Selling Your Current Home to Purchase Another — Not Stressful at All, Right?

Ok, so let’s be honest… of course it can be stressful!

Taking things one step at a time can certainly minimize a large amount of that stress. It can get confusing when you need to sell your current home to purchase a new home. How does it all come together? 

I am currently working with a client who is doing exactly that. The first thing you need to do is figure out what your “purchase power” will be. Will you be using the equity from your current home to purchase your new home, if so, how much equity would you realize after the sale goes through? That’s where I come in… I would perform what we call a Qualified Market Analysis (QMA), which will give you a good idea of your property's net worth in today’s market. With that information, you will be able to determine what price point you would be at when looking to purchase your new home. It will tell you if you have enough cash to buy the home outright, or for many, give you an idea of the mortgage size needed in addition to the equity that you will have from the proceeds of your sale. Please consult your mortgage representative for additional information and guidance.  

The second thing you would need to do is discuss with your REALTOR — that’s where I come in — your wants and needs, regarding your new home purchase. We would set you up with your very own personal Listingbook account to gain direct access to the CT Multiple Listing Service. Then together, spend some time previewing these homes to get an idea if there are enough homes on the market that meet your criteria. 

After looking at these homes, you can then decide if there are enough choices to make you comfortable about putting your home on the market. This is important, since you don’t know how long it will take to sell your home. The sale could be quick (if it’s priced well and has minimal objections) or it could take much longer. In either case, you want to know that there will be enough homes out there to choose from when that day comes. 

At last, the day has come: we have located a buyer for your home, negotiated the sale on your current home and came to terms on price. Now, what do we do next?  No worries, that’s where I come in. We have been keeping up with the market, we know what properties are available, we actually even have a favorite! We go back to the property to make sure it is “the one” — yes! We negotiate the purchase price and come to terms.

Now we come to the tricky part! We need to time everything just right so that you can move from here to there with the least amount of stress, that’s where I come in… managing the process by being the liaison with the attorneys, mortgage officers and home inspectors to help streamline the process is key, to get you to the closing table with the least amount of stress. 

Remember to try not to look at the BIG picture, that’s my job! Stay focused on what you need to deal with today and then each day after, you will get closer to reaching your goal — Home Sweet Home!! 

(Currently there are 137 single family homes and 57 condominiums on the market in Brookfield. Over the past six months 55 single family homes have sold and 10 condominiums.) 

Contact Laura Cruger @ 203-948-1103 or Laure Levitt @ 203-733-1393 or visit our website.

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