What’s the Best Way to Buy a House Before You Sell Yours?

Editor’s note: This post explains HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program and provides examples of similar services that help home sellers buy a house before selling their existing home. Programs can change; see company websites for plan details.

If you’re selling your home but also looking to purchase a new one, the timing of both transactions can feel nearly impossible to coordinate. If you’re relying on the equity in your current home to make a down payment on the new one, it may seem as if your only option is to sell, move out, and then find a third location to live while you shop for the new house.

But before you resign yourself to months of disorder and stress, there is a new solution that simplifies the entire process and takes much of the burden off your shoulders. In this post, we’ll share the benefits of a tool that is replacing the old way of making a move; the “Buy Before You Sell” program.

Yes, You Can Buy Before You Sell. Why Move Twice?

Through our Buy Before You Sell program, HomeLight can help you unlock a portion of your equity upfront to put toward your next home. You can then make a strong offer on your next home with no home sale contingency.

What is a real estate Buy Before You Sell program?

With today’s modern technology, there are real estate solution companies like HomeLight that have developed creative, convenient, integrated programs that streamline the process of buying and selling a house at the same time.

These “Buy Before You Sell” programs provide a bridge to help you successfully complete your move to a new home —  significantly reducing anxiety and worries.

To put it simply, if you have equity in your current home, a Buy Before You Sell program provides remarkable convenience that is changing the real estate industry.

A recent HomeLight survey found that among repeat buyers, 49% use equity from their existing house to buy a new home. But juggling that equity the traditional way can be cumbersome when trying to time your sale and balance the demands of moving.

Companies like HomeLight and partner agents can help you move into your new home with speed and certainty — while helping you get the strongest possible offer for your old home.

For such an important life event, a Buy Before You Sell program makes it this easy:

Buy your new home before selling your old one.
Move one time and avoid paying for temporary housing.
Skip the hassle of showing your home while you, your family, or pets are still living in it.

How does HomeLight’s ‘Buy Before You Sell’ work?

A 3-step process puts you in control

Here’s how HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program works for home sellers:

  1. Apply in minutes with no commitment: Find out if your property is a good fit for the program and get your equity unlock amount approved in 24 hours or less. No commitment is required.
  2. Buy your dream home with confidence: Once you’re approved, you’ll have access to a portion of your equity in your current home. You’ll be able to submit a competitive offer with no home sale contingency at any time — regardless of how long it takes to find your dream home. Our near-instant Equity Unlock Calculator lets you estimate how much equity we can unlock from your current home.
  3. Sell your current home with peace of mind: After you move into your new home, you will list your unoccupied home on the market to attract the strongest offer possible. You’ll receive the remainder of your equity after the home sells.

What makes HomeLight ‘Buy Before You Sell’ different?

Unlock Equity: Unlock up to $2 million dollars in equity from your current home to cover your down payment, moving, closing costs, repairs, and more. It’s your choice. See our FAQ section below for Equity Unlock Amount details.

Make a competitive offer: We’ll remove your home sale contingency so you can make a competitive offer and save money — as sellers often value certainty over nabbing top dollar.

Sell for up to 10% more: After you move, list your current home unoccupied and potentially staged, which can lead to a higher selling price, according to HomeLight transaction data.

FAQs about HomeLight’s ‘Buy Before You Sell’ program

What other companies provide Buy Before You Sell programs?

There are a number of other real estate companies that provide Buy Before You Sell programs in select states throughout the U.S. Let’s take a brief look at some examples.

Knock Home Swap

Knock’s Home Swap program assists homeowners with the entire buying and selling process, from helping clients find and finance a new home, to covering home prep costs so customers can sell their old house for the best price.

Orchard Move First

Formerly known as Perch, Orchard provides a program called Move First that lets clients buy and settle into their new homes before they sell their old houses. It presents this as the “modern way to buy” and tags the program as “magically convenient.”

Flyhomes

Flyhomes is a real estate solutions company that helps clients buy a home with less stress using integrated mortgage and brokerage programs such as Flyhomes Cash Offers and Trade Up, which can allow their customers to buy before they sell.

Homeward

Homeward’s Buy Before You Sell program lets clients “Move now, sell later.” Homeward works to provide a bigger window to sell your house for the best price, along with an offer that gets you into your new home faster.

Curious What Your Home Is Worth?

Get a near-instant real estate house price estimate from HomeLight for free. Our tool analyzes the records of recently sold homes near you, your home’s last sale price, and other market trends to provide a preliminary range of value in under two minutes.

Key takeaways

Benefits of HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program

  • Unlock a portion of equity from your current home
  • Make a strong offer on your next home, and save money with no home sale contingency
  • Avoid renting and moving twice
  • Maximize the sale price of your current home

As buyers navigate an increasingly challenging housing market, savvy homeowners are turning to “Buy Before You Sell” programs to simplify the process of buying a new home and selling their old one. These services allow you to easily apply your existing home equity toward a new purchase, giving you more time to sell and taking away much of the hassle of getting the timing right.

Take the uncertainty out of your next home purchase. Get started today with HomeLight Buy Before You Sell, and sell your current home with peace of mind.

Header Image Source: (alexraths / Unsplash)

HomeLight Home Loans NMLS #1529229 | Equal Housing Lender | NMLSconsumeraccess.org | homelighthomeloans.com/licenses-and-disclosures | 1375 N. Scottsdale Rd., #110, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 Telephone 844-882-3283