Buying and Selling real estate at the same can be done in several different ways:

List/Sell first - once you have a firm sale on your current home, you can start looking for a new one.

Pros: very little risk of owning 2 properties at the same time/you know what your budget is for the next purchase

Cons: You may not find exactly what you want and may feel pressure to buy whatever is available or rent until you do find something, or move to an area that was not top of mind.

You may not get the move in dates on the purchase that line up with the Buyers' dates of your home and may require "Bridge Financing" - cost of borrowing from the bank to cover 2 mortgages for a short time.

Buy first - you have not listed your home but have found something that is perfect and you have an accepted offer/firm sale.

Pros: You get the exact home you want. If you ask for a long closing (the time that you pay for the home and move in)it gives you time to list and sell your current home. You may also have gotten a great price. You are also potentially buying and selling in the same market.

Cons: Unless you want to own two homes, you HAVE to sell your current home. You don't know how much it will sell for and when it will sell. You may have bought in a market when prices were high, and if your first home takes long to sell, you may still be listed in a slower market.

Buy First with Subject to Sale of current home

This method works well in a slower market when the seller of the home you want to buy, is not getting much activity and is willing to accept an offer that includes waiting for you to sell your home.

Pros: You have an accepted offer on the place you want and you have 30 to 60 days to sell your home.

Cons: The accepted offer usually includes a clause that says if the Seller receives a second (backup) offer you have 48 to 72 hours to remove your subject to sale. If you haven't sold your current home you may not want to remove that subject and as a result you lose your offer to the other Buyer. If you do remove the Subject to Sale and you haven't sold your home, then you are at "Buy First" with the above risks.

NOW this sounds a bit Doom and Gloom but miraculously it works out most of the time. Yes, there is a bit of stress in buying and selling real estate in all its forms. Our job is to decrease that stress by providing you with all the information to make choices that work best for you.

To answer any questions you have, just call/text me at 604-805-6820 or at bridget@bridgetross.ca

My husband and I are selling our home, a lovely water view condo in West Vancouver. As a realtor, I could represent myself and my husband but I would be taking a risk. If something were to go wrong (nothing ever goes wrong!), then my professional insurance called Errors & Omissions, would not be available to me. So I hired some colleagues who graciously took on the task of showing and negotiating on our behalf.

So...the realtor hires a realtor, and I am GLAD because it is stressful, and personal, and tiring.

My job as the seller (you all will relate to this!) is to get my home picture perfect. It is what I ask of my sellers too, because first impressions really are important.

I have done the deep decluttering, which I quite enjoy, but there is all the stuff you use every day but it is ugly stuff (garbage cans, toilet bowl cleaners, boxes of kleenx, dirty laundry). So you have to hide it all for photos, then hide it again for every showing. You have to hide the ugly, torn dish towels and bring out the lovely linen ones, draped over the stove handle. Don't forget to remove it after showings or your son will use it to wipe up the spilled tomato sauce on the counter. 

I plumped the pillows, arranged the flowers, checked all the light bulbs, made the beds pefectly... 

I had the professional cleaners come before the first showing, such a treat having a deep clean, done by someone else. They did a great job. Shout out to the https://kleanteam.ca/.

And now we wait, for someone to appreciate all our hard work, fall in love with the view, and write a fantastic offer giving us everything we want. Lots of money, the perfect dates and no conditions. Ha!

Yes, realtors are people and Buyers and Sellers, and despite our experience and knowledge, we feel the anxiety and disappointment, and hopefully the joy and relief when it goes as smoothly as possible. 

To ensure that my expectations and emotions are managed, and that my husband and I get an offer that works for us - we hired a couple of realtors.

Summer is bringing the (housing) heat across the Metro Vancouver property market with competition heating up amongst many buyers.

While the year started off slower than usual, the increase in buyer demand sees further price increases for the sixth consecutive month.

 Read more...

https://stilhavn.com/metro-vancouver-housing-update-may-2023/