If you already own a home in Portland and you’re ready to move and buy your next place, of course the FIRST thing you need to do is find a REALTOR® you really trust! Selling your home AND buying your next home is a complicated process, and there are many ways to navigate it all. You need a real estate agent who can help you figure out which way is the best for YOU, and what will be the most advantageous for you!
In this video, I’m sharing the top 4 options for how to sell your Portland house and buy your next:
It’s been a seller’s market in Portland for about 7-8 years now. So if you’ve owned your house for 5 years or more… you are in a fabulous position as a “move up” buyer right now!
For the full rundown on your 4 options for selling + buying a home, be sure to watch the video above. Here’s a few quick takeaways from the video:
Option 1: Buy, then sell.
This is the best option: You buy a house, close on it, move into it, THEN you sell your current home. This is the ideal situation and the one you want to shoot for. Of course, this does require that you have down payment money without selling your current house, and it requires that you can carry loans on both homes (until you can sell your first home).
Option 2: Buy a house contingent.
While this is technically an option, these types of offers are simply not competitive in Portland’s real estate market right now. A contingent offer means that you put your house on the market, you look for another house, you find a house and make an offer on it, BUT this offer is contingent (aka it can only happen) IF you sell your first house. When a seller is receiving multiple offers that are very competitive, a contingent offer is going to be one of the least appealing offers.
Option 3: Sell, then buy.
This is a very common option. You put your house on the market, get it under contract, close on selling your house, get the money in your bank account, and THEN start looking for the next house you’re going to buy. After you close on your house, you can negotiate to get “rent back” from your buyer up to 60 days. This means you can continue living in your home, yet have the funds to buy a new home. However, there is a time crunch with this one—you only have a set amount of time before you must move out of your house, new home secured or not.
Option 4: Best of Both Worlds.
In this scenario, you put your house on the market and sell it, put your stuff into storage, and you live somewhere else (maybe you rent a place or live with family). This gives you more breathing room. With such low inventory in Portland, it can take longer to find something, and you don’t want to rush into buying a home!
***
