When you have the potential of simultaneous closings, meaning that you are selling a home and buying one at the same time, you may be feeling the pressure and stress of the balancing act ahead. Having this simultaneous act going on is common in real estate as many people are trying to get rid of their old homes while they are trying to get into their new one.
The double move of moving out and moving in is something that many dread but can be done with plenty of planning and organization. The good news is that while it may seem stressful and overwhelming, it may be lucky that you were able to simultaneously close because it will allow for doing the work all at once rather than multiple times, and you’ll likely save money. Rather than moving out, having a temporary stop, and then moving into your next home, you can take care of the whole job in one fell swoop.
Although this may work out in your favor, you’ll need to consider where you’ll stay during any wait period between the home you’re selling and the one you’re moving into, where your stuff can be stored, and how you will orchestrate the simultaneous closings. Take a look at these tips for preparing for your simultaneous closings.
The things you can avoid
The good news about a simultaneous closing is that you can typically move your belongings out of your old home and into your new home in the same motion. Most people would have to find a place to store their possessions in-between and you can typically avoid this unless there is a small gap in the moving out and moving in.
If so, you’ll need to stay a hotel or other lodging option in-between the moves, but for many that don’t have a simultaneous closing, they end up having to lease a residence until they can find the right home after moving out of their sold home. For those that simultaneously close, they can typically move out and move in all at once without much of any temporary housing in between while those that don’t end up having to find temporary housing, a storage unit, and do double the work.
How to prepare for your simultaneous closing
If you’ve lucked out to get a simultaneous closing, you can make it a great experience with proper planning and orchestration. The process can be much simpler than separate closings if you hire the right real estate company, work closely with the buyer’s agent and listing agent, do inspections right away, and put strong contracts in place. After all of these steps, you can focus on packing up, hiring movers and a cleaning crew, and moving in before unpacking into your brand new home.
You can increase the chance of a simultaneous closing if you hire the right real estate agent because the listing agent and buyer’s agent will have to plan and coordinate carefully to make it happen. With a poor real estate company, you could end up with a bad agent that doesn’t make this happen as you hoped.
Once you meet with your agents, you will need to meet with your lender, if taking out a mortgage, to makes sure you can get qualified before even shopping for a home. You’ll need to have negotiating power when the time comes. Then, have your home inspected and make sure repairs are handled so that buyers don’t have something to complain about when they are inspecting the home.
Learn if you are in a buyer’s or seller’s market because this will affect the final price. Once you’ve made an offer and received an offer, make sure you write strong contracts that make closing easier because sometimes, people will try to be flakey or unclear about their intentions making the process unable to happen simultaneously.
If you can become prepared, hire the right professionals, and do the work right away, you can increase your chances of a simultaneous closing experience much better.
