Edmonton, St Albert, & Area RE/MAX Real Estate Professional

BUYING FIRST

There is a down and upside. The downside is in not knowing how much your home will sell for. This is particularly harder if you are on a tight budget. Also, if your current house doesn’t sell fast enough, you may be forced to sell it at a reduced price to avoid being stuck with two properties.

Buying your home first allows you to know:

# Your new address

# Your date of possession

# The exact costs of your new property

# The date of closing

If you find your dream home before you put your home on the market, you can make the offer to purchase conditional on the sale of your property. If the seller receives another offer before your house sells, you might be asked to come up with the money in 24-72 hours, depending on how the contract was written, or it will mean withdrawal of your offer. Quite often though, the seller will want you to be near or at the Listing Price because of the uncertainty of a “Subject to Sale” offer. Another solution would be to carry the two mortgages. Carrying two mortgages has the potential of being risky. Knowing the market well and relying on your REALTOR® to price your house accordingly, are important.

SELLING FIRST

Selling first implies that your property will be sold before you find a new one. The benefits are:

Knowing the exact amount you will receive from the sale

You’ll know the move in date of the new owners

You won’t be stuck holding two properties

This scenario (Selling first) is particularly advantageous if you are in a good market and the prospects look promising. This is my recommended scenario (Selling first). Before you decide which one is best for you, talk to your REALTOR®. If you don’t have one, I would be pleased to help.