That age old question -- which came first, the chicken or the egg -- applies to our local real estate market more than ever this year.

There will always be folks, perhaps such as yourself, who will want to buy a new home, but need to sell in order to buy.  The ease of this transition depends largely on what type of market we're in....

• Balanced Market = tricky but usually achievable
   
  
• Buyer's Market = still tricky, but relatively straight forward
   
  
• Seller's Market = almost always pretty difficult
  

We're definitely in a seller's market right now -- in most areas and in most price ranges -- which is a result of lots of buyers wanting to buy, and not nearly enough sellers having their homes on the market.

And this, as outlined above, can make it quite difficult to buy and sell at the same time....

• If you decide to make an offer on a house you want to buy before your current house is listed for sale, or before it is under contract, you are likely to be turned down by the seller of the house you want to buy -- because they are confident that the high number of buyers in the market (relative to the number of sellers) will make it easy for them to find another buyer who does not need to sell a home -- or who already has their home on the market.
   
• If you decide to wait to make an offer on a house until you have your current house under contract -- you might yourself in a tough spot, of having secured a buyer for your current house, but not seeing anything else you want to buy.

Generally speaking, my recommendation is always the second option above -- make an offer after your current house is under contract.  And don't worry -- there are multiple ways to address the "I am only willing to sell if I can also buy" scenario with contract contingencies. 

But what does one do if there really (really!) isn't anything to buy after you have secured a buyer for your home?

1. Move forward with the sale -- hoping, trusting, praying that another listing will come on the market that you can buy.  If such a house does come up -- great.  If not -- you'll be potentially moving into a rental?
    
2. Move forward with the sale -- being willing to rent temporarily if needed -- understanding that this will cause you to move twice.
    
3. Turn down the sale of your home -- because there is nothing to buy.

These are not easy, or fun, decisions to make.  I am working with multiple families right now stuck in the middle of this situation -- having an interested buyer for their home, but not knowing where they will go.

Our best bet is to talk through the options for how to best handle this transition -- and determine how flexible you are willing to be, as it relates to what you buy, how soon you buy something, whether you move twice, etc.