3 Ways to Buy and Sell Your Arizona Home at the Same Time

By Kevin Langan

Kevin Langan is a trusted real estate advisor dedicated to elevating the level of professionalism in the industry through expert strategy, real guidance, and exceptional results.

If you need to buy a new home and sell your current one at the same time, you already know how stressful the logistics can feel. The timing has to line up, the financing has to work, and there’s a real fear of getting stuck in between, owning two homes, or ending up with nowhere to go.

I sat down recently with Andrew Weingartner to talk through how this actually works in today’s market, because there are more options than most people realize. It really comes down to three approaches, and the right one depends on your goals, your timeline, and how much uncertainty you’re comfortable with.

1. The traditional contingency. This is the most common approach. I list your current home for sale, and once it’s under contract, we make an offer on your next home that’s contingent on the sale of your existing property. If your current home falls out of contract, the contingency kicks in, and the deal on the new home falls apart too. It works a lot of the time, but it does require careful planning and realistic expectations about timing.

There are two versions of this, depending on where you are in the process:

• If your current home is listed but hasn’t received an offer yet, we can still write an offer on a new property contingent on receiving an accepted offer and closing on your current home. In that scenario, most sellers are willing to give 14 to 30 days for your home to go under contract, depending on the nature of the offer and how long their property has been on the market. If that window passes without a contract on your home, the seller can either give you an extension or the deal ends.
• The second version is when your home is already under contract, and we make an offer contingent on that closing going through. If the contract on your current home is canceled during inspections or for any other reason, you typically have three to five days to notify the seller of the property you’re buying. At that point, you can cancel, ask for an extension, or prove you can purchase the home without the proceeds from your sale. For most people doing a contingency, that third option isn’t realistic, which is why pricing your current home strategically from the start is so important.

2. The institutional cash offer. Some homeowners don’t want the uncertainty of a contingency. They want a guaranteed sale so they can move forward without the stress of waiting. Institutional cash buyers will make a direct offer on your property, and you get the certainty of a cash close.

The trade-off is the price. These cash offers typically come in 5% to 10% below your home’s market value, and that equity goes to the investor in exchange for the convenience.

For most people, giving up that much equity isn’t worth it, and they choose one of the other two options instead. Where cash offers make the most sense is when the home needs significant work, and the owner doesn’t have the money or desire to fix it up before listing. In that situation, the discount becomes more reasonable relative to what the home would realistically sell for in the open market.

3. The buy-before-you-sell program. This is one that more homeowners are taking advantage of. Our preferred lender, Matt Webber at Cornerstone First Mortgage, offers a buy-before-you-sell program that allows you to access the equity in your current home before it sells. It’s essentially a second loan against your existing property that gives you the down payment for your next home while we sell your current one on the open market.

You get to buy first, move once, and sell your previous home from a position of strength rather than desperation. The key is making sure everyone has realistic expectations about what your current home will sell for and what the proceeds look like, so the numbers work on both sides without any surprises.

The right option depends on your situation. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. A contingency works well when timing and pricing are managed carefully. A cash offer makes sense in specific circumstances where convenience outweighs the cost. A buy-before-you-sell program gives you the most flexibility if you qualify. Every situation is different, and the strategy needs to be customized to your goals, your timeline, and the realities of your current home.

If you’re thinking about making a move in Arizona and need to buy and sell at the same time, I’d love to talk through your options and build a plan that works for your situation. Call me at 480-327-8092, email me at info@langanteam.com, or visit kevinsellsaz.com to book a time on my calendar.