To Buy or Not to Buy - First?

Eventually we all end up in the same place. Whether your family is quickly outgrowing your home or you’re seeing the last of your children packing to move on into the realm of adulthood, many of us find that it’s time to find a new home that better fits our needs.



But now there is a dilemma. Should you secure the home of your dreams by writing an offer subject to your current home selling or are you better to wait and except an offer before you buy?




In a buyer’s market, such as what we are currently in, we recommend putting your home on the market first. This is for several reasons. First, you’ll be able to tell if your house is priced right by the activity it generates. Because the price you get for your home will probably reflect on the price of the home you’re buying, you will be in a much stronger negotiating position when you have found your dream home.  If you do make an offer on a new home expecting that you will net a certain amount at $300,000 for your current home, the outcome can be catastrophic if you can only sell your home for $250,000. If you’ve already sold your home, you’ll know exactly how much money you’ll have to work with.


A second reason for selling your home first is that having a condition in your offer can cause the seller to hold strong with price negotiations or, worst case, accept another offer.


Remember that in a buyer’s market there are more homes on the market than buyers, so there are more than enough properties that will meet your buying needs. You will position yourself stronger as a seller and you will have more leverage as a buyer.



If you’re in a seller’s market, where you have many more buyers than homes on the market, you may find yourself in the reverse situation as we have seen over the last few years. It was very possible that if you sold or purchased 3 years ago, you would have been better to buy the home you wanted as soon as it came onto market, because you were much more likely to sell your home faster and at a higher price due to demand.


As with most situations in Real Estate, there are very few rules that are absolute. While many people may be better off selling first in a buyer’s market, your individual situation may not fall into the norm, but there are experts out there who can help. Give one of our REALTORS® a call and let us help you every step of the way.