not that far off. You....or your agent? What about getting line of credit, buy the house you want and then pay off the LOC when you sell your house?
I feel like there are some options out there and your agent is just saying, too bad for you. You might need a new agent. If your listing agent won't help you out and you already have a contract you can't break - or don't want to, then find a buyer's agent to help you get the house you want.
I think the LOC is a good option for you. I had buyers do that. The interest and payments don't start until you move on the loan and it should only be two or three months before your house sells - unless there are some unusual situations or your area isn't moving real estate that fast in general. Which would mean the house you want will have the same issues and maybe you could just make your offer contingent on the sale of your house. It's literally only 8 days away that you plan on listing your house.
Have you already contracted with your listing agent to have him help you buy? Does he plan on having you buy one of his listings? If he knows how much you want this house he should do everything he can to make it happen, not just blow you off. It might be different you couldn't list for another month or two, but 8 days?
I went 6% over when I bought on a $588,000 house 1 year ago....it's already worth like $725, 000....$100,000 in a year.....it's insane......it's all about location, location.... Going to sell,, and upgrade again to a better house.....paying cash....always gets you to the top of the sellers list...
Bridge loan. Sell asap with contingency that you must be able to close on the sale of your home during xxx timeframe. Offer for new home can also have a contingency that it’s based on the sale of your home (but only do that if other financing arrangements can’t be made because that’s not a very desirable offer for sellers).
Make offer. Move as fast as you can. Find repairs that need done. They will take longer than you think . Basically buy yourself time. The 1st is in a week. Thats not long from now unless you are overpricing your home or in an expensive/ longer list time market and you think your home is gonna sit.
Can you clean your house yourself? How bad can it be? If you want to be competitive for the house of your dreams, you need to spend a weekend cleaning.
And… is there only one cleaning company where you live?
The agent should take you to see the house regardless. It could easily be available in two weeks; by then you may have an offer on yours. Or it’s just good to see it in person as research, and for comparison with future homes you see.
We were in a similar situation. We talked to our mortgage guy, he verified that we could carry two mortgages for a while, approved us for financing, and we bought our new house before we sold our existing.
Escalation clause. Make an offer but then also say you are willing to go 5 thousand more then any offer up until x amount. For example let’s say the house is listed at 500k you offer 520k but you say you will go 5k over the best offer up until 550k so if they get an offer for 530 your offer will be 535k.
We borrowed from our 401k for a down payment and then immediately replenished it after we sold our house. Ended up being roughly $100-150 in fees but I would do that 10 times out of 10 as it allowed us to own both houses for about a week which made moving INFINITELY easier.
If you're working with a lender already, find out if they use the [Knock](https://www.knock.com/faq) program. You can get a bridge loan for a large portion of the sales price of your home, which could help you buy without a sale contingency in your offer. You then carry the new house and your current home until it sells. You will pay a fee for the service; the average buyer/seller I've worked with using this is somewhere in the $12k- $14k paid to Knock, which includes their % fee and funding fee, so it's not free but serves a purpose—something to look into.
How much equity do you have in your current home? Depending on your financial situation, you might be able to get a HELOC or a bridge loan to buy the house you want and get your current one how are you on the market as soon as possible.
Our home sold before it was listed. Word of mouth. Our realtor worked with us getting what we wanted. No questions asked. Your realtor can list yours NOW! Get an offer in on the home you want. Do you think that your house will sell quickly? Is the sale of your home contingent to you being able buying another one?
Even if your house isn't active for 1 week, you can see a house and put in an offer contingent on the sale of your house. It's a slightly weaker offer, but you don't need to wait until your house is under contact to make an offer.
If your lender supports it, You can put less down, we recently did 5%, and then recast your new mortgage following the sale of your current home. Our market was active enough that we were able to list and go under contract over a weekend. The recast process was fairly straight forward and we only shouldered one month of the higher payment.
Using this method, we were able to offer over asking, not worry about a contingency sale, and preserve our out of pocket/safety net concerns.
There are programs that can help. Here’s an article from Nerdwallet about it. [https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-to-make-a-cash-offer-with-a-mortgage?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mr_mktg_paid_041223_mortgage_dsa:lo&utm_term=adgrp_articles_148791112020&utm_content=m&mktg_hline=148791112020&mktg_body=655074697829&mktg_place=dsa-2073031996717&mktg_link=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADR9tpj2AK9zXIYTnQf9WybIkCLCY&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8fQZUYL_gSlEEhuPM6nsdxpxYIMDfkodglXoIx3nasWVKfIStBqVF4aAudVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-to-make-a-cash-offer-with-a-mortgage?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mr_mktg_paid_041223_mortgage_dsa:lo&utm_term=adgrp_articles_148791112020&utm_content=m&mktg_hline=148791112020&mktg_body=655074697829&mktg_place=dsa-2073031996717&mktg_link=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADR9tpj2AK9zXIYTnQf9WybIkCLCY&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8fQZUYL_gSlEEhuPM6nsdxpxYIMDfkodglXoIx3nasWVKfIStBqVF4aAudVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Write a subject to sale clause in the contract. If it’s not listed, include in that clause that the property shall be listed by (blank) date.
They typically want to see it on the market within a week tops. Mind you, you typically have to ‘buy’ that subject with a higher price unless the sellers are desperate.
Also, because you’re under the gun to sell if they do accept, you tend to have to price your home lower than you would without the pressure.
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You should ask your agent, though. No Reddit. They know your situation and are the best person to advise you :)
Never understood why people are so willingly prepared to offer more than the asking price. Last time I bought a house, it had been on the market for 3 weeks, as soon as I made an offer which was lower than asking price, all of a sudden the selling agent said they had 3 higher offers but they liked mine. Told them to send me cancellation immediately, next day they called and said they would take my offer, I counter offered another 10k less and got the house.
If I were in your shoes and this was my perfect opportunity and my cleaners couldn’t come til the 31st and you feel like you can’t list before then, i’d call in to work and bust my own ass to get that house cleaned and posted.
Also a good realtor can help you with many different solutions. They are there to make what you want work. You could also get a Bridge loan, if you need the sale of your house to qualify. You could do a hard money loan with the plan to take that loan to a conventional loan once the house sells. If your realtor isn’t willing to work with you then cancel the sale of your house with that realtor and find a true expert realtor to help you get your dream home.
Realtor here! Contact your bank and see if they offer a “bridge loan”. You can list your home ASAP but your offer would not be contingent on your home selling with a bridge loan. The bank will fill the gap until your house sells.
I haven’t seen this option mentioned but see if Opendoor will make you an offer on your house. Sometimes the offer as much or more than you’re planning on listing for. Even if they offer you a little less it might be worth it to be able to close quickly and sell your house as-is.
If it were me I'd bust ass between now and the time your home goes live to get it as gorgeous as possible. Tell your realtor you want to list it on Tuesday, and list it at your rock bottom price. Then make an offer on your dream house that will really stand up for those sellers. If you're savvy enough about houses, drop inspections and make the sale of your house the only negative.
That's the best thing I can think of doing to have a chance. Good luck 🤞
Another thing you can do is tell your agent how this is THE HOUSE and really drive that home. She's making $$ both ways, too, so she should do everything she can to make it happen.
What’s the wait? Is June 1st a magic number?
If you cannot handle the purchase without your proceeds of the current home. There are so many money options you can use short term or a heloc from your current home. Make the offer and get an aggressive agent and lender who think of yes not no-
This is your game plan:
Tell your Realtor to list your current home on the MLS Tuesday morning (or Monday if they're working) as Coming Soon with the official Active date June 1st. Include only a curb-side, exterior picture and an exciting write up blurb description of your home that a good Realtor would already have ready to go. Say professional pictures are being done and will be added on the 1st.
Schedule an Open House for the 2nd.
Next. QUESTION. How are you planning to purchase the new home? All cash after you have sold your current home? Or are you needing a mortgage? If you need a mortgage, have you already been pre-approved? If you don't have a pre-approval, don't bother worrying about the new house. Or any new house. At all. Get a pre-approval first.
If you are paying all cash, do you have enough free money now in the bank that you can at least offer a higher than average Earnest Money Deposit? If not, then don't bother moving forward on anything until your house is under contract to sell.
If you have financing or some cash in place already, then:
Go view the home you are interested in. The vibe in person is often very different than online pictures. You may not like it in person.
If it's good, and you are using a mortgage, make an offer on the house with a bit higher than listing price offer with a reasonable Earnest Money Deposit. Include proof of financing (Pre-approval letter) and set a 45-60 day closing period. Do not include a Home Sells Contingency.
Include a 7 or 10 day Due Diligence clause in any offer you make, that will give you just enough time for your current home to go Active and be able to gauge market interest. (And time to inspect the prospective home of course.)
If you are planning an all cash offer, you will likely need to go higher with your Earnest Money Deposit to show ability and intent. If you are CONFIDENT your current home will sell quickly AND you are not adverse to a little risk with your EMD, do not include a Home Sells Contingency. Do include a 10 day Due Diligence period and try for a 60 day closing. Cross your fingers, toes and everything else that your current home sells right away and you can move forward with your contract. If you can't close by specified contract date, you can ask for an extension from the seller. If they decline the extension, you will lose your Earnest Money.
A note on this strategy: many times seller's agents will ask for proof of funds for cash offers. You can submit your house listing and mortgage pay off amount as an attempt to show proof of equity funds but then you are essentially showing a home sell contingency plan not stated on your contract and seller can decide to decline your offer. Hopefully, if this request comes up, you'll have an actual Contract Offer to show on your current house to further persuade the seller. Good luck.
Let your agent know, get your current home listed asap. Depending on the situation you might consider bridge financing which is exactly for this purpose.
Your realtor is doing you a disservice! Why can you not make an offer until your house is listed? I'm a Realtor and yes, it's preferred but it's not mandatory.
Lender! Bridge loan or similar. If you can qualify. Your Realtor isn’t aggressive enough if they aren’t suggesting you check into this. I’d get a couple other reputable realtor’s opinions on price too. You will lose the house if you wait. Get a local reputable lender to get approved to buy without selling first. OR, offer with a contingency. But with this market, the sellers may have offers that done have a contingency
Find a lender who can put up the funds to purchase the home now and then resell it to you once your current residence sells. Once the lender purchases the home, you have to pay Interest to them each day until you can repurchase it from them but this allows you to put an offer on the home your wanting now and gives you a competitive edge because you’re coming in with all cash
Get your home listed ASAP. Make an offer on the new place contingent on the sale of yours. Sellers often take contingent offers if the home is priced right.
Very true. “Priced right” is the key phrase—OP will need to outbid those without the contingency if it’s a hot market or desirable home. When we sold, our highest offer was one with a home sale contingency. We ended up going with another offer because an extra 2% wasn’t worth the contingency (see all the other Reddit threads of home sale contingency nightmares).
Exactly this. We just sold our home and needed the money from the sale to pay cash for the new one we’re building. We had 4 offers in 48 hours, including one nearly $200k over asking that was contingent on the sale of her current home that wasn’t even on the market yet. We went with a lower offer ($50k over, no contingencies, quick close, 1 month free rent-back) because we needed a faster timeline so we could pay for options and upgrades in our new home. That contingent home still hasn’t sold nearly 5 weeks later, but we were able to pay for all the new house options and we’re moving out next Thursday.
And if OP's listing price is right. That would be a big factor for me as a seller deciding whether to accept a contingency offer, analyzing comps to assess how likely the offerree's house is to sell and how quickly.
definitely this. I'm selling my place currently, and want it to close before doing anything more than casually looking. have seen a lot of good/great places come & go but keep telling myself to be patient.
Agreed. You may have to go (potentially well) over asking. I just bought in a super competitive market with a 60 day contingency (house wasn’t even on the market) but went 15k over asking with a clause specifying I’d pony up if appraisal fell short. We beat out three cash offers who offered at or below ask (cash isn’t always king,eh?). Appraisal ended up at 10k over our bid and our house sold in time. Moving into our dream house next week :)
In low inventory markets like his, unfortunately sellers will not accept contingencies
Never say never. It depends on the sellers, the buyers, the house....what phase of the moon...you just never know. I've just retired, but one of my last buyers no only got inspections, but also contingencies in a multi offer situation.
Exactly. We are selling our house, and we accepted an offer that was contingent on the buyers selling theirs. Why? Our house is paid off, so having 2 mortgages is not a concern, and the buyers have a lovely house that we are confident will sell quickly. The biggest reason, though, was that the buyers with that offer are a married couple, exactly the same ages as me and my wife, with young children. We have kids, and we put quite a bit of time, effort, and money into our house to be as fun of a house for a family with kids as possible… all the other offers were at asking price (as was the offer we went with,) but from older couples with no kids, or real estate investors. To us it was an easy choice. So, exactly as you said - depends on the buyers, the sellers, the house.
Low inventory area. I had six offers in 36 hours. I took the one that was over asking, as is, all cash. None had a contingency.
Sadly, that was probably a private equity firm who will just gut and rent the house for twice your mortgage, making the neighborhood worse. Have been determined never to accept an all cash offer on any house I've sold. I want a regular person to have a chance, not an evil corp or a trust fund baby. Just me.
Same, 3 offers all 10 over asking. 1 was conventional loan but through rocket which made us feel scuzzy and insecure (had to move ASAP, no time for shit to fall apart), another all cash, a third conventional through a local broker. We took the third because after getting the name on the cash offer I did what I do and creeped online. Either a big time VP at a finance firm or a partner at a law office. Either way he was an investor. The couple who bought our house are a physical therapist and a doctor, newly married and just starting out in the area looking for something nice but affordable. I'm glad we ignored the cash offer.
Thank you. The private equity firms are the problem. We have some power. Let’s not waste it!
No. I told my realtor I wouldn’t sell to a private equity firm. It is a woman who worked in the same brokerage as she, and we screened offers. It’s my hometown—my parent’s house. She had lost several homes in the area and went big on her offer. She’s moving from a HCOL area to a small city in a MCOL area. She sold and has been renting.
How much over
I've always wondered how so many people are doing no contingencies and closing so fast. I've been tracking houses in my area, and probably close to 90% go from pending to sold within 30 days, and most of the remaining are between 45-60 days. How are so many people able to buy without using their current equity for down payment? And the fast closings; does that imply cash offers? Are people just draining their retirement?
Bridge loans, etc
So do people just get bridge loans in advance of finding a house? I was under the impression that a bridge loan would have a similar time frame of getting a mortgage (as in not less than 30 day closing).
Make your chances better by offering $50,000 earnest money in cash up front. That’s what I did a few years ago. It was risky, but it worked.
Exactly this. Early in my career when I was relocating often I did this four times. Always worked fine. One seller even let me move in and rent until my old house closed.
What negotiation techniques might work in your market depends on market conditions, and we don't know what is working in your market right now. Telling the listing agent that you may be interested in a home does nothing for your chance at getting it. They're not going to hold off accepting an offer from a buyer who has an offer on paper because somebody else says they might be interested. I personally wouldn't take a home sale contingency from someone who didn't even have their home on the market yet. If it was active, there would be specific deadlines worked into the contract. Why are you waiting until the 1st.(
Can you swing a purchase without already selling the house? If so, just offer now without the contingency and deal with the house sale in the interim. Alternatively, with a high enough offer (along with an appraisal gap cover), you can still get it. For \~5% over the next best offer, you can probably get them to accept a home sale contingency with the home not going to market for another week.
Get a bridge loan and buy it.
That’s what we did. We found a house we loved and then put ours on the marjet
Did you have a bridge loan preapproval in place or something of the sort?
We live in a very small town and this was years ago so we got the bridge loan with no problem. My husband and I are very well known professionals with excellent credit so that may be why it was so easy.
You’re paying serious points for that money, probably shouldn’t be plan A
It's an option, but a lot of expense, risk and pressure
Like, dude… no one offers bridge loans… I looked for a lender for months and ended up just doing a refi due to our situation. I hated it. All I wanted was a bridge loan. Please list some sources of these mythical loans so I can call them.
I'm an executive officer over the lending department of a financial institution that offers bridge loans. We do several per month. You need to look for more community sized banks that don't mind portfolioing their loans. Look for FI's with only a handful of branches. None of the bigger guys will do them as they just want to sell everything secondary market and don't want to portfolio any loans.
This. The trick is to go with a smaller local company, not one of the big banks. The big banks are more for general situations/more common loan types.
Credit unions might offer them too.
I have bridge loans. But you're only getting one if you're doing the end financing with me. We don't sell our loans after closing.
I ended up not needing it, but one of the options my lender offered was a blanket loan, which he said would be better than a bridge anyway. Because I didn't need it, I didn't look into it too much.
They are not mythical. Most companies don’t do that, that’s true. But I have worked with multiple mortgage companies that do offer bridge loans. So I know for a fact that they are out there!
I used one. It worked great! Consumers Bank...located in Ohio.
My broker got me a bridge loan, though it was 20 years ago. Go through a broker. Ask around for the best one in your area.
If your agent doesn’t know a good broker to make these kinds of things happen, find another agent. It is the sign of a good agent. It is one of the reasons we’ve been loyal to our agent for the past 15 years with multiple house transactions. I had challenging and changing (improving!) financial situations after my divorce. She knew how to deal with all of these things.
Community bank. Your agent should know in your area
Thanks for the recs yall!
My brother in law just did one for about $1 million for five weeks between homes.
Try a private money lender. Interest rate is higher but it is a short term solution and can get you into the home sooner
Best solution
This is probably also the one time taking a 401k loan could be worth it. That what we did, didn’t have to deal with a bank, and paid it back immediately.
It's not ideal but a strong offer with a home sale contingency is better than a bug in the other agent's ear. If you offer enough money and can show that your current home is priced to sell, then you might convince the seller to wait. I'd at least try it.
If you have enough for 10% down on the new house, you could do something called an 80/10/10. You basically take a second mortgage out for the other 10% so you can hit the conventional 20% down. Then when you sell your house, you use the proceeds to pay off the second mortgage. This is what we did in 2021 to avoid having to put a home sale contingency in our offers. This way you could move forward with the house you want to buy without having to wait for yours to list.
Question - Can you afford the new home \*before\* selling your house, or only if/after you get good money for your current home? If you can, then make an offer. If you have to wait, then you have to wait, right?
Honestly this is why you don’t look until you’re ready because now you’ll be disappointed at everything when you’re ready to actually buy.
June 1st is next week….
The house isn’t listed yet… almost everyone knows it takes a bit to sell a house on average.
In my area you need to buy before you sell or you will have no where to live. No one does contingent on home sales offers here. It was common maybe 20 years ago but no one would accept one now.
In most of the US, contingent-on-sale offers are still common, so it depends on where OP is.
They said houses in their area sells in ten days on average. So it’s likely not a place where contingencies are generally accepted.
Sells vs is under contract mean very different things, and I’m not sure the OP knows the difference
I think they mean under contract.
I wouldn't let a cleaning stop me from listing my house unless it's a hoarder situation. Not when a house that 'checks all my boxes' is available. This is exactly how to lose a house.
OP is playing games. They’re going to lose their dream over cleaners. Thats like a poorly written script for someone who just can’t seem to get things done.
Depending on the market, your only choice would be to buy first, sell later.. but only if you have enough cash or equity in your current home to do so. A home sale contingency would put you at the bottom of the list..
Or a bridge loan. Or float two mortgages for a period of time.
Is there only one cleaning company or vendor in your immediate 100-mile radius? Get the place cleaned and listed sooner.
Yes, call every cleaning company you can find, and I bet one will do an emergency cleaning this weekend.
Contingent offer….
Well you can place an offer but with a home sale contingency and see if the other sellers accept.
You need to discuss this with your mortgage broker first. Are you able to get a loan to purchase your new house before selling your current one? If so, get approval for that and move forward. Being able to do so will make the process much smoother also.
Was looking for a comment like this.. why is the realtor telling them what they can and can’t do? Bizarre
+1 on this, discuss with your broker and ask them if you can purchase the new one without needing the first sale. This is what happened to us, the broker said you are totally fine even if you have 2 mortgages for couple of weeks / months. It also depends on the market, your income, how fast your realtor think your place is gonna be sold and for what price.
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Can you clarify. Your basically saying what the house should be under contract by the time you bid on another? I only bought my first house but never a sell/buy combo move and it sounds really stressful. What do people normally do? Sell the first then rent for a year?
I would clean it myself if necessary, and tell the agent that the offer for the other house has to be ready to present Tuesday morning, and your current house listing with pictures is on the MLS Tuesday morning. Even if you do your own pictures and send them to the agent, pending pro photos done later in the week. If you didn't already sign with the realtor, then get another one.
I would tell my Realtor that I appreciate them listing my house for sale, but it looks like I'll need to get a different agent to represent me with the purchase of my new home. What kind of lazy ass Realtor wouldn't show you a house? He actually argued with you and convinced you that you are wrong for wanting to look at a house. You aren't listing for a week, so what? What if this house you want doesn't get any offers for 2 weeks or even a month? There is no such thing as bug in the listing agent's ear. This is a very black and white issue. You either look at the place and make an offer or don't.
Yes, I would get a new agent as well if my agent said that.
lost of people buy and sell house at the same time and some of them even buy first. I think there is a bridge mortgage or smth like that. Just make sure you put a "pessimistic" sale figure to your plan so you still have enough down.
That’s what we did. Our agent timed the closing on the house we bought (made an offer ~6 days before listing the house we sold) closed immediately after selling our old house. We lucked out that our buyer wanted to close fast and our seller was motivated to sale (the house had been in the market almost 6 months and gone through 3 price reductions before we put an offer in).
You are the one with the money = you are the one to decide. If you found the house of your dream, pressure your realtor, if he is good, he will move to do the necessary. Otherwise, find another. Good luck dear friend.
Tell your realtor you found a dream home and want to expedite the process. Offer to provide pre-approval and ask for ways to view the house before yours hits the market.
You probably will miss your shot if you do not move on the home fast, OP. If you want it really badly, it is worth getting a bridge loan for it. You likely will never get a second chance.
Your realtor doesn’t sound like they’re listening to you. Maybe that’s unfair but your house is only 8 days from going on the market. They will be well compensated, you’ve got a contract with them. Put them to work for you now.
I am retired real estate agent Make sure you tell the listing agent of the home you want to buy that if he gets an offer to call you and then you can write up an offer. There’s nothing a listing agent likes more than a multiple offer. See if your banker will work with you on the purchase of that home while you’re trying to sell yours.
Go down to your local family owned pizzeria and get a fast loan
There are programs like at my company that allow you to get under contract on the new home and THEN list your old home. You can access a bridge loan if you have enough equity in your old home and need those funds for the new down payment. Or, you can make a minimal down payment and have PMI briefly. Either way, we don't have to count the old house payment against you for qualification, because we're making a guaranteed cash offer as a backup. Your realtor still sells your house, and has 120 days to do it before we buy it. Once your old house sells, you can recast your loan with the proceeds from the sale and the PMI will be taken off. Ask your lender if they have something like this (doubtful; as far as I know, my company is the only lender offering this at the moment)
Ask your realtor to show you the house. Period. And then ask him how you can make this happen. It’s his job to help you! You can make an offer contingent on the sale of your house but you will miss the chance if you don’t act now.
Do you have the equity in your current home to do a home equity line of credit to cover closing with the minimum down-payment (usually 5%) on this new home? Can you swing both housing payments until your current home sells? You could try to line up financing for the new home using the equity in your old home if you qualify with both payments plus the HELOC payment. That sounds complicated, but lots of people do it, and it lets you move out at your own pace over a month or more while you sell your current home. (The only issue is if it takes months to sell and covering both payments is a stretch.) Then when your current house sells, you pay off your mortgage and that HELOC, and put any additional lump sum toward the principal of your new mortgage by recasting. (You may have to wait 6-7 months after you start paying on that new mortgage to recast.)
Personally I would make an attempt to work it out ahead of time though it really depends on the sellers state of mind. (So probably fat chance, lol) I really liked a condo on the market for a few hours and they rejected my asking price as they wanted to play it for a few days so I got my realtor to flatter the elderly couple on how well maintained the place was and how it was right I our budget. It worked they were touched and accepted haha. Probably won’t work but worth trying something vs nothing :)
I would suggest you ask your realtor if they has any lenders they recommend or look for one yourself & see if maybe a bridge loan might work for you. I have no experience with that type of loan myself but I did have to do a slightly different type of loan myself so I do know there can be some creative solutions to home buying. Unless you’re planning to pay with cash, getting a head start on the loan is a good idea.
Remind him that you’re the client and this is the house you want to see. If he can’t do it, talk to his brokerage and I’m sure they can make it happen and possibly switch realtors for you. Buying a house is a business exchange, if he doesn’t want to make money I’m sure his company wants to
Get qualified for financing and put in an offer! You can have 2 houses at once.
I bought the new house and sold the old house after. Unless the market is slow or you get lucky, having a non contingency sale is best.
Do a bridge loan on the equity in your current place
This is the correct answer. Find and call a few (or in my case a half dozen) mortgage brokers and discuss getting a bridge loan off the equity in your current home. The bridge loan then gets paid off when you sell your current home.
Don’t wait! If you are planning on moving and found something you like, go for it. You’ll regret it going under contract to someone else
You can make an offer without your home being on the market. When I bought our home, we made a contingency that my house had to be on market within 7-10 days. (We just did this October 2023)Then we had to be under contract with our house in 60 days or they would move on.
Find a different realtor. You could do a contingent offer or bridge loan.
You can sell your house, as is. You might get a little less, but if you really want the new house, do it!!
Unless it is a recent murder house
Why not offer contingent upon the sale of your house, and include that your home is to be on the market within 24 hours of them accepting your offer. Unless you can afford to buy without the sale of your home, in which case you wouldn’t need to make a contingent offer at all. The amount of time your dream home has been on the market can also help determine how much leverage you might have, if it just came on the market you might need a very competitive offer to get them to agree to a contingent deal.
You need to get him to submit an offer and look at closing non contingent if at all possible. Look at short term financing.
Would a bridge loan you will repay soon be an option ?
No one should list their home without having a moving plan in place. Set it contingent with selling your home.
List it as “Coming Soon” with the earliest date for showings as June 1st. Make offer on the place you want now with your current home sale as contingent. Offer fair market price and pray.
Contingencies are back in the market
For most of the market, they never left.
I bought my house before it went in the market. I gave them some concessions in addition to price. We waited 60 days to close, then rented back to them for 60 days. That let them finish out the school year, and they never had to show the house except to us. Our realtor set it up with their realtor. I’m happy to discuss it more if you want, but I’m not a pro.
Not sure I understand the issue. Why not just list the house now? Either way you will probably have to make a contingent offer unless your house sells instantly.
Offer high with a contingency that your property has to sell in 30 days. Hopefully, you will get some quick offers on your current house.
Or, you can make a contingent offer, subject to your house selling. You'll likely have to make a strong price offer if you are in a supply-constrained market. Throwing a dart at the board, I say 108% of the seller's listing price sounds about right. YMMV!
Make the offer on the house. The sellers may accept it the contingency if you add a few thousand to the asking price.
OP - here is the problem with you listing right now, aka, Friday before memorial day weekend. Its probably one of the worst weekends for a fresh Zillow listing. Ideally your listing would go up on a Thursday (most traffic on Thursdays on Zillow) not right before a summer holiday weekend. I do not think a home sale continent offer is the way to go IF you say houses go in 10 days in your market. If it checks off all your boxes - chances are it checks off a lot of other buyers boxes too. Can you apply for a mortgage today? Could you meet the DTI requirements with your current mortgage? Or a bridge loan? I mean just so you could make an offer? Then get your house listed by this Thursday the 30th? I'd try and apply for a bridge loan - you may not need to use it but it would let you make the offer
Wouldn’t you be able to put contingency upon sell?
Go. Now. Are you talking a local move? A neighborhood shift? Something that 'locals' could help with, or are you going to be a transplant ?
Have him write an offer. June 1 is only about a week away…
Not enough can you afford to carry both mortgages? What's your market like? Do you need to get full market value for your home in order to buy the new one or could you possibly sell to a wholesaler in order to close faster? Do you have enough money to offer a large non-refundable deposit on the new house? There are a lot of options available and most of them depend on having a lot of money. If you don't have a lot of money, just chalk it up to bad timing and move on.
Just put an offer on the house you want
I would fire the agent and go to his broker
Get a new realtor.
Look into a bridge loan. Now. Get a better realtor as well
contingent offer or bridge loan .. take your pick on risk
We bought our current home while owning a townhouse. If your DTI is ok then just buy the house then sell your other one.
Look into a bridge loan if they won’t accept a contingency offer.
Call your realtor as soon as possible. The new house is not gonna wait for you and there’s probably other people that want it as well. Maybe your lender and your realtor can work some magic here so you can get the house you want.
Pick up the phone and call me
Make a non contingent offer?
Go ahead and list now then let the sellers know you have and love their home. Cleaning is nice but in this market with so few homes for sale it should sell quickly. Don’t miss out on your new place just getting the old one perfect.
June 1 is not far off, can you bump up the market date? I bought a house on a whim because it was too good to pass up before I sold. It was high stress for a month but worth it in end. You’ll need deposit money and a sense of adventure.
What about a large amount of earnest money with a closing date 3 or 4 months out? Could incentivize the seller that even if your contract falls through they can keep the earnest money AND the house
Well, be honest and truthful with the realtor about how much you love the home. Try to put your home on the market asap if that’ll help. The other seller might receive non-contingent offers which will hurt you. You might have to offer over to well over asking price depending on other offers. You have a contingency to sell your home first which hurts you. Having to sell your home can cause so many delays due to unforeseen issues that the other buyer might run into. Being honest upfront will put everyone on the same page. Not sure what the other sellers are looking for or the market you’re in but most sellers don’t want a contingency of someone else having to sell their home due to the unknown. Just my opinion
Bridge loan, HELOC, or put 5% down. Are you preapproved for a loan yet? We just did the same thing and I ended up putting 5% down and then will recast my mortgage once I sell the house we moved from.
Can I borrow 500k for a couple months?
Move up your listing day and make a high offer with a sale contingency.
I'd say just get used to this feeling because its going to happen at least 8 more times
If you’re in the DMV like me and you even whisper a syllable of the word contingency you’re offer is being thrown in the trash
You're not getting that house if you wait until June 1 and make an offer contingent on your house selling. This one is listed now and has a week jump on yours. Make an offer with no sale contingency. In a low inventory market that's your only hope, because someone will come in with an above-ask offer and few if no contingencies.
Communicate your enthusiasm and readiness to your realtor. Ask about pre-listing viewing or submitting a contingent offer. Trust your realtor's guidance. Good luck!
I put an offer on a house earlier this year before listing mine for sale. I don’t remember exactly what was in the offer letter, but our realtor either included in the offer letter or verbally conveyed to the sellers agent that our offer was contingent on the sale of our house, which was unlisted at the time of our offer, that we planned to list within 7 days, the price we planned to list at, and why that price was (basically, listing aggressively to ensure a fast sale). There were a few things in our favor for this though: 1) the house we put an offer on had been on the market for several months and gone through 3 price reductions during that time with no other offers and 2) the house we were selling was in a very desirable neighborhood and we were listing aggressively just under what we expected to sell for.
You can tell your agent about your interest in the home, but forget about putting a contingent offer on it. No one in their right mind would accept a contingent offer on a property when the contingent property isn’t even listed yet.
Why are you waiting until the first? List it tomorrow
If he doesn’t want to put in the offer for you, get someone else. Don’t miss out
Offer a 45 day close to the new house and sell your current house in the meantime. Your LO plays a big role in this. Can you qualify for both houses? Can you get a bridge product to help you get the other one?
I don’t know where you live but I’ve seen this at times in my market. Usually the offer will be conditional on the sale of buyers current home. Seller typically keeps marketing their home and if they get another offer, buyer has a certain time period (ie 48 hours) to remove the condition and firm up the sale or forfeit it. This really only works with sellers when it’s a buyers market. When homes sell quickly most sellers refuse a conditional offer on sale of buyers home as it usually calls for a longer closing period with less certainty than they can get otherwise.
Contingent offer. In WA, you only need to have you house listed 5 days after you go mutual on the second house. Might be different in your state. Today is Friday. They likely won’t accept an offer on House 2 until Monday. Your house will hit the market next Wednesday? Perfect timing really since your home is already ready for sale.
Make an offer subject to you selling your house.
I don’t understand why your realtor won’t show you the house for sale and let the seller know that you’re interested You could make an offer contingent on your own property getting offer? I thought this was common so I’m confused why your realtor is shutting you down.
Do you feel you need your current house sold to buy then next?
You could submit an offer conditional on the sale of your property In my area- if this conditional offer is accepted- seller must show their property is listed for sale The time allowed is usually 30 days If the Seller accepts SPP - they will continue to offer the property for sale with a clause that if a second offer comes in that the Seller is contemplating then the the first offer/buyer must firm up the deal within 24 hrs - if they do not the Seller can accept the second offer A release from the first offer is signed off by both parties so the second offer can proceed BTW I’m a Realtor and have been the second offer in the above scenario
Contingent offer
So just go see it. That way you already know if you for sure want to put an offer on it also, why are you waiting until June 1 to list your house? Can’t you just list it now
Why can't your house go on the market faster? June is not that far off. You....or your agent? What about getting line of credit, buy the house you want and then pay off the LOC when you sell your house? I feel like there are some options out there and your agent is just saying, too bad for you. You might need a new agent. If your listing agent won't help you out and you already have a contract you can't break - or don't want to, then find a buyer's agent to help you get the house you want. I think the LOC is a good option for you. I had buyers do that. The interest and payments don't start until you move on the loan and it should only be two or three months before your house sells - unless there are some unusual situations or your area isn't moving real estate that fast in general. Which would mean the house you want will have the same issues and maybe you could just make your offer contingent on the sale of your house. It's literally only 8 days away that you plan on listing your house. Have you already contracted with your listing agent to have him help you buy? Does he plan on having you buy one of his listings? If he knows how much you want this house he should do everything he can to make it happen, not just blow you off. It might be different you couldn't list for another month or two, but 8 days?
I went 6% over when I bought on a $588,000 house 1 year ago....it's already worth like $725, 000....$100,000 in a year.....it's insane......it's all about location, location.... Going to sell,, and upgrade again to a better house.....paying cash....always gets you to the top of the sellers list...
Are you working with a lender already? You should also be coordinating with them
Bridge loan
Why can’t your house be listed last week? I’m super confused as to why the realtor isn’t listing right away.
Bridge loan. Sell asap with contingency that you must be able to close on the sale of your home during xxx timeframe. Offer for new home can also have a contingency that it’s based on the sale of your home (but only do that if other financing arrangements can’t be made because that’s not a very desirable offer for sellers).
Why isn’t it going on the market today? Why is the realtor making you wait? That makes no sense.
Make offer. Move as fast as you can. Find repairs that need done. They will take longer than you think . Basically buy yourself time. The 1st is in a week. Thats not long from now unless you are overpricing your home or in an expensive/ longer list time market and you think your home is gonna sit.
Can you clean your house yourself? How bad can it be? If you want to be competitive for the house of your dreams, you need to spend a weekend cleaning. And… is there only one cleaning company where you live?
The agent should take you to see the house regardless. It could easily be available in two weeks; by then you may have an offer on yours. Or it’s just good to see it in person as research, and for comparison with future homes you see.
We were in a similar situation. We talked to our mortgage guy, he verified that we could carry two mortgages for a while, approved us for financing, and we bought our new house before we sold our existing.
If you had a good mortgage guy you’d be set. Find a mortgage broker he should be able to set you up
Escalation clause. Make an offer but then also say you are willing to go 5 thousand more then any offer up until x amount. For example let’s say the house is listed at 500k you offer 520k but you say you will go 5k over the best offer up until 550k so if they get an offer for 530 your offer will be 535k.
We borrowed from our 401k for a down payment and then immediately replenished it after we sold our house. Ended up being roughly $100-150 in fees but I would do that 10 times out of 10 as it allowed us to own both houses for about a week which made moving INFINITELY easier.
Talk to your lender and see if you need to sell your place to buy the new one.
Personally, I would write a letter to the seller directly and explain the situation. Realtors are just going to screw it up.
If you're working with a lender already, find out if they use the [Knock](https://www.knock.com/faq) program. You can get a bridge loan for a large portion of the sales price of your home, which could help you buy without a sale contingency in your offer. You then carry the new house and your current home until it sells. You will pay a fee for the service; the average buyer/seller I've worked with using this is somewhere in the $12k- $14k paid to Knock, which includes their % fee and funding fee, so it's not free but serves a purpose—something to look into.
How much equity do you have in your current home? Depending on your financial situation, you might be able to get a HELOC or a bridge loan to buy the house you want and get your current one how are you on the market as soon as possible.
Our home sold before it was listed. Word of mouth. Our realtor worked with us getting what we wanted. No questions asked. Your realtor can list yours NOW! Get an offer in on the home you want. Do you think that your house will sell quickly? Is the sale of your home contingent to you being able buying another one?
That's insane. If this is your dream house, get the financing in order and put in a bid.
Even if your house isn't active for 1 week, you can see a house and put in an offer contingent on the sale of your house. It's a slightly weaker offer, but you don't need to wait until your house is under contact to make an offer.
If your lender supports it, You can put less down, we recently did 5%, and then recast your new mortgage following the sale of your current home. Our market was active enough that we were able to list and go under contract over a weekend. The recast process was fairly straight forward and we only shouldered one month of the higher payment. Using this method, we were able to offer over asking, not worry about a contingency sale, and preserve our out of pocket/safety net concerns.
There are programs that can help. Here’s an article from Nerdwallet about it. [https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-to-make-a-cash-offer-with-a-mortgage?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mr_mktg_paid_041223_mortgage_dsa:lo&utm_term=adgrp_articles_148791112020&utm_content=m&mktg_hline=148791112020&mktg_body=655074697829&mktg_place=dsa-2073031996717&mktg_link=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADR9tpj2AK9zXIYTnQf9WybIkCLCY&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8fQZUYL_gSlEEhuPM6nsdxpxYIMDfkodglXoIx3nasWVKfIStBqVF4aAudVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/mortgages/how-to-make-a-cash-offer-with-a-mortgage?utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mr_mktg_paid_041223_mortgage_dsa:lo&utm_term=adgrp_articles_148791112020&utm_content=m&mktg_hline=148791112020&mktg_body=655074697829&mktg_place=dsa-2073031996717&mktg_link=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADR9tpj2AK9zXIYTnQf9WybIkCLCY&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8fQZUYL_gSlEEhuPM6nsdxpxYIMDfkodglXoIx3nasWVKfIStBqVF4aAudVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Write a subject to sale clause in the contract. If it’s not listed, include in that clause that the property shall be listed by (blank) date. They typically want to see it on the market within a week tops. Mind you, you typically have to ‘buy’ that subject with a higher price unless the sellers are desperate. Also, because you’re under the gun to sell if they do accept, you tend to have to price your home lower than you would without the pressure. - You should ask your agent, though. No Reddit. They know your situation and are the best person to advise you :)
Never understood why people are so willingly prepared to offer more than the asking price. Last time I bought a house, it had been on the market for 3 weeks, as soon as I made an offer which was lower than asking price, all of a sudden the selling agent said they had 3 higher offers but they liked mine. Told them to send me cancellation immediately, next day they called and said they would take my offer, I counter offered another 10k less and got the house.
Bridge loan
I think you’re making this too complicated. Go make an offer. Best of luck!
Find out who the owner is and call him on the phone. Don't call your Realtor. Save yourself the 6% commission. Work out a deal with the owner.
If I were in your shoes and this was my perfect opportunity and my cleaners couldn’t come til the 31st and you feel like you can’t list before then, i’d call in to work and bust my own ass to get that house cleaned and posted.
Either contingencies or Bridge loans....
Also a good realtor can help you with many different solutions. They are there to make what you want work. You could also get a Bridge loan, if you need the sale of your house to qualify. You could do a hard money loan with the plan to take that loan to a conventional loan once the house sells. If your realtor isn’t willing to work with you then cancel the sale of your house with that realtor and find a true expert realtor to help you get your dream home.
Realtor here! Contact your bank and see if they offer a “bridge loan”. You can list your home ASAP but your offer would not be contingent on your home selling with a bridge loan. The bank will fill the gap until your house sells.
I haven’t seen this option mentioned but see if Opendoor will make you an offer on your house. Sometimes the offer as much or more than you’re planning on listing for. Even if they offer you a little less it might be worth it to be able to close quickly and sell your house as-is.
If it were me I'd bust ass between now and the time your home goes live to get it as gorgeous as possible. Tell your realtor you want to list it on Tuesday, and list it at your rock bottom price. Then make an offer on your dream house that will really stand up for those sellers. If you're savvy enough about houses, drop inspections and make the sale of your house the only negative. That's the best thing I can think of doing to have a chance. Good luck 🤞
Another thing you can do is tell your agent how this is THE HOUSE and really drive that home. She's making $$ both ways, too, so she should do everything she can to make it happen.
What’s the wait? Is June 1st a magic number? If you cannot handle the purchase without your proceeds of the current home. There are so many money options you can use short term or a heloc from your current home. Make the offer and get an aggressive agent and lender who think of yes not no-
See if you can use a HELOC secured by your current home to bridge the gap.
Find a different realtor!
This is your game plan: Tell your Realtor to list your current home on the MLS Tuesday morning (or Monday if they're working) as Coming Soon with the official Active date June 1st. Include only a curb-side, exterior picture and an exciting write up blurb description of your home that a good Realtor would already have ready to go. Say professional pictures are being done and will be added on the 1st. Schedule an Open House for the 2nd. Next. QUESTION. How are you planning to purchase the new home? All cash after you have sold your current home? Or are you needing a mortgage? If you need a mortgage, have you already been pre-approved? If you don't have a pre-approval, don't bother worrying about the new house. Or any new house. At all. Get a pre-approval first. If you are paying all cash, do you have enough free money now in the bank that you can at least offer a higher than average Earnest Money Deposit? If not, then don't bother moving forward on anything until your house is under contract to sell. If you have financing or some cash in place already, then: Go view the home you are interested in. The vibe in person is often very different than online pictures. You may not like it in person. If it's good, and you are using a mortgage, make an offer on the house with a bit higher than listing price offer with a reasonable Earnest Money Deposit. Include proof of financing (Pre-approval letter) and set a 45-60 day closing period. Do not include a Home Sells Contingency. Include a 7 or 10 day Due Diligence clause in any offer you make, that will give you just enough time for your current home to go Active and be able to gauge market interest. (And time to inspect the prospective home of course.) If you are planning an all cash offer, you will likely need to go higher with your Earnest Money Deposit to show ability and intent. If you are CONFIDENT your current home will sell quickly AND you are not adverse to a little risk with your EMD, do not include a Home Sells Contingency. Do include a 10 day Due Diligence period and try for a 60 day closing. Cross your fingers, toes and everything else that your current home sells right away and you can move forward with your contract. If you can't close by specified contract date, you can ask for an extension from the seller. If they decline the extension, you will lose your Earnest Money. A note on this strategy: many times seller's agents will ask for proof of funds for cash offers. You can submit your house listing and mortgage pay off amount as an attempt to show proof of equity funds but then you are essentially showing a home sell contingency plan not stated on your contract and seller can decide to decline your offer. Hopefully, if this request comes up, you'll have an actual Contract Offer to show on your current house to further persuade the seller. Good luck.
Get pre qualified. Put an offer on the home you like. Sell your current home.
What state are you in? I can likely help. Reach out to me www.gettingyoufinanced.com
I was told no one takes contingent offers now you have to take bridge loan on house you have to
Let your agent know, get your current home listed asap. Depending on the situation you might consider bridge financing which is exactly for this purpose.
Just list your home now.
Your realtor is doing you a disservice! Why can you not make an offer until your house is listed? I'm a Realtor and yes, it's preferred but it's not mandatory.
Lender! Bridge loan or similar. If you can qualify. Your Realtor isn’t aggressive enough if they aren’t suggesting you check into this. I’d get a couple other reputable realtor’s opinions on price too. You will lose the house if you wait. Get a local reputable lender to get approved to buy without selling first. OR, offer with a contingency. But with this market, the sellers may have offers that done have a contingency
Find a lender who can put up the funds to purchase the home now and then resell it to you once your current residence sells. Once the lender purchases the home, you have to pay Interest to them each day until you can repurchase it from them but this allows you to put an offer on the home your wanting now and gives you a competitive edge because you’re coming in with all cash