Buying and selling at the same time (agent, contract, Realtors)

[monkeybuttz]

My husband and I live in GA are we are considering selling our home "intown" and moving to the burbs. We found a subdivision that we really like and lots are available for pre-sale. Homes in our area have sold pretty quickly but we know that is not a guarantee. The builder told us it would take 5-7 months to have a home built. Is there anything that we can put into a contract that says we cant close until our current home sells as we really cant afford two mortgages? We are working with an agent but we haven't discussed this concern yet. We're also curious to know what kind of advice other realtors may offer.
Thank you so much in advance.

[MikeJaquish]

I would offer that you should nearly immediately discuss this with your agent.

• It is fair to be honest with the agent.
• Agent may have strategies to help.

You might go on the market, and rent an apartment if you get a quick sale, while waiting for the new home to be completed.

[bentlebee]

Contingent on you able to close on the other property, BUT not every one would be willing to sign it unless it is pretty sure you will close.

We are having a client doing the same but he is in a short sale which is scheduled to close in 2 weeks.

[Jkgourmet]

The OP wants to buy a new home construction from a builder.

Many builders have a program that allows you to delay construction of your new home for a set number of months if your new house doesn't sell quickly enough. Ours allowed us 6 months at no additional cost to us. They would NOT accept a contingency contract on our purchase. Period.

The other thing you need to consider is that construction companies cannot pinpoint the date of completion with any certainty. Not until about 2 weeks before closing. We found that to be one of the MOST frustrating aspects of buying new construction.

Based on our community, everyone here did one of these things:

* Sold their home, then moved into an apartment until the new home was completed, typically on a short term or month to month lease. Some (like us) sold their furniture before moving into the apartment. If they insisted on bringing most of their furniture, it usually ended up in storage.

* Kept their home until the new home was very close to completion, then put it on the market, incurring double mortgage payments until the old home was completed. Some did not move into the new home until the old one was sold so that they could deal with the showings of the old home and keep the old home staged.

* Sold the old home and moved in with relatives.

* I know of only two people who managed to make this transition fairly seamless. Both lived in hotels for a couple of weeks until the closing on the new house, with their stuff in storage.

It's a PITA. But we love our new home.