BUY FIRST, OR SELL FIRST?

In any market, one of the most common questions I get asked by buyers who have a house to sell is whether they should buy first and then sell, or vice versa. A year ago, it was a safe bet to buy unconditionally and be confident that in the rising market we were enjoying, an unconditional sale would be imminent, with house prices outperforming previous weeks and capital gains growing faster than we could have ever predicted. The market we are currently experiencing is obviously very different, and as such, my advice is to sell first. As a vendor, you get to dictate your preferred settlement, so push that date right out to give your purchasers ample time (this gives the risk takers who want to buy before selling, time to do so), and you time to find something to buy. It will provide certainty around how much you can afford, and it will put you in a dominant position when competing against conditional buyers, particularly at auctions (yes, many vendors still want to sell via auction). It’s a double-win if the market is tracking downward – gains can be made in the period between selling and buying. The worst thing that could happen is you have to rent or Airbnb while you wait for the perfect home, which in my opinion is a far better option than bridging and not sleeping due to financial stress.