Offer without a contingency
Your offer reads like cash to a listing agent. No sale-of-home clause for a seller to discount against.
The trap almost every move-up buyer falls into
You can’t write a strong offer until your house sells. You can’t list your house until you know where you’re going. So you wait, and the house you wanted goes to somebody who didn’t have to.
And when you do finally write, a sale-of-home contingency is the first thing a seller discounts. You end up competing with one hand tied, or moving twice and paying for it both times.
What it lets you do
Move once
No rental in between, no storage unit, no second move. You go from your house to your house.
Qualify without two payments
The departing mortgage typically comes out of the qualifying picture, so you’re underwritten on the new payment.
Sell it empty
List the old house vacant and staged, shown on your agent’s schedule rather than around your family.
How it works
01
We unlock your equity
Your current home is evaluated and an equity amount is confirmed. That becomes the down payment on the next house, before yours has sold.
02
You buy the next one
You write without a sale-of-home contingency and close on your new house. A backup offer is placed on your current home so you’re never stranded.
03
You sell the old one
You move out first, then list it vacant with your own agent. At closing the unlocked equity and the program fee come out of the proceeds. The rest is yours.
See if your home qualifies
Pre-qualifying is free and commits you to nothing.
Who it tends to suit
Moving up
You have equity and you have outgrown the house. The equity is the whole down payment on the next one.
Relocating
A start date that will not wait for a closing date. You land in the new house instead of a short-term rental.
Downsizing
Years of accumulation to sort through. Move first, then take your time emptying the old house properly.
Building
A completion date that keeps moving. Close when the house is ready rather than selling early and renting.
The same move, both ways
The usual way
List first and hope the timing works out
Offer carries a sale-of-home contingency
Show the house while you’re still living in it
Rent or stay with family in between
Pack and move twice
Buying before you sell
Buy the next house first, on your own timing
Offer goes in clean, with no contingency
Old house shows empty, staged, on your agent’s schedule
No rental, no storage unit, no interim address
Pack and move once
A vacant, staged home often sells faster and for more than an occupied one, though that varies by house and by market and isn’t something I can promise on your address. What I can do is run your actual numbers both ways before you commit to either.
What it costs
There’s a program fee, and it comes out of the proceeds when your old house sells rather than out of your pocket at the start. There are no monthly payments on the unlocked equity while you are in between.
The fee is a percentage, and the percentage moves — so I’m not going to print a number here that might be wrong by the time you read it. Send me the address and I’ll quote your file exactly, alongside what the ordinary route would cost you, and you can decide from there.
Buy Before You Sell is offered through HomeLight. Terms, limits and eligibility are set by the program and are subject to change and to approval.
Questions people actually ask
What if my old house doesn’t sell?
A backup offer is placed on it as part of the program, so there’s a floor under you. You’re not left carrying two houses indefinitely.
Does my current mortgage count against me?
Typically it comes out of the qualifying picture, which is the point — you’re underwritten on the new payment rather than on both. I’ll confirm it against your file.
Can I keep my own real estate agent?
Yes. You list with whoever you were going to list with. Nothing about this moves your agent off the file.
How long do I have to sell?
There’s a defined window rather than an open-ended one, and the exact length depends on the program terms at the time. I’ll tell you the number before you commit to anything.
Who is eligible to buy before they sell?
Homeowners with meaningful equity in a departing home, buying a primary residence with a conventional loan. Property type and condition matter. Three minutes of questions tells us.
Is buy before you sell a bridge loan?
It works like one from where you sit — equity released early, repaid when the old house closes — but it’s structured as a program rather than a second mortgage you make payments on.
Does it work on a manufactured home?
Sometimes, and it depends on the home. This is worth asking me directly rather than assuming either way — manufactured housing is something I work with constantly.
What does it cost to find out?
Nothing. Pre-qualifying is free, there’s no credit pull to get a read, and it commits you to nothing at all.
See if your home qualifies.
Answer a few quick questions about your home and your move. About two minutes, no credit pull. Then I’ll come back within a day with a straight answer: whether your home qualifies, roughly what it would unlock, and what the move looks like both ways.
If it isn’t the right fit I’ll say so, and we’ll talk about what is.