Buying a New House Before Selling the Old One in Bonita Springs

Buying a new house before selling the old one in Bonita Springs

The real estate market in Bonita Springs, FL is fast paced and with the economy in a state of recovery, more people are looking to purchase a home. 47,727 residents call Bonita Springs home. Bonita Springs is an active community and the ideal place to live or work. If you are interested in buying a house in Bonita Springs, there are a number of realtors and mortgage professionals ready to help.

Say for a moment that you have found your dream home in Bonita Springs. However, you still haven’t sold your old home, and you are concerned how this will affect the purchase of the new house? Your broker advises you to make an offer, because "this one won’t be on the market long". Here are some basic tips on buying a new house before selling the old one, which may help.

The number one thing that people do when buying a house while still owning the old house, is to use a contingency clause. A contingency clause will state that your purchase of the new house is dependent on the sale of your old house. There must be a time limit parameter placed on a contingency clause. Most common for real estate is that a sale must take place within 30 or 60 days. You can also use other contingency clauses to extend the length of your offer on the new home, but it isn’t advisable. The more contingency clauses, the more likely the sellers will reject the offer. If this is your dream home, and a must buy, it is best to not use a contingency clause.

You can apply for a Bridge Loan. A bridge loan lets you combine the payments on the new home and the old home. You must have exceptional credit and a higher than normal salary/finances. Bridge loans were easier to get several years ago prior to the recession and collapse of the housing market. They are harder to secure now, but are still out there if you are willing to look and pay a higher than normal interest rate. This could backfire if you are paying on two loans at once in order to purchase the new home prior to selling the old. They are typically a short-term solution to help you during the transition when you are buying a house while still owning the old house in Bonita Springs.

You can rent the old home. This may be an option for you if you are willing to put up with the headaches that homeowners have when they rent their property. These problems may include issues such as collecting rent when the renter does not pay, destruction of property, and other drawbacks. If you plan to sell the home, even if you rent it out, be prepared for the hassle of the renters making it difficult to show the property. Bonita Springs is unique though in the fact that you can rent the home to snowbirds, tourists or other part time renters. Renters also detract buyers from purchasing your old home.

New buyers do not want the headache of having to clean up after your renter’s trash the home. They also do not want to have to hassle with renters that will not leave or not pay rent. If the buyer wants to live in the home, they typically won’t want to wait an additional 30 days after they serve the tenant eviction papers.

If you are unable to do a bridge loan, there is the possibility that you could use the equity in your current home as a line of credit. Using this line of credit will allow you to get the money necessary for a down payment and several monthly payments, until the old home’s sale is finalized. A HELOC (line of credit) has its advantages, however, a HELOC lender is not looking to provide short-term loans as much as long term ones. Therefore, you may be paying off the HELOC for much longer than it takes to sell the old home.

Buy a new home while still owning our old home, can be a difficult and time consuming process. It is usually recommended that you purchase a new home in Bonita Springs after accepting an offer on your old house.

However, if you have extra money and are comfortable, you may be able to swing two mortgages or even pay all cash for the new home.

If your credit and financial history is extraordinarily good, you may be able to get loans that will help you purchase the new home faster. If you have a very comfortable income, you may be financially able to buying first and sell later. Make sure you look at all your options. If you must have the dream house and buy right now, before another buyer snatches it up, try these options.