How to Buy a Home Before Selling Yours in Eugene
You don't have to choose between buying your dream home and selling your current one. Here are four strategies that make both happen at the same time.
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Imagine scrolling through Zillow late at night, not really looking for anything serious, just casually browsing. And then you see it. A house that would be perfect for you and your family. But then reality hits: you still own your current home. So what do you do?
The truth is, you don’t have to choose between buying your dream home and selling your current one. There are ways to do both at the same time, and I’ve walked hundreds of clients through this exact process.
Just two months ago, I helped a family in Cottage Grove who wanted to move up into Eugene. They got approved for a bridge loan, and we put a non-contingent offer on the house they wanted. They closed on it and actually started remodeling while we got their Cottage Grove home cleaned up and prepped for the market. It just went on the market last Friday, and we’ve already got a bunch of showings lined up. That’s how this can work when you have the right strategy in place.
There are four primary strategies I use to help my clients buy and sell at the same time.
1. The basic contingency offer. This is one I use all the time. We put an offer on the new home, but it’s contingent on the sale of your current house. That means you’re protected from carrying two mortgages. To make it work, we get your house prepped, price it aggressively, and get it under contract as quickly as possible. Once your house is pending, it puts us in a solid position on the home you’re wanting to buy.
There’s also a way to strengthen this approach. Instead of making the contingency on the house you’re buying, we put it on the house you’re selling. We list your current home first, get it under contract, and then go shopping for the new one. When we write that offer, we already have an accepted offer and a closing date on your current house, which makes our offer on the new home much more solid and attractive to the seller.
2. The bridge loan. This is what we used for that Cottage Grove family. A bridge loan lets you buy your next home before your current one sells. The big advantage is that your offer on the new house is not contingent on selling your current one, which makes it much stronger. You close on the new home first, get moved in, then we get your old house prepped and sold on the open market. Once it closes, we pay off the bridge loan and everything’s done. You do need to qualify with your lender, but once that’s in place, it’s a one-two step approach that really lowers the stress.
3. Tapping into existing assets. If you have equity sitting in your current home, a HELOC lets you borrow against it to fund the down payment on your next house. We can also look at a short-term 401k loan to help cover transition costs. That one is borrowing from your own retirement account, so the interest often goes right back into your own account. Both of these options need to be worked through carefully with a lender to make sure everything lines up, but they can give you access to funds while your current home is being prepped for sale.
4. The rent-back option. This one is great for making timelines line up. You sell your current home first, but instead of moving out right away, you rent it back from the buyer for up to three months. That gives you effectively a little over four months total when you factor in the closing period. You use that time to find and close on your next home at your own pace. And because you’ve already sold, you go into the purchase as a non-contingent buyer, which puts you in a strong position.
Buying and selling at the same time is absolutely possible. It just takes the right strategy. I’ve gone through this process with literally hundreds of clients, and it’s something I can walk you through step by step. Every situation is different, and the right approach depends on your finances, your timeline, and what’s available in the market.
If you’re thinking about making a move in Eugene or the surrounding areas, I’d love to help you look at your options. Call or text me at 541-852-2565 or email me at darren@rickettsgroup.net. Let’s figure out the path that makes the most sense for you.
