Most people have to sell their current home before they can buy a new home, especially in this market where lender’s are being very cautious. So, the question often comes up how is it all coordinated and how does it all work? First of all you need to realize upfront that it will be tricky and it won’t go as planned.

You may want to look at a few homes first to feel comfortable with the decision that you will be able to find a home you like when the time is right. Then you will need to put your current home on the market for sale. Until your home actually has on offer on it, there really is no point in looking for homes because it could be many months before your home sells and if you happen to find your dream home, you will be disappointed when you lose it.

Once you have an accepted offer on your house, you may begin looking at homes. The tricky part is whether or not you should wait until your house actually closes (you have the money in the bank) or risk it. Sometimes buyers fall out of escrow and your house has to go back on the market. If this is the case what will happen if you have an offer in on another house? To protect yourself when writing an offer on a house, you will want your agent to write a buyer’s contingency addendum. This protects you by stating that you have a house to sell and if it doesn’t sell, you may back out of the contract and have your earnest money returned to you. The seller has to agree to the contingency and may not always like taking that risk (and in this market the short sales and foreclosures will not take an offer with a contingency on it).

If you wait until your house actually closes then you won’t have to worry about writing a contingency and you can submit a very strong offer. The downfall to that is that you will have to find a place to live in the interim. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration when selling a home and looking for a new home. I strongly suggest working with an experienced Real Estate agent that can guide you through the process and protect you throughout the many transactions. If you would like more information please feel free to vist my website.