Buying a new home while selling your existing home can be a real juggling act.

Between timing your transactions, managing finances, and coordinating your move, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

This blog shows you how to make the simultaneous buying and selling process seamless.

Whether you're downsizing, relocating, or upgrading to your dream home, read on to achieve your real estate goals with confidence.

1. Contingent Offer or Sales Contingency

You can avoid financial risk by purchasing a home using a contingent offer.

A contingent offer makes the purchase of your new home conditional upon the sale of your current home. If your existing home doesn’t sell within a specified time period, your offer on the new home falls through — without penalty.

The prevailing market conditions determine whether or not a contingent offer is a good idea.

In a buyer’s market, you may be able to get away with a sales contingency because there are fewer competing offers.

In a balanced market or a sellers market, any competing offers that are made without a sales contingency (unconditional offers) will be more attractive to the sellers because there is less risk of the deal falling through.

2. Bridge Financing

Bridge financing is a short-term loan that lets you “bridge” the gap between buying a new home and selling your current one. With a bridge loan, you use your current home as collateral to access your home equity, then use those funds to make a down payment on a new home.

Bridge financing offers lower interest than a personal loan, but higher interest compared to a traditional mortgage.

Bridge loans often come with strict lending conditions, like needing a firm sale agreement on your current home.

If your home doesn’t sell quickly and you’re stuck carrying 2 mortgages, a bridge loan can turn into a very expensive choice — at least in the short term.

3. Personal Line of Credit or Loan

You take out a personal loan or an unsecured line of credit to cover the down payment and closing costs for the new home, then repay the loan once you sell your current home.

If you have good credit, personal loans are easy to get, and won’t depend on the sale of your current home.

Keep in mind that personal loans come with higher interest rates compared to secured financing options like bridge loans.

4. Rent Out Your Current Home

Instead of selling your current home right away, you convert it into a rental property and use the rental income to offset your mortgage costs.

You can apply for a new mortgage for your next home, considering the rental income as part of your financial profile.

Depending on your financial situation, you may have difficulty qualifying for a new mortgage while still carrying the debt on your current home.

Remember that the value of your home may appreciate or depreciate while you carry your initial home as an investment asset or wait for it to sell on the market, which increases your financial burden.

The 2 keys to financial success in renting are finding great tenants and keeping them happy. But if you don’t want to manage landlord duties like tenant screening, maintenance coordination, and rent collection, you can also hire a local property manager to take care of everything for you.

5. Alternative: Sell Fast For Cash

If you find yourself in a tight situation due to timing, you can also consider selling your current home to a cash buyer.

Cash buyers will make you an offer within days, and then buy your house in as few as 1 to 2 weeks.

Keep in mind that cash offers tend to come at a discount for the buyer due to the heightened risk of buying quickly. But, you’ll get the funds you need to bolster your finances, get approved for your new mortgage, and make the down payment.

If you’d like a free cash offer on your home within 48 hours, check out Cash Offer Canada, a convenient and flexible option to sell fast on your own terms.

6. Kelowna Sellers: Guaranteed Sold Program

If you live in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, our Guaranteed Sold Program can take the stress out of buying and selling at the same time.

First, we agree upon a time frame and price. If your home doesn’t sell in that time frame, we then provide you with a guaranteed written offer to eliminate the uncertainty for you.

And if your home sells above the initial price, you benefit from the higher price — not us.