Looking to sell and buy a house simultaneously? What you need to know

Buying a new home is exciting. But it can also be stressful, especially when you're trying to buy a new home and sell your old one at the same time. The good news is that it's possible and people do it all the time.

Read on to find out everything you need to know about buying and selling a home at the same time. And also whether you can — and whether you should — refinance if you’re thinking of selling your home.

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How do you sell a house and buy another at the same time?

For many families, the first home they buy isn’t the home they’ll stay in forever, meaning you may eventually need to buy a new home while trying to sell your old one. Here are a few tips to keep in mind if that happens:

1. Factor in the housing market
2. Assess your finances
3. Plan out your selling and buying schedule

1. Factor in the housing market

Depending on when you sell your home, it might either be a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. That will help determine how long it might take to sell your current home and how difficult it might be to buy a new one.

2. Assess your finances

Buying a home has a huge impact on your finances. Before you start the process, it’s important to know exactly where your finances are and your financing options for your new home.

3. Plan out your selling and buying schedule

In a perfect world, you’d be able to time the closings to coincide with each other. Time them as well as you can and have a backup plan in case the timing doesn’t line up quite how you’d like it to.

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Can you buy a new house before selling your current one?

One of the biggest challenges of simultaneously buying and selling a home is getting the timing right. You might not be able to exactly line up the closings on both houses. Additionally, you might find your dream home before you’ve put your current home on the market, making it difficult to sell your home before closing on your new home purchase.

Depending on the situation, you may be able to buy a new house before you sell your old one. First, you have to consider whether you have the money for the down payment on another home. Many homeowners use the sale of their old home to fund the down payment for the new one, so you’ll have to make sure you have another way of covering that cost.

You also have to make sure you can actually qualify for a second mortgage. If your debt-to-income ratio with both monthly payments is too high, you may not qualify for the mortgage.

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Can I buy a house if I just refinanced?

Millions of Americans have refinanced their mortgages over the past year. If you’ve recently refinanced or plan to refinance soon, you might be wondering what happens if you decide to buy a house shortly after.

There are some things to be aware of. First, if you’re refinancing to save money, it might not be worth your time if you’re planning to move. Refinancing your mortgage can save you money on interest but it usually takes a few years to break even because of the closing costs you’ll pay.

Some people refinance specifically so they can buy a new home. With a cash-out refinance, you can refinance for more than your current mortgage and then receive the difference in cash. This type of refinancing could be useful since you can use the cash out to put a down payment on a new home.

The rules are a bit different for government-backed loans. When you borrow or refinance an FHA loan, you agree to use the home as your primary residence for at least one year.

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