Skip to main content
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
RECOMMENDED IN RENT
Moving to NYC after college? Here's how to find a rental apartment
RECOMMENDED IN BUY
How buying real estate in NYC is unlike anywhere else
RECOMMENDED IN SELL
A guide to using a no-fee renovation loan from a NYC real estate firm
RECOMMENDED IN IMPROVE
How to make your NYC renovation more pet-friendly
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE!
National Association of Real Estate Editors
BEST REAL ESTATE WEBSITE! National Association of Real Estate Editors
Brick Underground
Social Links
follow:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Flipboard
  • search
Brick Underground
☰ Brick Underground
Brick Underground
Brick Underground
☰
Brick Underground
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
    A rendering of the roofdeck at 55 Broad Street.
    Rent
    Housing lottery launches for 143 apartments in the Financial District
    Aerial panoramic view of Red Hook, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
    Sales Market
    24 NYC neighborhoods where median prices more than doubled in the past decade
    431 West 54th Street is a co-op building that allows subletting.
    Investing
    Want to buy an investment apartment to rent out? Here's what you need to know
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
    Young woman using laptop at new apartment, with moving boxes around.
    Roommates + Landlords
    Didn't get your security deposit returned in NYC? A new chatbot can help
    A rendering of the six-story building in Park Slope.
    Affordable Housing
    Housing lottery launches for 45 rent-stabilized units in Park Slope
    Laura and her dog Jack
    Rent
    Why I moved to NYC from Brazil: I relocated for work and reunited with friends I made 15 years ago
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
    Aerial view of downtown Brooklyn
    Sell
    Median sales price in Brooklyn climbs to $995,000 in the second quarter
    Downtown New York City
    Sell
    Manhattan deals rose to highest level in nearly two years, defying national trends
    new condo building and older co-op buildings in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
    Sell
    Brooklyn median price nears $1 million but the spring market is a question mark
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Distressed woman sitting in her apartment
    Troubleshooting
    Ask Altagracia: My live-in partner is abusive. How can I get out of my lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    NYC apartment buildings with fire escapes
    Neighborhood Intel
    Can you sit on a fire escape in NYC? 5 things to know
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
    mini splits apartments new york city
    Products + Services
    Yes, you can install central AC in your co-op or condo unit. Here's how
    image
    Products + Services
    Take back your deck! How to win the war with mosquitoes and enjoy outdoor living again
    NYC apartment building with AC units
    Products + Services
    My neighbor's dripping AC is driving me crazy. What can I do?
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
    Burned and Boarded Up Windows
    When should your board hire a public adjuster?
    Manhattan GM
    What should we consider when renewing insurance for our building?
    Facade of NYC buildings
    How much is insurance on a NYC co-op or condo building?
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
    FlatRate moving brick underground
    Live
    How to troubleshoot your move in advance
    Sponsored By flatrate
    Distressed woman sitting in her apartment
    Troubleshooting
    Ask Altagracia: My live-in partner is abusive. How can I get out of my lease?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
    Building facades in New York in winter
    Roommates + Landlords
    Ask Altagracia: I withheld rent due to inadequate heat and I'm being hassled to pay it back. What should I do?
    Sponsored By Outerbridge Law P.C.
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
  • About Us
The subscription service is currently unavailable. Please check again later.
Fulltext search
FILTER RESULTS BY:
New Main menu
  • Buy
    • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide
  • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards & Buildings
    • Boards
    • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Property Management
    • Structure & Systems
    • Sustainability
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsored Content
    • Experts
  • Brick Report
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
  • About Us
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER →
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Sell [ SPONSORED ]

How to sell your home and buy a new one at the same time: A New York City survival guide

By Corcoran  | August 6, 2019 - 12:00PM
image

How do you handle the practical needs of moving from one spot to the next with as little stress as possible?

iStock

SHARE:
Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Print
More...

Buying an apartment in NYC while you are selling your current place in the city may seem like a logistical challenge. How do you manage the financing on a new space when your funds are tied up in the old one? How do you handle the practical needs of moving from one spot to the next with as little stress as possible?

As daunting as it seems, rest assured, it can be done.

“There are a lot of moving parts to manage,” says Joel Dommel, an agent in Corcoran’s East Side office. “That said, a simultaneous buy and sell is something we frequently help New Yorkers do, especially in a market that currently benefits those looking to upgrade their lifestyle.”

The most common scenario is “a trade up, when life circumstances change—you get married, have children and need more space,” says Paul Rosen, a broker in Corcoran’s Williamsburg office. “There are many different ways to attack it, so we present our clients with as many options as we can think of to best strategize what their goals are.”

Are you facing buying and selling at the same time? Here are some ways to make the process go as seamlessly as possible.

Give yourself enough time

To simultaneously buy and sell, “ideally, you’re looking at a minimum of six months,” says Dommel. That may initially seem like a long horizon but buying (or selling) a single condo or co-op “can be a 90-day process alone for the whole application process including approval by the condo or co-op board.” And that 90 days doesn’t include financing.

A six-month window should give you some time to get your current place ready to sell—which could include getting a home equity loan to do repairs or upgrades to capture a higher price when you bring it to market, says Dommel.

Line up financing for your down payment if you need it

If most of your liquid assets are tied up in your current place, you’ll need to find another way to come up with a down payment on your next place. 

“If you go to a traditional lender and you have your home on the market for sale, they may not give you a bridge loan,” says Dommel. Short-term loans often have tougher qualifications and higher rates than normal loans because of the risk that you may wind up carrying two mortgages. 

If you’re looking to buy a co-op, know that many boards shy away from bridge loans and have other strict financial requirements to ensure you’ll have ample money—an average of at least two-years worth of mortgage and maintenance charges—left over after your down payment of 20-25 percent of the purchase price.

Instead of getting a bridge loan, you may need to refinance your existing mortgage or get a home equity loan to use as a down payment on the new place.

Almost sell your place before you put an offer on a new one

To reduce the expensive possibility of owning two homes simultaneously, bide your time. First, get your down payment ready while you prep your current place for sale and put it on the market. Once you’re close to finalizing a deal, hit the ground running to look for a new place.

If you’re strategic, organized and a little bit lucky, “it’s not uncommon for clients to close on their previous home and their next one within the same 24-48 hours,” says Dommel.

An alternative to buying and selling at the same time

If this all sounds a bit too stressful for you, consider selling your current place first, and moving into a temporary rental. This might be the best option if you need to extract any equity from your current place in order to purchase a new one. 

“Many New Yorkers do this because they just don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around in their bank accounts,” Rosen says.

Renting for a bit also eliminates having a strict time frame on buying your next place, meaning you’ll have more to choose from. Renting is also a perfect opportunity to test out a new neighborhood or different type of property. After years of living in a prewar co-op, for example, you may find that a modern open-layout apartment is more to your taste (or the opposite).

This approach has its downsides too. Besides having to move twice, you’ll need to find a short-term rental, which can be a task in and of itself. (The good news is you won’t have to search alone: Finding temporary digs between your sale and purchase is something your broker can help you navigate, too, Rosen says.)

Keep in mind as well that the market can change in a New York minute. The further you push out buying your next apartment, the less certainty you’ll have about where the market’s going to be. “You could be exposed to a shift where it can play against you, especially if you’re looking to upsize. There are usually fewer larger properties, since people tend to hold onto them longer,” Dommel warns.

Pro tip: Instead of moving twice, another tactic is to sell and see if the buyer is willing to rent it back to you on a temporary basis.

“We call it pre-possession and post-closing possession, and it’s on the menu of options we talk about,” says Eve Levine, a broker in Corcoran’s Williamsburg office. Her team recently had two closed deals that had both sellers staying in the apartment for about two months, she adds.

Bottom line: An experienced broker is key

There are a lot of choices to make when you’re planning to buy and sell a NYC apartment simultaneously. That’s why having an experienced broker is an invaluable part of the equation.

“We educate sellers and alert them to the roadblocks they may run into,” says Rosen. “We’re here to aid in the process and tailor it to your needs.”

Communication between yourself and your broker is paramount to having this complicated deal be successful, so don’t be shy about interviewing brokers to learn about their experience and how they work, adds Levine.

“You’re going to spend a lot of time with them, so you want someone who knows what they’re looking at, has good relationships with other brokers, lenders, and attorneys, knows how to negotiate, and conducts themselves professionally—but can be assertive both on your behalf and with you so the transaction keeps moving forward,” she says. 

Visit corcoran.com today for help selling while buying a new home at the same time.

Brick Underground articles occasionally include the expertise of, or information about, advertising partners when relevant to the story. We will never promote an advertiser's product without making the relationship clear to our readers.

topics:

brokers buying Co-ops condos first-time buyer mortgage neighborhoods renting sellers selling
SHARE
TWEET
BRICK’S PICKS
NYC apartment building with AC units
My neighbor's dripping AC is driving me crazy. What can I do?
Historic brick facades of NYC apartment buildings
Getting overcharged by a landlord? Here’s how the Tenant Protection Unit helps rent-stabilized tenants
Apartment buildings in Soho
New Rent Guidelines Board report justifies a rent freeze, tenant advocates claim
Brooklyn apartment buildings
Understanding net effective rent: Here's how to calculate your real monthly rent
image
How much should you renovate your NYC apartment or house before selling?
Council Member Shahana Hanif hold press conference before the City Council vote on Arrow Linen spot rezoning.
City Council signs off on 10-story towers for Arrow Linen site
Follow Brick on Instagram
@brickunderground | #brickunderground
Brick UndergroundBRICK UNDERGROUNDREAL LIFE. REAL ESTATE. REAL NEW YORK.
Social Links Footer
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Search
Main menu footer
  • Buy
    • The Market
    • Investing
    • New Construction + Condos
    • Affordable Housing
    • Co-ops
    • Negotiating + Financing
    • How to Buy in NYC Guide
  • Rent
    • Affordable Housing
    • Roommates + Landlords
    • The Market
    • The Search
    • How to Rent in NYC Guide
  • Sell
    • Staging + Open Houses
    • Negotiations + Closings
    • Getting Ready
    • How to Sell in NYC Guide
  • Live
    • Neighbors
    • Kids + Pets
    • Neighborhood Intel
    • Products + Test-drives
    • Troubleshooting
  • Improve
    • Small Spaces
    • Small Projects + DIY
    • Renovations
    • Design + Architecture
    • Products + Services
    • How to Renovate in NYC Guide

Get more news you can actually use...

Email Address

Delivered to your inbox weekly - for free.

*By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors

Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Advertise

Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login