The Art of Buying & Selling Your Home at the Same Time

Whether buying or selling a home, it is in your best interest to stay on top of expert real estate advice. Heeding the right advice can make all the difference in executing a smooth real estate purchase or sale. However, how does one easily execute both in one timeline? The art of completing both sales within a shared timeline is not only easy to accomplish, but it is a common endeavor that talented real estate agents/realtors help clients achieve. Talented realtors use their expertise to do the heavy lifting of buying/selling homes, but being an informed seller/buyer will further empower you. To simultaneously buy and sell your home, consider this expert advice before moving forward.

Sometimes the season you put your home on the market or begin looking for a new one is not entirely within your control. If this is the case, do not fear. Following the advice below will do wonders for successfully selling and buying your home. However, spring is the golden season for buying and selling homes. Home sales spike in the late spring seasons because buyers with children appreciate a school-free summer to make their move. Therefore, it is best to take the fall and winter seasons to get your home in first-rate condition and start perusing your real estate market of interest to get a sense of what’s available.

 

Conduct a thorough inspection of your home, noting every last detail that could use improvements. Have you been neglecting a kitchen drawer that doesn’t close as smoothly as it once did? Are any rooms in need of a fresh coat of paint? Hire a professional home inspector to take a scrutinous look at the condition of your home. Home inspection professionals know how to look for climate-specific home issues that are not always detectable to the untrained eye. Los Angeles real estate, for example, has a drier climate.

 

Home inspection professionals will know what issues to look for in a home due to a drier climate. If they inform you of any issues or necessary updates, hire a home improvement professional to take care of these issues as soon as possible. Once you’ve taken care of any undesirable issues, it will be ready and gleaming when you place it on the market in spring. Not only will your home be market-ready, but you will also have plenty of time to peruse the market.

 

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors in August 2022, the average amount of days a home is on the market before it sells is 16 days. The homes you’ll peruse during the fall and winter months will most likely no longer be on the market when you’re ready to buy, it will still inform you of the current market. Not only that, but let’s say you spot a home in mid-to-late February that piques your interest. Not only do you have the advantage of less mid to late-spring competition, but you keep an eye out for homes during this time that may be on the market for a touch longer. Houses that have been on the market for a bit longer will be more eager to close on a sale. This way, if you’ve thoroughly inspected the home and decide it is the one for you, you can make an early move into your new home and sit back while the home you’re selling gets swiftly sold.

 

Do not assume something is inherently wrong with a home because it does not sell as fast as the other homes on the market. Though this is sometimes the case, it is far from the only reason. Ask to see the home inspection report and the seller’s disclosure, and come prepared with your questions when you tour the home. If it checks out and feels like the home for you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t make an offer.

 

Showing prospective buyers you have a seller’s integrity is a wonderful way to attract serious buyers. After you’ve completed all the necessary updates and fixed any issues detected from your initial home inspection, get a second home inspection and have a copy of it available for prospective buyers to review. It’s a good idea to keep receipts of any home improvement services you’ve recently done as evidence that you’ve taken care of issues and that you had a trusted professional take care of them. Also, be sure to give your real estate agent a seller’s disclosure before you put your home on the market. Buyers appreciate this transparency and are more likely to make offers on homes that are structurally sound and in good condition.

 

Even in exclusive real estate markets where buyers can pay for a higher-priced home, it’s important not to raise the asking price of your home well above its appraised value. In exclusive real estate markets, for example, elite Los Angeles homes for sale, it may be tempting to embed an escalation clause in your real estate contract. Escalation clauses can be helpful, but be mindful of the maximum offer you’re willing to accept.

 

Let’s say your home is in a bidding war. Though this is a positive omen for closing a sale on your home, buyers can sometimes lose sight of a home’s appraised market value until they’re the top bidder and remember to look into its appraised value. If this happens, you run the risk of losing their offer. The best way to keep serious bidders and ensure a closing sale on your home is to ensure your home’s asking price doesn’t rise higher than its appraised market value.

When making necessary updates to your home over the fall and winter seasons, this is also a great time to chip away at packing and putting belongings in storage. The benefits of jumpstarting your packing process and putting non-essential belongings in storage in the fall and winter months are numerous.

 

For one, you will have a longer period of time to pack up your home, giving you more time to consider which items you’d like to tuck away in storage and which items you’re ready to let go. This is a luxurious way to pack, and you’ll be able to make more thoughtful decisions about what you would and wouldn’t like to keep because you will not be under the pressure of a small time constraint.

 

The second benefit of taking more time to pack and put things in storage is that you are more likely to rid yourself of belongings that have truly outgrown their use. Therefore, when you move into your new home, the moving process be easier due to your lightened load. You will enjoy the feeling of filling your home with things you truly value.

 

Lastly, putting your non-essential belongings in storage grants you insurance should you sell your home before buying a new one. If this happens, you can take your essential items to a luxurious Airbnb or vacation home and treat yourself to vacation while you look for and close a deal on your new home.

 

Bel Air resident Desirée Lapin is a dedicated international luxury realtor serving Brentwood’s Sotheby’s International Realty for more than 15 years. Contact Desirée for an easeful experience of selling and buying your home.

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