If you’re thinking about buying a house, you would think that it’s wise to sell your current house first before buying a new one, but there are some drawbacks to this option. Here are a few reasons why you might want to think twice.

Renting

Once you sell your home you have nowhere to live and because you have yet to find your new home, it is likely you will need to rent after the sale of your old home, while you look for your new one. This is not only an added expense to consider, but you also need to think about the inconvenience and the disruption to your family life of moving twice in a short period of time. You’ll also need to sign a lease for a predetermined amount of time and you could find a home before the end of your lease, but have to pay out the remaining term anyway.

Storage costs

If you are renting while you look for your new home you will probably look for an affordable home, which is likely to be smaller than your old home. As a result you may need to put a lot of your belongings in storage. Consider this cost, as well as the effect of not having access to all of your possessions for a time.

Buy now

You secure your dream home. If a property fits the bill as your dream home then chances are other buyers will see it as their dream too, and when there is a perfect property on the market, it doesn’t stay there very long. Therefore if you are willing to buy before you sell then you can secure your dream home without having to settle for second best.

Buying a second home is a huge decision so take into account the pros and cons and choose the option that has the less risk and least negative financial impact on your family. If you need help in deciding, you can look at the pros of selling your home first on this previous blog post.